Adult wheelchair frames consist mainly of steel, aluminum, and titanium. Composites made of high-performance carbon fibers and magnesium alloys have yet to be widely available. Wheelchair lightweight prices on the market generally depend on the material used to make the wheelchair, with lighter wheelchairs costing more.
It is possible to reduce the weight of steel wheelchairs to 22.5 kilograms, aluminum wheelchairs to 11.25-13.5 kilograms, and titanium wheelchairs to 6.3-9 kilograms, but they cost 3-5 times or more than steel wheelchairs.
In this post, we'll examine the most common materials used in wheelchair frames, aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber, and magnesium. Before getting into that, let's talk about what most people think about when it comes to wheelchair frame materials:
Weight of the wheelchair
Compared to other wheelchair frame materials, weight is an important aspect to consider. The so Lite wheelchair frame option is often assumed to be the better option when asked how light it is.
It is not only the weight of the wheelchair that contributes to ease of propulsion and reduces the physical impact on the upper limbs when considering ease of propulsion. Using the same wheels and seating as wheelchair 'A' and wheelchair 'B,' wheelchair 'A' could weigh 8.5kg, and wheelchair 'B' could weigh 9.5kg.
There is no guarantee that wheelchair A will be easier to propel or more comfortable than wheelchair B. Weight is less important than the configuration and setup of the wheelchair.
We can configure an ultralight 6kg wheelchair so that pushing it feels like pushing through mud, or we can set up a 12kg wheelchair so that pushing it feels effortless. Even if you lift the wheelchair physically, you won't necessarily feel a difference in how it propels.
For a wheelchair to be light to push, the rear wheel position, castor position, wheel, and castor choice, along with all those measurements and angles, are so important. It's important to remember that weight alone isn't the only factor in getting the lightest wheelchair.
Materials used to build wheelchairs.
Let's now discuss the materials of the frame since the weight issue has been somewhat addressed. Material development for Adult wheelchair lightweight frames is largely driven by the sporting equipment industry, specifically bicycle frames.
A wheelchair's frame and accessories consist of different materials. Carbon fiber accessories like side guards are commonly attached to wheelchairs with aluminum or titanium frames. Apart from reducing the weight of a wheelchair, carbon fiber accessories can also be very attractive.
Aluminum lightweight wheelchairs
Welding and bending aluminum into frames are easy because it is lightweight and easy to bend. Wheelchair lightweight cframes usually consist of aluminum alloys, which include trace amounts of other metallic alloy elements to enhance the performance of the base aluminum.
As a result, aluminum alloys have varying characteristics and can fall into several series. Series 6000 (aluminum alloyed with magnesium, silicon, and zinc) aluminum alloys appear in most wheelchairs.
6000 and 7000 series aluminum have different strengths and weaknesses due to the alloys used, and wheelchair manufacturers choose an aluminum series according to their needs.
Wheelchair frames typically consist of aluminum. As a wheelchair material, it is very effective, corrosion-resistant, and cost-effective. Aluminum wheelchairs are ideal for many people.
Titanium made wheelchairs
In terms of tensile strength and density, titanium is the strongest metal. A wheelchair frame made of titanium is extremely corrosion resistant, can easily be shaped, and transmits fewer vibrations than a frame made of other materials.
Using titanium might be a great option for some users who feel every bump and back pain when hitting their lips and bumps. Furthermore, titanium wheelchair frames do not require powder coating, so they do not scratch or chip. Users report that this is one of their favorite features of titanium.
Despite titanium's many benefits, it is a more expensive metal so titanium frames will cost more than aluminum frames.
Carbon fibers wheelchairs
Carbon fibers are tiny filaments primarily comprised of carbon atoms, which can be used independently or woven into fabrics. The composite material created from mixing carbon fiber fabric with plastic resin is called carbon fiber and is strong and lightweight.
The strength-to-weight ratio of carbon fibers is very high, fatigue resistance is superior to metals, and corrosion resistance is extremely high. Compared to aluminum and titanium, it is lighter.
Over the last decade, significant advances in carbon fiber technology have alleviated some of the previous concerns regarding carbon fiber. In the past, carbon fiber was feared to fail catastrophically if it failed.
Wheelchair users prefer aluminum frames that slowly develop stress fractures before they break over materials that fail without warning. Carbon fiber is now strong yet flexible thanks to advances in its alignment. Due to the higher cost of carbon fiber over aluminum or titanium, carbon fiber wheelchairs cost more.
Magnesium lightweight wheelchair
Wheelchair frames made of magnesium are relatively new, though bike frames made of magnesium have been available for several decades. Since magnesium is a newer material for wheelchairs, very few are available.
Aluminum, titanium and carbon fiber are heavier than magnesium, which has the same strength as titanium. Because of the energy-intensive manufacturing process and magnesium's proneness to corrosion, mixing magnesium with an alloy material is essential to make it suitable for frame material.
With the continued development of wheelchair frames, magnesium may become more common. Each wheelchair frame material has its advantages and disadvantages. For the best wheelchair, the frame material needs to cater to the user, and the configuration of the wheelchair needs to be optimized.
Composite wheelchairs
Among the latest hot spots in materials research is composite materials due to their outstanding advantages, low density, high specific strength, corrosion resistance, and fatigue resistance. The high production costs of composites, however, impede their widespread use.
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Additionally, composites are less durable than metallic materials and more difficult to repair than metallic materials due to their bond strength and fracture toughness. At present, composite materials rarely appear in wheelchairs.