Sensitivity Analysis of Tire-Soil Interaction Using Finite Element Analysis and Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Techniques

This paper presents the modelling, calibration and sensitivity analysis of LETE sand soil using Visual Environment’s Pam Crash. LETE sand is modelled and converted from Finite Element Analysis mesh (FEA) to Smooth-particle hydrodynamics (SPH). The sand is then calibrated using terramechanics published data by simulating a pressure sinkage test and shear box test using the SPH LETE sand particles. The material properties such as tangent modulus, yield strength and bulk modulus are configured so the simulation’s results match those of theoretical values. Sensitivity analysis of the calibrated LETE sand material is then investigated. The sensitivity analysis includes mesh size, plate geometry, smoothing length, max smoothing length, artificial viscosity and contact thickness. The effect of these parameters on the sand behavior is analyzed. Finally, SPH LETE Sand is used to determine the rolling resistance coefficient of FEA off-road truck tire size 315/80R22.5 for different mesh size sand particles. The results found within this paper will be continued in regard to achieving better understanding of vehicle dynamics for tire-terrain interaction.