Abstract
In order to carry out finite element analysis of tyre behaviour, many modelling difficulties have to be addressed. These include composite material representation (due to the laminar make-up of a tyre's construction), material nonlinearity, geometric nonlinearity (due to large deflections), and tyre/road contact. In this paper, attention is drawn to the problem of tyre/road contact modelling. A purely theoretical approach is presented which gives the analyst more flexibility in changing parameters such as inflation pressure, hub load, and material properties than previously developed experimental/numerical techniques. A gap element formulation is used to model the contact so that contact patch area, shape and deflection are automatically accounted for under a given load and inflation pressure. Modelling and experimental results are also presented to illustrate the accuracy of the technique.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 194-202 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | International Journal of Vehicle Design |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Apr 1997 |
Keywords
- contact modelling
- finite element method
- FEM
- tyre–road interface
- tyre behaviour
- tyre performance
- performance prediction
- design stage
- vehicle tyres
- vehicle design