Stress distribution in the rim of a rapidly rotating flywheel

Abstract

Neglecting the influence of the spokes, we will consider the flywheel as a ring with a circular meridional cross-section (Fig. 1). Let r1 be the cross-section radius; r2 be the radius of the circle containing the cross-section centers. We will take the oz axis as the axis of rotation and assume that the angular velocity is constant and sufficiently large. Using the kinetostatic method, we will apply an inertial force to each element of the rod and determine its elastic equilibrium. To simplify the boundary conditions, we will move to bipolar coordinates.