Traditionally speaking, prototype tires are designed, and then tested on an experimental basis to evaluate performance. Using finite element analysis instead allows tire design parameters to be modified at will and underperforming architectures to be ruled out. This paper characterizes the dynamic response of a tubeless pneumatic vehicle tire as it is exposed to sudden impact and determines conditions under which failure would occur. Three cases were studied using a 175SR14 passenger tire, since passenger tires are most commonly used and impacts are more substantial on smaller tires. ABAQUS finite element program was used to perform nonlinear transient dynamic three-dimensional finite element analyses for three commonly tire encountered conditions. The first case, direct curb impact, determined that a safe inflation pressure range for tire velocities exists between 10 and 60 km per hour (kph). The second case, angled curb impact, found a smaller range of 10 to 40kph. The third case, impact with a pothole, found that at low inflation pressures, less stress is produced at higher velocities; increasing inflation pressure results in a transition point, causing larger stresses to be produced at higher velocities. From these analyses, several conclusions are drawn: inflation pressures below 100KPa do not produce a useful relationship between tire velocity and stress; thicker sidewalls help shield the tire from impact failure; and it is better for the tire to accelerate past a pothole in the 30 to 70kph range.
ACCEPT: a three-dimensional finite element program for large deformation elastic-plastic-creep analysis of pressurized tubes (LWBR/AWBA Development Program)
