Thermo-Mechanical Behavior Simulation and Experimental Validation of Segmented Tire Molds Based on Multi-Physics Coupling

Abstract

To address the challenges of unclear thermo-mechanical coupling mechanisms and unpredictable multi-field synergistic effects in segmented tire molds during vulcanization, this study focuses on segmented tire molds and proposes a multi-physics coupling numerical model. This model integrates fluid flow dynamics into heat transfer mechanisms. It systematically reveals molds’ heat transfer characteristics, stress distribution and deformation behavior under combined high-temperature and mechanical loading. Based on a fluid-solid-thermal coupling framework and experimental validations, simulations indicate that the internal temperature field of the mold is highly uniform. The global temperature difference is less than 0.13%. The temperature load has a significant dominant effect on the deformation of key components such as the guide ring and installation ring. Molding forces play a secondary role in total stress. The error between multi-field coupling simulation results and experimental results is controlled within 6%, verifying the model’s reliability. This research not only provides a universally applicable multi-field coupling analysis method for complex mold design but also highlights the critical role of temperature fields in stress distribution and deformation analysis. This lays a theoretical foundation for the intelligent design and process optimization of high-temperature, high-pressure forming equipment.

Keywords

• segmented tire mold
• multi-physics coupling
• numerical simulation
• heat transfer analysis