Tire-Soil Modeling Using Finite Element Analysis and Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics Techniques

New soil models for a tire-soil interaction are developed and compared. A rigid tire model is used to perform an extensive sensitivity study on the previously used Finite Element Analysis (FEA) soft soil (dense sand) to determine the importance of mesh size, soil plot size, and edge constraints. Furthermore, parameters for Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) particles are determined for either complete or partial replacement of FEA elements in the soil model. Rolling resistance tests are then conducted for different FEA, SPH, and FEA/SPH soil models. Replacement of FEA elements with SPH particles is isolated as a variable and it is found that using a deeper amount of SPH particles increases rolling resistance while increasing the SPH particle density has little effect on rolling resistance.