Mar 1, 2009 12:00 PM

Expanded development engineering capabilities of Webb Wheel Products Inc. at its research and development lab facilities in Cullman AL gives the company resources required to design, test, and produce drums, hubs, and rotors for current and future medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicle requirements.

Recent developments like the lightweight Webb Vortex brake drum were possible because of resources available to fully design, sample, and test the product prior to production. Design begins with 3D CAD and Finite Element Analysis (FEA). Once a product design meets the initial engineering objective, Webb's in-house prototyping capabilities, including their own induction melt furnace and vacuum molding facility, can take the design from conception to final production in a compressed time frame. A rapid prototype printer, CNC and vertical lathes, and a full metallurgical laboratory further support a quick turnaround of newly engineered designs to make them available as a production part quickly with the least amount of delay. Test track results are generated by Link-Radlinski at the Transportation Research Center (TRC) in Ohio.

The continuous performance and metallurgical testing performed routinely in the Webb R&D lab ensures that current production parts always meet the quality standards set by Webb for all their products. Webb has close working relationships with The University of Alabama Birmingham, Southern Research Institute, TMC, HDBMC, and various SAE committees and other industry organizations.