Modeling of Steel Reinforced Flexible Hoses
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Publicerad
2019
Författare
Paramasivam, Shankar
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
Steel reinforcements are commonly used to strengthen rubber hoses which are used in high pressure
applications (in the field of engineering). Reinforced hoses become stiff when subjected to pressure. Thus,
there is a requirement to model reinforcements which would predict the effect of stiffening. Modeling
helically wounded reinforcements is the main focus of this work. Deformation of helically reinforced rubber
hoses under pressure depend on the helix angle at which the reinforcement is laid around the hose.
The current study was carried out at Fraunhofer Chalmers Centre and used its in-house solver to perform
numerical calculations. Additional functionalities have been added to the solver to model reinforcements.
The reinforcements are generally modeled using one-dimensional elements which are incorporated inside a
volume model of rubber. In this work, truss elements are formulated to model reinforcements. Primarily,
two models have been implemented, namely, the coupled model which models rubber and reinforcements
separately with a spring constraint on the their displacements to couple them together and an embedded
model which involves adding the stiffness contribution of the 1D model to the 3D model. Other simplified
models have also been considered.
The effect of the neutral angle, at which the reinforced hose does not deform axially under an internal
pressure, has been captured by all the models with the coupled and embedded models having a good
agreement with the theoretical value. Further, bending and torsion experiments are simulated using the
coupled model. The results of these simulations shows that the model is able to demonstrate the stiffening
effect of reinforced hoses and that there is a dependency between pressure and the stiffness of the hose.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
Hydraulic Hose , Reinforcements , Spring Coupling , Truss Elements , Embedded Technique