Abstract
Macroscopic characteristics of tires are affected not only by the construction and shape of the tires but also the microscopic mechanical characteristics of rubber compounds and fiber reinforcements. Therefore, it is important to investigate both micro- and macro-scale structural behaviors in the tire concurrently. Rubber compounds are made of soft polymer and stiff filler such as carbon black and silica, and usually experience very large deformation under normal service condition Large deformation analysis of rubber compounds using finite element method can cause severe element distortion and break down the computation The authors have developed the thrictionalities as needed in the microscopic simulation and design of rubber compound by means of implicit Element-Free Galerkin method (EFG). The applications of implicit EFG to particle filled rubbers and fiber reinforced rubbers are illustrated in this paper.
