Static tyre/road interaction modelling

The understanding, modelling and predicting of tyre behavioural characteristics, for both static and dynamic applications, requires the consideration of many detailed aspects of this seemingly simple component. In order to investigate the problem more fully, computer analysis techniques are becoming more common than the simplifications associated with analytical methods. The finite element method is one such technique that enables engineers to examine tyre behaviour comprehensively and to predict tyre performance at the design stage. In this paper, attention is drawn to the problem of tyre/road interaction modelling. A purely theoretical approach is presented which gives the analyst more flexibility in changing parameters such as inflation pressure, hub load, and material properties than previously developed experimental/numerical techniques. A gap element formulation is used to model the interaction so that contact patch area, shape and deflection are automatically accounted for under a given load and inflation pressure. Modelling and experimental results are also presented to illustrate the accuracy of the technique.