Numerical Simulation of Tire and Wheel Assembly Impact Test Using Finite Element Method

The major concern in design of wheel is their potentiality to bear impact loads. Therefore, wheel impact test is required to fulfill the safety requirement. In this study, there are two objectives; first, the simulation of impact test for wheel is developed according to SAE wheel impact test. Often when vehicle interacts with guardrails, bridge rails and curbs the interaction between roadside hardware and wheel causes wheel damage. The test setup consists of vertically acting striker of mass 480 kg and having prescribed velocity. Energy based approach and total plastic work concept of ductile fracture mechanics is used to predict wheel impact failure. Explicit finite element method is used to investigate stress and displacement distribution and to obtain strain energy density of wheel at impact. Design modification is applied to the wheel to improve its impact performance. Simulation results are compared with experimental results. Second objective is to investigate the effect of the tire portion on the wheel impact performance and to find an effective way for replacing the dynamic impact effect by a static loading. The appropriate percentage of the impact energy absorbed by the tire portion is determined with the help of dynamic simulation.