An Implicit to Explicit FEA Solving of Tire F&M with Detailed Tread Blocks

ABSTRACT A detailed tire-rolling model (185/75R14), using the implicit to explicit FEA solving strategy, was constructed to provide a reliable, dynamic simulation with several modeling features, including mesh, material modeling, and a solving strategy that could contribute to the consideration of the serious numerical noises. High-quality hexahedral meshes of tread blocks were obtained with a combined mapping method. The actual rubber distributing and nonlinear, stress-strain relationship of the rubber and bilinear elastic reinforcement were modeled for realism. In addition, a tread-rubber friction model obtained from the Laboratory Abrasion and Skid Tester (LAT 100) was applied to simulate the interaction of the tire with the road. The force and moment (F&) behaviors of tire cornering when subjected to a slip-angle sweep of −10 to 10° were studied with that model. To demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed simulation, the computed F&M were compared with experimental results from an MTS Flat-Trac Tire Test System. The computed cornering F&M agreed well with the experimental results, so the footprint shape and contact pressure distribution of several cornering conditions were investigated. Furthermore, the longitudinal forces in response to braking/driving torque application in a slip-ratio range of −100% to 100% were computed. The proposed FEA solution confines the numerical noise within a smaller range and can serve as a valid tool in tire design.