The Effects of Tire Properties and Their Interaction with the Ground and Suspension on Vehicle Dynamic Behavior — A Finite Element Approach

Abstract

Abstract The effects of tire properties and their interaction with the ground and the suspension system on vehicle dynamic behavior was studied using a newly developed finite element analysis method. This analysis method used the explicit nonlinear dynamic code LS-DYNA as a solver and contained finite element models for both the vehicle body structure and subsystems like chassis/suspension. The case presented in this paper is curb impact. Different tire properties such as tire/wheel assembly mass, tire stiffness, tire inflation pressure, tire size, etc., as well as different curb heights, were used with the same vehicle body and suspension system. Simulation results of the impact forces, wheel center jumps, and vehicle body roll/pitch angles at impact are compared for different parameters of the tires and the curb. The analyses presented in this paper provided an accurate and practical method for tire and vehicle dynamics analysis.