Numerical Simulations of the Driving Process of a Wheeled Machine Tire on a Snow-Covered Road

Abstract

Wheeled machines, such as agricultural tractors, snowplows, and wheeled mobile robots, usually work on icy or snow-covered roads. Therefore, it is very important to study the driving and slip resistance of the tires of these machines. In this paper, we investigate the driving behavior of tires on snow-covered terrain by means of numerical simulations. A high-fidelity snow-covered road model is established, and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) and the finite element method (FEM) are employed to account for the behaviors of the snow layers and the pavement, respectively. We use the node-to-surface algorithm for the contact interactions between the snow and the pavement. The SPH parameters for the snow are calibrated by means of a triaxial compression experiment. A simplified tire model is established as well, using the FEM, and the effectiveness of the model is demonstrated via comparisons with the experimental data in terms of stiffness. Finally, the tire driving performance on the snow-covered road is simulated, and the influence of the tire surface configuration, external load, inflation pressure, and snowpack compression on the tire traction behaviors is systematically investigated.