Development of temperature prediction model for rubber caster wheels using finite elements

Caster wheels made with rubber rings fail during dynamic loading as a result of heat buildup. Temperature inside caster wheel increase gradually due to hysteresis effect of rubber material. Therefore, dynamically testing of rubber caster wheels is critical to evaluate new designs for their successful application. In such tests, caster wheels are rotated on a drum under a predetermined load and speed to evaluate their performance. Alternatively, this paper proposes a temperature prediction model to forecast the failure of the wheel using numerical approach. The objectives were to evaluate the temperature development inside the wheel using finite elements. In this pursuit, temperature inside several caster wheels were measured during dynamic tests. Based on the logged temperature data and raw material tests, finite element simulation of caster wheels was performed. Simulations were carried out in three steps; at first structural simulation, followed by determination of energy conversion factors and finally thermal simulation. The predicted temperature profiles and test data were closely matching with a R
²
of 0.9, which eliminates the requirement for iterative dynamic tests. However, further work is needed to predict the failures of caster wheels based on developed model.