Prediction for Tire - Pavement Contact Stress under Steady - State Conditions based on 3D Finite Element Method

Tire force is one of the important factors influencing mechanical response of pavement structure. Tire force cannot be measured yet under a high-speed rolling condition because of complicated spatial distribution. To provide a representative form of the tire force to pavement mechanical analysis, this paper established an interaction model of rolling tire and rigid surface. To compare with the equivalent single-wheel load for pavement design, an 11.00R20 tire was chosen as a prototype. Steady-state transport analysis was conducted using a mixed Eulerian /Lagrangian approach, in which a rigid body rotation is described in the Eulerian manner and deformation is described in the Lagrangian manner. The influencing mechanism of tire operation parameters on tire force was explored by analyzing the simulation results of tire contact stress under several working conditions. Results demonstrated that three directions of contact stresses, namely, the vertical, longitudinal, and transversal stresses, exist simultaneously under the steady-state rolling condition. Amplitudes of longitudinal and transversal stresses are at the same magnitude with vertical stress, which should not be neglected during the mechanical response analysis of the pavement structure. Tire rolling state, axle load, tire pressure, and pavement friction coefficient could significantly influence the spatial distribution of contact stress, while speed is insignificant to contact stress. The results provide a reference for the establishment of tire force in pavement model, which is the basis of mechanical behaviours and early failure mechanism for pavement surface.