Development of accurate pneumatic tyre finite element models based on an optimization procedure

A novel method for extracting the geometric and constitutive material properties of pneumatic tyres from available numerical or experimental data for the development of realistic and reliable tyre numerical models is proposed. This method involves an optimization procedure, which incorporates a finite element model as a solver (ABAQUS) properly coupled with an optimiser function (MATLAB). Following that, an initial tyre model (P235/75R17) is developed, and then its properties are suitably adjusted via the optimization process, in order for the former to best fit a target model available in the literature, with respect to eigenfre-quency analysis results. After the termination of the algorithm, the “optimum” tyre model (i.e. the model which best conforms to the target model) is obtained, the response of which is further investigated to ensure its realistic behaviour, which warrants its use for various numerical simulations. The results of this study show clearly the efficiency of the optimization procedure proposed, as well as the realistic response of the tyre model developed