Multiscale Progressive Failure Analysis of Cord-Rubber Composites

The fatigue life of tire structures can be predicted by micromechanics-based progressive failure analysis. A commercial code based on multiscale progressive failure analysis is implemented to provide theoretical predictions for damage development in cord-rubber composites in tire structures. Vulcanized rubber, reinforcing belts and carcass used in tire structures cause the anisotropic and viscoelastic behaviors under different loading conditions. Steel reinforcement layers made of steel wires combined with rubber in tire structures complicate the finite element modeling in macro scales. Hence, the fine mesh is required in the belt region in order to evaluate shear stress between the rebar belt elements. This paper presents a new three-dimensional modeling for the cord-rubber composite in tires to predict the lifetime of tires and different types of damage including matrix cracking, delamination, and fiber failure from the micro-scale analysis.