Polymeric materials find extensive applications across various engineering sectors. Among these, a particularly critical application for these materials is in the field of roller coasters. The wheels are typically made with an aluminum hub and a dense polyurethane coating, which, being in contact with the track, endures dynamic loads at high speeds. Due to the viscoelastic behavior typical of polymeric materials, these loads induce overheating of the coating leading to rapid degradation of the wheel. This results in machine downtime and a significant waste of time and money. In this manuscript, a methodology for finite element thermal-structural analysis has been developed. This method allows for the rapid evaluation of temperatures reached during operational cycles if compared to classical coupled-field thermal-structural analysis. The proposed methodology proves to be useful in selecting the appropriate type of wheels during the design phase requiring short computational time. The study first involved the development of the methodology, followed by validation through a comparison of analysis results with data obtained from experimental tests conducted by the manufacturer.

中文翻译：

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用于评估聚氨酯涂层车轮温度分布的有限元程序


聚合物材料在各个工程领域都有广泛的应用。其中，这些材料的一个特别关键的应用是在过山车领域。车轮通常由铝轮毂和致密的聚氨酯涂层制成，与履带接触，可承受高速下的动态载荷。由于聚合物材料典型的粘弹性行为，这些载荷会引起涂层过热，导致车轮快速降解。这会导致机器停机并严重浪费时间和金钱。在这份手稿中，开发了一种有限元热结构分析方法。与经典的耦合场热结构分析相比，该方法可以快速评估运行周期期间达到的温度。事实证明，所提出的方法有助于在需要较短计算时间的设计阶段选择适当类型的车轮。该研究首先涉及方法的开发，然后通过将分析结果与制造商进行的实验测试获得的数据进行比较进行验证。