cae case studies: rubber tire non-linear contact analysis

This analysis resulted as an offshoot of a project Alcyon did for a wheel-rim manufacturer. While analyzing the wheel rim, the Alcyonite, out of curiosity, did a separate study of the rubber tire, by using the NX Nastran Advanced Nonlinear solver (ADINA: SOL 601,106).

The tire was modeled with hexahedral solid elements (CHEXA) which were assigned hyperelastic (MATHP) properties for rubber, using the Generalized Mooney-Rivlin Model. (NX Nastran 4 onwards includes the new MATHE card for this purpose, however this analysis was done with NX Nastran 3.0). The ground was modeled as a single quadrilateral shell (CQUAD4) element with a high stiffness to ensure rigidity. The tire is in a deflated state (no internal pressure), hence its stiffness is quite low as is seen from the animation.