Wang Youshan

Research on Vulcanization Process Simulation of Butyl Rubber Based on a New Characterization Model of Curing Degree

Butyl rubber is an isobutylene/isoprene copolymer and is provided with good properties including low permeability to gases, good thermal stability and high resistance to oxygen and ozone action, among others. It is well known that the end-use rubber properties depend on the state of cure distribution in the rubber products. This work aimed to predict the state of cure in vulcanization process of butyl rubber by the finite element simulation based on a new characterization model. For describing the cure state, the new characterization model of curing degree was developed, which was implemented in finite element simulation model by the secondary development of ABAQUS software subroutine UVARM. To improve the accuracy, the vulcanization reaction heat was also considered, which was implemented by the subroutine HETVAL. Results indicated that the predicated results of curing degree based on the simulation model are according to the experiments. The model can be well distinguished the curing stages and its degree, such as under curing, positive curing, over curing. It would give a valuable guide for optimizing the vulcanization processing of butyl rubber or other vulcanized rubbers.

Driving performance of off-road vehicle matching with tire by simulation

The dynamic performance of the integrated system matched by the tire and the vehicle are the main factors for the driving performance of the vehicle. In order to improve the accuracy of simulation on driving performance of off-road vehicle and match correctly between the tire and the vehicle, the finite element method was used to establish model of radial tire and analysis the characteristics of tire in driving state, and the brush model of the tire are introduced contrastively. The dynamics models of the off-road vehicle which provide an off-line dynamic simulation for driving performance of the vehicle are investigated in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. The driving performance of the vehicle selected previously is investigated experimentally. There is an excellent agreement between the numerical and the experimental results.