Numerical evaluation of the temperature field of steady-state rolling tires

Rubber is the main component of pneumatic tires. The tire heating is caused by the hysteresis effects due to the deformation of the rubber during operation. Tire temperatures can depend on many factors, including tire geometry, inflation pressure, vehicle load and speed, road type and temperature and environmental conditions. The focus of this study is to develop a finite element approach to computationally evaluate the temperature field of a steady-state rolling tire. For simplicity, the tire is assumed to be composed of rubber and body-ply. The nonlinear mechanical behavior of the rubber is characterized by a Mooney–Rivlin model while the body-ply is assumed to be linear elastic material. The coupled effects of the inflation pressure and vehicle loading are investigated. The influences of body-ply stiffness are studied as well. The simulation results show that loading is the main factor to determine the temperature field. The stiffer body-ply causes less deformation of rubber and consequently decreases the temperature.