Case Study: Big Tyre accelerates tire design and matches prototype tests with MSC Software Marc

Nonlinear Analysis Accelerates Development of Non-Pneumatic, Non-Solid Tire for Mining Industry

Big Tyre, a company specializing in solid tires for mining vehicles, faced a major design challenge. They were developing a non-pneumatic, non-solid tire with composite leaf springs to replace dangerous pneumatic and uncomfortable solid tires in underground mining. Their existing finite element analysis software was incapable of modeling the extreme nonlinear behavior of their unique design, causing analyses to fail prematurely and inhibiting their ability to meet design criteria, which led to an unsuccessful first full-size prototype.

MSC Software, using its Marc nonlinear FEA product through a partner, provided the solution. MSC Software's Marc was able to accurately model the complex 3D contact, hyper-elastic rubber, and large deformations, delivering results that closely matched physical test data. This allowed Big Tyre to determine the wheel's failure point was 25.7 metric tons, exceeding its 16-ton target. By adopting Marc, Big Tyre accelerated its design process dramatically, enabling the rapid development of an improved second prototype and even the simulation of complete driving maneuvers with obstacles.

Big Tyre

Bruce Louden

Big Tyre