The objective of this research is to produce a finite element model of tire-terrain interaction that can be used to explore the effects of tire and terrain variables on vehicle mobility and terrain deformation. Such a model would need to account for the deformable nature of both the tire and the terrain and be fully three-dimensional. Thus, it is important that the tire model be very efficient at rolling yet retain realistic surface contact and deformation related to contact. A promising methodology was developed by Darnell for efficiently modeling a tire for vehicle dynamics simulations. The performance of the Darnell model was examined with respect to measured tire deformation as well as to conventional models of the same tire. The Darnell tire model was then rolled across a soil simulating the sand used in off-road vehicle experiments. The combined tire-terrain model presented is fully operational, but optimization and validation are in progress.
This paper describes the application of a new type of non-linear 3D finite element tire model for simulating tire spindle force and moment response during side slip. The simulation model, briefly described in the paper, is composed of shell elements, which model the tread deformation, coupled to special purpose finite elements that model the deformation of the sidewall and contact between the tread and the ground. The sidewall special purpose element uses a pre-computed look-up table to efficiently calculate the sidewall shape and the forces acting on the tread. The model is designed to predict the forces at the spindle and ground and the overall tire shape, as opposed to the internal stress fields. This paper considers the following deformation scenarios: 1) a vertically loaded tire deforming laterally on a flat surface and 2) a tire rolling straight ahead under a prescribed sideslip angle. Experimental data is also presented to verify the force predictions.
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