Finite element analysis of aircraft tire for safety assessment with CV and CPM methods

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a study of radial aircraft tire for safety assessment during various scenarios. Design/methodology/approach A detailed finite element (FE) model of aircraft tire was established based on the actual geometry of the target tire for numerical simulations. As the major component of this tire, rubber material usually presents a complicated mechanical behavior. To obtain the reliable hyperelastic properties of rubber, a series of material tests have been processed. Moreover, in order to validate the proposed model, the simulations results of inflation and static load scenarios were compared with the experimental results. Both of the control volume and corpuscular particle method methods were used in the numerical simulations of aircraft tire. Findings The comparisons of the two methods exhibit close agreement with the experimental results. To assess the safety of aircraft tire during the landing scenario, the dynamic simulations were processed with different landing weights and vertical landing speeds. According to the relevant airworthiness regulations and technical documents, the tire pressure, deflection and load have been chosen as the safety criteria. Subsequently, the analysis, results and comments have been discussed in detail. Originality/value The validated FE model proposed in present study can be effectively used in tire modeling in static and dynamic problems, and also in the design process of aircraft tire.