What kind of wheelchair is good? Which is better, steel, aluminum alloy or titanium alloy

The main materials used in wheelchair frame are steel, aluminum alloy and titanium alloy. High performance carbon fiber composite and magnesium alloy have not been widely used at present. The price of manual wheelchair in the market generally depends on the material used for manual wheelchair, and the price of lightweight wheelchair is relatively higher. The weight of steel wheelchair is as high as 22.5kg, aluminum wheelchair is 11.25-13.5kg, titanium alloy wheelchair can be further reduced to 6.3-9kg, and the price of titanium alloy wheelchair is 3-5 times or even higher than that of steel wheelchair.

Wheelchair steel

Steel is currently the most widely used material in the wheelchair manufacturing industry and has the longest application history. The steels used in wheelchair frame materials are alloy steel, stainless steel and carbon structural steel. Although the technology of steel tubes for wheelchairs is quite mature, through optimization of the composition, advanced heat treatment process and processing technology, the wall of the steel tube has achieved a satisfactory thickness under the premise of ensuring performance. The thickness of the steel pipe wall used as a wheelchair frame is almost close to the limit. Under the requirements of higher lightweight, it is difficult for steel wheelchairs to break through.

Wheelchair titanium alloy

Titanium alloy is widely used in aerospace, machinery, medical treatment, energy and many other fields because of its light weight, high strength, toughness, high and low temperature resistance, non toxicity and good corrosion resistance. The specific strength of titanium alloy is higher than that of aluminum, and it will not corrode in general environment, so no additional anti-corrosion treatment is needed. The main advantages of titanium wheelchair are firm, light, comfortable, beautiful and long service life. Titanium alloy is mainly used in wheelchair series, such as basketball wheelchair, racing wheelchair and so on. Because of its high price, its application in ordinary wheelchair is limited. At present, the application of titanium alloy in wheelchair has no obvious advantage in the market due to the high cost and high price of products. Only when the cost of titanium alloy materials is reduced, can it replace some of the current aluminum alloy.

Magnesium alloy for wheelchair

Magnesium alloy is currently the lightest commercial metal structural material in the world. Compared with other structural materials, magnesium alloys have a series of advantages: outstanding specific strength and specific stiffness; good casting properties, suitable for high pressure casting; outstanding fatigue and no memory; better dynamic properties; relative to steel , Aluminum and other metal parts, have excellent vibration damping characteristics; good machining performance; easy to recycle. The main problem in making a magnesium alloy wheelchair is that magnesium alloy, as a structural material, has relatively poor corrosion resistance. As a result, currently there are basically no magnesium alloy wheelchairs on the market.

Aluminum alloy for wheelchair

The strength of aluminum alloy is the same as that of steel, and its density is 1 / 3 of that of steel. Compared with other materials, aluminum alloy has good lightweight effect, good corrosion resistance, good recycling, easy processing and forming, and mature surface spraying and anodizing processes. Because of its relatively low production cost, perfect technology and no need for professional production equipment and technology, aluminum alloy has become the most ideal and popular material for lightweight comprehensive performance. Most of the aluminum alloys used in wheelchairs are 6xxx series and 7xxx series. Before use, heat treatment can be carried out to improve the performance to meet the needs.

The weight reduction of wheelchairs is mainly achieved from the perspective of materials. The comprehensive performance of titanium alloys and magnesium alloys has advantages over aluminum alloys. However, due to production cost and technical requirements, titanium wheelchairs and magnesium wheelchairs are relatively inexpensive aluminum alloys. The advantages of wheelchairs are not obvious.

Wheelchair composite

Composite materials have become one of the hotspots in materials research due to their outstanding advantages such as low density, high specific strength, good corrosion resistance, and high fatigue strength. However, the high cost of production is the main reason that restricts the widespread application of composite materials. In addition, the composite material's bonding strength and fracture toughness are not ideal, and the repair of composite materials is more difficult than metal materials. It was discovered for a time that, therefore, the current use of composite materials in wheelchairs is not very widespread.