Experimental and computational analysis of stress-strain state of pneumatics in breaker zone under mechanical effects

The paper is devoted to the calculation of the stress-strain state of interior regions of laminated composite structures (pneumatic tires) with the application of the finite element method. It is shown that the approaches to modeling of the rubber-cord structure of a tire (using rod, membrane, or three-dimensional isotropic elements simulating the separate cord threads and the rubber matrix) affect the calculation results. For this reason, the results of calculations need to be correlated with the experimental data. The polarization-optical method is used as the experimental method for determining the stresses in the interior regions of a tire. An experimental and computational method of determining the stress-strain state of pneumatic tires is proposed. The method is intended for the selection of a technique for simulating the laminated structure of pneumatic tires in terms of the correlation with the experimental data on standard tires.