Title: Development and validation of a FE model of a mining vehicle tyre

Authors: Zhanbiao Li; Aleksander Tonkovich; Sante Dicecco; William Altenhof; Henry Hu; Richard Banting

Addresses: Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4, Canada ' Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4, Canada ' Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4, Canada ' Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4, Canada ' Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4, Canada ' Workplace Safety North, P.O. Box 2050 Stn. Main, 690 McKeown Avenue, North Bay, Ontario, P1B 9P1, Canada

Abstract: Due to the harsh operating conditions and high payload requirements of heavy mining vehicles, extremely durable, stiff and large, heavy sized tyres are necessary to meet functional requirements. This necessitates the use of multi-piece wheels to allow mounting of the tyre. As part of an on-going study to enhance the safety and design of multi-piece heavy mining vehicle wheels, finite element methods are applied to develop a tyre model of a bias-ply Goodyear 29.5-29 Smooth, D/L 5D (I-5S) 40 ply model used on a Caterpillar R2900G load-haul-dump (LHD) scoop. The model is validated based on manufacturer engineering data, static load testing and quasi-static testing. Tyre deformation was determined using non-contact displacement transducers and analysis of high speed imagery acquired during testing which was representative of harsh tyre loading. Development of an FE model of the wheel and tyre assembly model was completed and error estimates on the displacement measurements on several locations of the tyre, representing vertical, horizontal and out-of-plane deformations, were typically less than 10% when compared to experimental observations. Maximum values of the vertical and lateral deflections of the tyre in both experimental and numerical investigations, considering the most severe loading case within this investigation, were observed to be approximately 80 mm and 30 mm, respectively. This study details the methodology used in the development of a high fidelity numerical mining vehicle tyre model capable of simulating static and quasi-static loading conditions.

Keywords: heavy vehicles; mining vehicles; finite element analysis; FEA; tyre modelling; wheel assembly modelling; vehicle tyres; model validation; vehicle safety; vehicle design; finite element method; FEM; tyre deformation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.2014.060814

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 2014 Vol.65 No.2/3, pp.176 - 201

Published online: 30 Oct 2014 *

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