Clemson University TigerPrints All Theses Theses 12-2012 Development of a Two-dimensional Model of a Pneumatic Tire Timothy Lewis Clemson University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses Part of the Mechanical Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Lewis, Timothy, "Development of a Two-dimensional Model of a Pneumatic Tire" (2012). All Theses. 1539. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/1539 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. DEVELOPMENT OF A TWO-DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF A PNEUMATIC TIRE A Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science Mechanical Engineering by Timothy R. Lewis December 2012 Accepted by: Dr. Paul F. Joseph, Committee Chair Dr. Timothy B. Rhyne Dr. Gang Li ABSTRACT The pneumatic tire has been studied extensively since its invention in 1888. With the advent of high-powered computers and the use of the finite element method, the understanding of the tire's complex non-linear behavior has grown tremendously. However, one weakness of finite element models is that parameter studies are difficult and time consuming to perform. In contrast, an analytical model can quickly and easily perform extensive parameter studies. To the knowledge of the author, all existing analytical models of the tire make assumptions concerning the tire's behavior and construction that while useful for obtaining some of the first-order characteristics, are limited since they cannot relate tire behavior such as force-deflection to individual tire stiffnesses.