Finite Element Analysis Of The Radial Tire Stiffness And Cornering Performance

In this paper, using layer element, solid element and general contact element are used to simulate the composite structure of radial tire and a 3-D finite element model of radial tire (205/60R15) is successfully developed. Non-linear analysis of ANS YS program is performed for evaluation of the stress, strain and displacement in the tire contacting with road surface, for calculation of radial, axial, longitudinal and torsional stiffness of the tire, and for simulation side-drifting characteristics of the tire.Owing to the complexity in tire structure and material properties, it is both economical and exact to model the tire by using layer elements and solid elements. Because of the geometrically non-linear properties of the tire-ground contacting, every load step should be divided into several substeps to ensure the precision of calculation and the rate of convergence. Radial, axial, longitudinal and torsion loads to the tire are applied to analyze the corresponding stiffness of the tire respectively. Furthermore, stress, strain and displacement of different position on the tire and contact area and contact pressure distribution of the tire are also analyzed for contact tire under these loads respectively. A tire model for side-drifting analysis is established to simulate side-drifting, and the side-drifting angle versus side-drifting load relation curves under different internal pressure and vertical load are developed. The periodical changes of stresses and strains for some key-points on a radial section of the tire during rolling on straight road are also obtained.The results of the tire stiffness calculated from 3-D finite element model in this paper are reasonable and consistent with published experimental results. Thus, the analysis method developed in this paper is successful and valuable, and it will lay a foundation for further dynamic contact analysis and design optimization for radial tire.