Modeling of the contact pressure distribution between the tire bead and bead seat of vehicle wheel

The equivalent stresses in wheel rim obtained by a simulation based on the assumption proposed by J. Stearns that the distribution of contact pressure between tire bead and bead seat follows the cosine law are significantly deviated from test results. To resolve this problem, the contact pressure distribution between tire bead and bead seat is measured first and a curve of the change of distributed pressure caused by applying radial load on wheel rim is obtained. Then a novel contact pressure distribution model between tire bead and bead seat is built based on the fitting of that pressure distribution curve obtained. Finally a simulation is conducted on the new model built. The results show that with the new contact pressure distribution model built, an equivalent stress distribution in wheel rim closer to reality can be obtained.