Numerical investigation of the deformation characteristics and heat generation in pneumatic aircraft tires .1. Mechanical modeling

A numerical methodology to study the temperature rise in aircraft tires under free rolling conditions is presented in this article. In the first part, we study the deformation characteristics of the tire to determine the heat generation due to the inelastic deformation (viscoelasticity), which is assumed to be the main source of heat generation under free rolling conditions. The heat generation is then used as an input to solve the heat transfer problem which is addressed in the second part of this article. A methodology which considers a 2-D formulation with the contribution of out-of-plane forces is presented. This methodology allows for a significant reduction of the computational requirements of 3-D analysis while capturing the main 3-D effects. The deformation pattern as well as the stress and strain fields are presented for a cross-section of the tire at several locations.