Chapter 31: Wheel Drop Test

31 Wheel Drop Test


Summary 505

Introduction 506

Requested Solutions 506

FEM Solution 506

Results 510

Input File(s) 510
 CHAPTER 31 505
Wheel Drop Test

Summary
Title Chapter 31: Wheel Drop Test
Geometry

Impact block: 375 mm ×125 mm ×100 mm

Tire: Outer diameter = 635 mm
Width = 260 mm

Material properties See Summary of Materials

Analysis type Transient explicit dynamic analysis
Boundary conditions • Fixed condition at the center of wheel.
• Constraining to y- and z-direction
Applied loads Translational velocity applied to the impact block
Element type 2-D shell element
3-D solid element
Contact properties
FE results
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Introduction
This is an example of a wheel drop test as required in automotive industry to comply with government regulations. In
this test a rigid block of 540 Kg is dropped at 13° on a wheel. The drop velocity is 2052.8 mm/seconds. Several
contacts are defined to predict the interaction between wheel, tire and the rigid block.
The 13° impact test is one of the requirements mandated by JWL (Japan Light Wheel Alloy). JWL is a set of standards
defined by the Japanese Government to ensure the vehicle's safety for aluminum road wheels. Every wheel must pass
the 13° drop test to meet government regulations before it is introduced in the market. These standards are generally
accepted worldwide for most road conditions.
The main purpose of test is to predict the stability of the vehicle when the tire hits a curb. The joint or the interface
area of the spoke and the rim is an important structural area where it usually experiences high stress concentration. An
acceptable wheel design is when there are no separation of tire and wheel (air leak) and acceptable range of stress and
strain values during the droptest.
This test has become even more important due to the recent trend of a larger and wider wheel with low profile tire
combination. The reason is that there is lower air volume than the standard OE (Original Equipment) and therefore the
inner rim section is subjected to higher stress levels.

Requested Solutions
A numerical analysis will be performed to find the behavior of a wheel and tire. The rigid block drops from 15 mm
above the tire and wheel at 13 degrees. The impact velocity of the block is 2052.8 mm/seconds.

FEM Solution
The original test setup uses a 540 kg rigid block that is dropped at 230 mm height. However, in order to reduce the
analysis time, a small gap of 15 mm is used between the wheel and the block while the initial velocity of the block is
adjusted to 2052.8 mm/sec. The original test set up and analysis model are compared in Figure 31-1.
Four Contacts are defined between:
1. Rigid block and tire
2. Rigid block and wheel
3. Tire and wheel
4. Self contact of tire

Total time of simulation is 0.04 seconds.

 CHAPTER 31 507
Wheel Drop Test

230 mm
2052.8 mm/sec
15 mm

13°

(a) 13 degree impact test (b) Analysis model

o
Figure 31-1 13 Impact Test and Analysis Model

TSTEPNL describes the number of Time Steps (100) and Time Increment (4.e-4 sec) of the simulation. End time is the
product of the two entries. Notice here the Time Increment is only for the first step. The actual number of Time
Increments and the exact value of the Time Steps are determined by SOL 700 during the analysis. The step size of the
output files is determined by the Time Increment as well.
TSTEPNL 1 100 4.-4 1 ADAPT 2 10
Two different boundary conditions are applied. First, the fixed boundary condition is applied at the center of the wheel
as shown in Figure 31-2. Second, the impact block is restrained in translation directions except to move vertically in
the x-direction. The two boundary conditions are defined below.
SPC1 1 123456 864 874 875 876 882 883
...
SPC1 3 23 60001 THRU 60108
...

Red part is fixed

Figure 31-2 Boundary Condition of Wheel

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CHAPTER 31

The initial velocity applied to the impact block is defined by TIC option.
TIC 2 60001 1 -2052.8
...
The material of the tire is rubber composite and its definition needs special attention. The tire consists of seven shell
and seven solid properties as shown in Figure 31-3. Each shell property is defined by PCOMP entry that describes a
composite material laminates. The shell composite properties use orthotropic materials defined by MAT8 and the solid
properties use a rubber material model defined by MATD027. The examples are described as below.
PCOMP 310 0. 0.
301 .5 90. YES
...
PSOLID 250 250 0
...
MATD027 250 1.1-9 .49 4167. .1938
0.
...
MAT8 301 199700. 4400. .148 4400. 1.1-9
...
To model the internal pressure of the tire, the PLOAD4 entry is used to apply 1 N/mm2. The pressure at the cross section
of tire is shown in Figure 31-3.
PLOAD4 4 232401 1. 200105 210101
...

Figure 31-3 Tire Cross Section and Internal Pressure

The Hourglass Suppression Method is used to prevent hourglass behavior of the tire by using HGSUPPR entries.
HGSUPPR, 200, SOLID, 200, 1, , , , 0.040
, , , 0
...
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Wheel Drop Test

Summary of Materials
Impact block - Rigid material:
E (Young’s Modulus) = 2.1e+5 N/mm2
 (Poisson’s ratio) = .3
 density= 1.152e-7 tonne/mm3
Wheel: Elasto-Plastic material
E (Young’s Modulus) = 7.e+4. N/mm2
 (Poisson’s ratio) = .27
 density= 2.7e-9 tonne/mm3
y (yield stress) =250 N/mm2
ET (tangent plastic modulus) = 200 N/mm2
 pu (ultimate plastic strain) = .15

Tire: Composite materials

Details are explained in FEM solution section
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Results
The results show plastic strains only on the wheel.

Figure 31-4 Equivalent Stress Contours in Wheel

Input File(s)
File Description
nug_31.dat MD Nastran input file for wheel impact test example