What is Pratt & Miller (PM) FlexTire™
PM FlexTire™ enables realistic deformable tire simulation within the Altair EDEM environment. It can operate as a standalone solver inside EDEM or be co-simulated with multibody dynamics (MBD) tools such as Altair MotionView/MotionSolve.
PM-FlexTire™ is a simplified finite element tire model composed of five sections: rubber carcass, inner liner, belt liner, sidewall, and bead. The rubber carcass is represented using tetrahedral mesh elements, while the liners are modeled with triangular shell elements. This modeling approach allows the PM-FlexTire™ to accurately simulate tire deformation under vehicle loading on a particle bed in EDEM.
In the example shown below, rolling resistance is compared between a rigid tire and the flexible PM FlexTire™ under identical conditions. The results show that rolling resistance is significantly lower when using the flexible tire, which is attributed to reduced soil displacement compared to the rigid tire.
Below is a video showing a single flexible tire rolling across a bed of particles in EDEM with a internal pressure of 25 psi (1.7 bar).
Below is a video showing a single rigid tire rolling across the same bed of particles in EDEM.
PM FlexTire™ is available through the Altair Partner Alliance (APA). To gain access, please contact your Altair Account Manager or obtain support from the Altair Community
Required Inputs:
- Tire geometry: PM FlexTire™ accepts:
- A
.bdf file if you wish to supply your own mesh. - An
.stp file that can be batch-meshed using Altair HyperMesh.
Required Inputs:
Tire geometry: PM-FlexTire™ accepts two different types of file formats for input, either a bdf-file if the user wants to create their own mesh, or an STP file can be provided that is then meshed in batch using Altair HyperMesh.
Optional Inputs (for maximum accuracy):
To improve simulation fidelity, additional tire measurements or simulation results (from high-fidelity FEA tire models) for the tire at a given inflation pressure are recommended:
- Inflated radius
- Vertical force-deformation curve
- Rolling resistance data
If anisotropic behavior is required, additional data on:
- Lateral force-deformation
- Torsional torque-deformation
will be necessary for accurate calibration.
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