Physics-Based Deformable Tire–Soil Interaction Model for Off-Road Mobility Simulation and Experimental Validation

Abstract

A physics-based deformable tire–soil interaction simulation capability that can be fully integrated into the monolithic multibody dynamics computer algorithm is developed by extending a deformable tire model based on the flexible multibody dynamics approach to off-road mobility simulations with a moving soil patch technique and it is validated against test data. A locking-free nine-node brick element is developed for modeling large plastic soil deformation using the multiplicative finite strain plasticity theory along with the capped Drucker–Prager failure criterion. To identify soil parameters including cohesion and friction angle, the triaxial compression test is carried out, and the soil model developed is validated against the test data. In addition to the component level validation for the tire and soil models, the tire–soil interaction simulation capability developed in this study is validated against the soil bin mobility test results. The tire forces and rolling resistance coefficients predicted by the simulation model agree well with the test results. It is shown that effect of the wheel loads and tire inflation pressures is well captured in the simulation model. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the moving soil patch technique, with which soil behavior only in the vicinity of the rolling tire is solved to reduce the soil model dimensionality, leads to a significant reduction in computational time, thereby enabling use of the high-fidelity physics-based tire–soil interaction model in the large-scale off-road mobility simulation.

Research status and prospect of plate elements in absolute nodal coordinate formulation

“…25,107 Yamashita et al . 86 studied the contact problem between two surfaces to study the effect of the action between tires and soil. Subsequently, Wang et al .…”

“…82,83 Secondly, the laminate mechanics model proposed by Sugiyama and Yamashita et al applies the elements of No. 3423 51 and investigates the tire model based on it through different perspectives, 54,[84][85][86] which can effectively avoid the Poisson locking. It has been currently applied to the characterization of solar array composite plate deployment of satellites.…”

“…P. Hldahl combined the ANCF thin-plate element with the Arbitrary Lagrange-Euler method to propose an ALE-ANCF element for solving in-plane varying loads and varying constraints. 25,107 Yamashita et al 86 studied the contact problem between two surfaces to study the effect of the action between tires and soil. Subsequently, Wang et al respectively studied the contact problem between plate springs 59,72 and the contact problem established based on triangular elements.…”

“…H. Yamashita et al performed a test comparison for the pressurized deformation of tires when in a tire research object. 85,86 Xu and Liu et al 78 applied a high-speed binocular camera approach for the position tracking study of a plate element in free fall.…”

Predicting the Passability of Wheeled Tractors

“…It allows studying parameters of the latter, evaluating the deformation dynamics, or controlling the vehicle's motion, according to the study objectives [2]. The accuracy of this procedure plays a crucial role in determining the characteristics of moving machinery, i.e., resistance to vacillation and tensile forces on the coupling bar [3].…”