Method of and apparatus for simulating rolling tire

Abstract

A method of simulating a rolling tire and a simulator are disclosed, the simulating method comprises the steps of: dividing the tire into a tire body and a tread part therearound, wherein the tire body is defined as a toroidal part of the tire which is materially and geometrically the same or constant along the tire circumferential direction, and the tread part is defined as the remaining annular part around the tire body; modeling the tire body in finite elements; modeling the tread part in finite elements; combining the tread model with the body model to form a tire model; adjusting the beads of the tire model to a wheel rim on which the tire is mounted; contacting the tire model with a road model; moving the road model at predetermined time intervals relatively to the tire model, giving running conditions; obtaining information about the tire model as numerical data in time sequence; and processing the numerical data in time sequence to be outputted as a visible information. Preferably, the body model comprises models of the bead cores, rubber parts, and cord reinforcements each comprising a model of a cord ply and a model of topping rubber, wherein the cord ply is modeled in quadrilateral membrane elements defined as an orthotropic material, and the topping rubber is modeled in hexahedral solid elements.