High-Fidelity Finite Element Modelling and Simulation of Solid Resilient Tire: Application to Forklift Solid Resilient Tire

Solid tires are utilized for excessive material handling purposes. They experience excessive stresses and high internal energy generation. These factors are not easy to be captured using experimental methods due to complex experimental setup and high cost. Hence, this study is focused on development of a detailed three-dimensional (3D) Finite Element (FE) model of a three-layered forklift solid resilient tire to investigate its characteristics at static conditions. Mooney-Rivlin, Ogden and Yeoh materials model were identified as the best suited hyper-elastic material models that have good agreement with base, cushion and tread of this tire respectively. The developed FE model was validated and its characteristics were investigated at different loads and grade levels of ramp. The results emphasized that, localized high stresses are mainly distributed in the base layer and reinforcements. Cushion layer was identified as the highest energy dissipation area. Furthermore, Forklift gradeability analysis results show that higher-grade values lead to poor tire performances with high wear rate. This study can be further extended to investigate the dynamic behavior of the solid resilient tire.