Development of Shear Deformable Laminated Shell Element and its Application to ANCF Tire Model
In this investigation, a physics-based tire model for multibody vehicle dynamics simulation is developed using the laminated composite shell element based on the absolute nodal coordinate formulation with the transverse slope coordinates. The shell element accounts for the complex deformation coupling exhibited in fiber-reinforced composite rubber materials used in tires, and the element lockings are systematically eliminated by the assumed natural strain and enhanced strain approaches. Furthermore, various nonlinear material models including incompressible rubber material models can be considered for each layer in a way same as solid elements. The load-deflection curve and the contact patch lengths are validated against the test data to ensure that the fundamental structural tire properties can be correctly captured by the tire model.