Simulation of vehicle tires based on the finite element method

Abstract

Modeling of wheeled vehicles is one of the main directions of development and practical appli-cation of software systems based on modeling the dynamics of body systems. In this paper, a tech-nique for analyzing a vehicle tire by the finite element method under various types of loading is considered in order to identify the parameters of its simplified dynamic models. Based on the finite element method, a refined tire model is created. It takes into account the complex geometric shape of various tire parts, their material properties, as well as the contact interaction of the tire with the support. The efficiency of this model was tested, both when performing static calculations of the stress-strain state of the tire from the action of an external load, and when solving the generalized eigenvalue problem. The great influence of external load on the natural frequencies and vibration modes of the tire is confirmed. One of the possible applications of the considered method of finite element modeling of a tire is the performance of refined calculations of the dynamics of wheeled vehicles in the “Universal Mechanism” software package. There are several variants of dynamic tire models that can be used to study the dynamics of off-road wheeled vehicles, including a model based on the method of discrete elements and a model based on the method of coupled substruc-tures. A model based on the method of discrete elements represents a number of absolutely solid bodies-particles, connected to each other and by a wheel disk by a set of elastic-dissipative ele-ments. Each particle of this model has three linear degrees of freedom relative to the wheel disk. The results of calculations of the refined finite element model of the tire are necessary to identify the mass and elastic-dissipative properties of this dynamic tire model. In the model based on the method of connected substructures, the elastic displacements of the tire are represented as the sum of the admissible shapes of the elastic body. Static and natural vibration modes are used as permis-sible forms of an elastic body, calculated using a refined finite element model of the tire.