Numerical simulations of compacted snow penetration tests using CTI penetrometer, Clegg hammer, and vane-cone device

Abstract

Numerical simulations are essential for assessing tire performance on snowy roads, enhancing safety, traction, and handling. Their accuracy depends on robust constitutive models and numerical methods capable of capturing snow's nonlinear behavior. Many studies rely on traditional FEM methods and calibration-based parameter identification, which limit the accuracy of compacted snow behavior predictions for various loadings. This study develops a systematic methodology for identifying and validating constitutive model parameters of compacted snow (500 kg/m³ density), using laboratory testing data. Experimental data from Direct Shear Tests (DST) and Confined Compression Tests (CCT) were used to determine Drucker-Prager Cap plasticity material model parameters, ensuring accurate representation of compacted snow under shear and compression loading. Then, the material model was verified through numerical simulations of DST and CCT by comparing the results with the experimental data. Simulations of the CTI penetrometer, Clegg hammer, and vane-cone device were also performed using the identified snow material model and different numerical methods including Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE), Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH), and hybrid SPH-FEM. The simulation results were compared to in-situ test data to evaluate the accuracy, stability, and computational efficiency of the numerical methods. In future, the understanding developed in this study could be used in the identification of snow material parameters directly from in-situ penetration data for simulation of regulatory tests (e.g. ASTM F1805) and consequently in virtual validation of winter tire models.