Three-dimensional finite element analysis of soil interaction with a rigid wheel

1. IntroductionFiniteelementanalysis(FEM)hasbeenutilizedformanyapplicationsinengineering. Early applications of FEM were primarily focused on linearelasticmaterials.However,FEMhasincreasinglybeenutilizedtoanalyzenon-linear,non-elasticmaterialssuchassoil[1].Theseapplicationshavetendedtofocusonstaticsolutionssuchasearthendamsandotherstationarythree-dimensionalsoil-basedstructures.MorerecentlyFEMhasbeenusedinnon-linear,soildynamicapplications[2].Unlikemetals,soilshaveverylittletensilestrength.Whencompressed,theyyieldandbecomepermanentlydeformed.Thesetendenciesmakeanymodelingeffortincludingsoilinteractionnon-linear[3–6].Non-linearproblemstypicallyrequiretheuseoflargenumbersoffiniteelementswhichproduceverylongcomputationaltimes.Specifically,severalagricultural,constructionandmilitaryapplicationsmayrequireFEMtosimulatethethree-dimensional,non-linearinteractionsbe-tween a vehicle and the soil it traverses. These applications presently relyheavilyonbuildandtestdesignmethods.Successfulsimulationwouldprovidetheopportunityforsignificantcostreductioninthedesignprocess.Thispaperfocusesonthecontactandinteractionbetweenawheelandthesoilitismovingover.Uptothispoint,stablesolutionsweretypicallyobtained