Normal and shear forces in the contact patch of a braked racing tyre. Part 1: results from a finite-element model

In this first part of a two-part article, a previously described and validated finite-element model of a racing-car tyre is developed further to yield detailed information on carcass deflections and contact pressure and shear stress distributions for a steady rolling, slipping, and cambered tyre. Variations in running conditions simulated include loads of 1500, 3000 and 4500 N, camber angles of 0° and ?3°, and longitudinal slips from 0% to?20%. Special attention is paid to heavy braking, in which context the aligning moment is of great interest. Results generated are in broad agreement with limited experimental results from the literature and they provide considerable insight into how the tyre deforms and how the contact stresses are distributed as functions of the running conditions. Generally, each rib of the tyre behaves differently from the others, especially when the wheel is cambered. The results form a basis for the development of a simpler physical tyre model, the purpose of which is to retain accuracy over the full operating range while demanding much less computational resource. The physical tyre model is the topic of the second part of the article.     

Measurement of stress distributions in truck tyre contact patch in real rolling conditions

Stress distributions on three orthogonal directions have been measured across the contact patch of truck tyres using the complex measuring system that contains a transducer assembly with 30 sensing elements placed in the road surface. The measurements have been performed in straight line, in real rolling conditions. Software applications for calibration, data acquisition, and data processing were developed. The influence of changes in inflation pressure and rolling speed on the shapes and sizes of truck tyre contact patch has been shown. The shapes and magnitudes of normal, longitudinal, and lateral stress distributions, measured at low speed, have been presented and commented. The effect of wheel toe-in and camber on the stress distribution results was observed. The paper highlights the impact of the longitudinal tread ribs on the shear stress distributions. The ratios of stress distributions in the truck tyre contact patch have been computed and discussed.     

3D brush model to predict longitudinal tyre characteristics

A 3D tyre brush model, which aims to predict the longitudinal tyre characteristic under steady-state conditions by modelling the occurring physical effects in the tyre–road contact patch, is presented. The model includes an analytical method to describe the tyre footprint geometry, the pressure distribution, the slip due to the lateral tyre contour, the slip due to braking or traction and the longitudinal as well as the lateral shear stresses on a flattened tyre. The presented development tool offers a method to investigate different rubber friction data (caused by different tread compounds and/or surface textures) and to analyse its influence on longitudinal tyre characteristics. The tyre design is fixed (same casing, dimension and pattern). The results include the shear stresses as well as the different sliding velocities in the contact patch for different slip conditions. The model was developed for a standard summer pattern design and a standard tyre dimension (205/55R16). It can also be adapted to other tread designs and tyre dimensions. To offer a good comparability between model results and test bench measurements, the surface curvature of an internal test rig is considered.     

Tyre rolling kinematics and prediction of tyre forces and moments: part I – theory and method

A new method to describe tyre rolling kinematics and how to calculate tyre forces and moments is presented. The Lagrange–Euler method is used to calculate the velocity and contact deformation of a tyre structure under large deformation. The calculation of structure deformation is based on the Lagrange method, while the Euler method is used to analyse the deformation and forces in the contact area. The method to predict tyre forces and moments is built using kinematic theory and nonlinear finite element analysis. A detailed analysis of the tyre tangential contact velocity and the relationships between contact forces, contact areas, lateral forces, and yaw and camber angles has been performed for specific tyres. Research on the parametric sensitivity of tyre lateral forces and self-aligning torque on tread stiffness and friction coefficients is carried out in the second part of this paper.     

Study of the Pneumatic Tyre Behaviour on Dry and Rigid Road by Finite Element Method

The paper presents a physical tyre model capable of describing the complete pneumatic tyre behaviour during steady and transient states. Given the radial deflection, the longitudinal and lateral slip, the camber angle, the inner pressure and the mechanical parameters describing the tyre structure, the model returns the vertical load, the longitudinal and lateral forces, the self aligning torque. Particular attention has been devoted to the computation (by f.e.m.) of tyre carcass and tread deformations; it is explained how side force increases by moderate braking at constant slip angle. An experimental verification validates the model, although more studies could be needed to improve model effectiveness.     

Contents Index Volume 35 and 36

Active safety systems would benefit from tyre force and friction potential information. Different sensor concepts, including, among others, the EU–funded Apollo–project developed tyre sensor based on optical position detection, are being studied. The sensor can measure tyre carcass deflections with respect to the rim. The carcass deflections can be used to calculate tyre forces and they may be exploited in the estimation of friction potential. The waveforms of the sensor signal are illustrated. The vertical and lateral force estimations are presented with unavoidable compensation parts. The tyre sensor measurements were compared to the measurement–vehicle results and good correlations achieved. Continuing activities are concerned with the estimation of friction potential and the detection of aquaplaning.     

Study of the Pneumatic Tyre Behaviour on Dry and Rigid Road by Finite Element Method

SUMMARY

The paper presents a physical tyre model capable of describing the complete pneumatic tyre behaviour during steady and transient states. Given the radial deflection, the longitudinal and lateral slip, the camber angle, the inner pressure and the mechanical parameters describing the tyre structure, the model returns the vertical load, the longitudinal and lateral forces, the self aligning torque. Particular attention has been devoted to the computation (by f.e.m.) of tyre carcass and tread deformations; it is explained how side force increases by moderate braking at constant slip angle. An experimental verification validates the model, although more studies could be needed to improve model effectiveness.     

Investigation of Features of Tyre Rolling at Non-Small Velocities on the Basis of a Simple Tyre Model with Distributed Mass Periphery

SUMMARY

On the basis of the brush-type tyre model the paper considers the interaction between steady-state rolling deformable wheel and flat road surface as well as corresponding force and moment characteristics of the wheel.

At least two zones of sliding, anisotropic dry friction, sliding friction coefficient speed-dependent and instantaneous leap of the friction coefficient when transition from sliding to adhesion zone occurs, have been taken into account, as well as distributed peripheral mass of tyre, elasticity, pseudo-dry friction and damping properties in radial, tangential and lateral directions of the elements at the wheel periphery, including a visco-elastic belt. Vertical force distribution in the contact area is not supposed to be known in advance and follows from the calculation. As a result, sliding zone lengths, distributed forces in contact area, six components of generalized road reaction reduced to the wheel center, and rolling resistance moment are found as functions of vertical load, movement velocity, longitudinal and side slip, friction in contact area with road, stiffnesses, dry friction and damping in the tyre model elements and of distributed peripheral mass.

A computer program developed in Fortran and results of calculations are of particular interest for qualitative analysis including steady rolling of studded tyre and also racing car and aircraft tyres which peripheral mass shows itself in a special way because of great movement velocities.     

Estimation of the tyre–road maximum friction coefficient and slip slope based on a novel tyre model

In this article, a new approach to estimate the vehicle tyre forces, tyre–road maximum friction coefficient, and slip slope is presented. Contrary to the majority of the previous work on this subject, a new tyre model for the estimation of the tyre–road interface characterisation is proposed. First, the tyre model is built and compared with those of Pacejka, Dugoff, and one other tyre model. Then, based on a vehicle model that uses four degrees of freedom, an extended Kalman filter (EKF) method is designed to estimate the vehicle motion and tyre forces. The shortcomings of force estimation are discussed in this article. Based on the proposed tyre model and the improved force measurements, another EKF is implemented to estimate the tyre model parameters, including the maximum friction coefficient, slip slope, etc. The tyre forces are accurately obtained simultaneously. Finally, very promising results have been achieved for pure acceleration/braking for varying road conditions, both in pure steering and combined manoeuvre simulations.     

Two-Dimensional Contact Area of a Pneumatic Tire Subjected to a Lateral Force

A mathematical model of a two-dimensional contact patch of pneumatic tires rolling over a rigid flat road surface at arbitrary slip and camber angles has been developed. The model is simple in concept, contains few parameters and is applicable to any tire simulation models. In addition to tire geometric parameters and vertical deflection, the carcass camber angle is introduced in the model. This angle is alone responsible for the asymmetric shape of the tire contact patch when the tire undergoes a lateral force. The computed contact patches agree well with the measured patches of an automotive tire at different slip and camber angles. Lastly, the influence of the contact patch geometry on the tire cornering and aligning properties has been discussed through a computational example. It has been shown that the effect of tire contact patch geometry on the steady state behavior is rather remarkable.     

Comparative study of vehicle tyre–road friction coefficient estimation with a novel cost-effective method

This paper qualitatively and quantitatively reviews and compares three typical tyre–road friction coefficient estimation methods, which are the slip slope method, individual tyre force estimation method and extended Kalman filter method, and then presents a new cost-effective tyre–road friction coefficient estimation method. Based on the qualitative analysis and the numerical comparisons, it is found that all of the three typical methods can successfully estimate the tyre force and friction coefficient in most of the test conditions, but the estimation performance is compromised for some of the methods during different simulation scenarios. In addition, all of these three methods need global positioning system (GPS) to measure the absolute velocity of a vehicle. To overcome the above-mentioned problem, a novel cost-effective estimation method is proposed in this paper. This method requires only the inputs of wheel angular velocity, traction/brake torque and longitudinal acceleration, which are all easy to be measured using available sensors installed in passenger vehicles. By using this method, the vehicle absolute velocity and slip ratio can be estimated by an improved nonlinear observer without using GPS, and the friction force and tyre–road friction coefficient can be obtained from the estimated vehicle velocity and slip ratio. Simulations are used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed estimation method.     

A combined-slip predictive control of vehicle stability with experimental verification

In this paper, a model predictive vehicle stability controller is designed based on a combined-slip LuGre tyre model. Variations in the lateral tyre forces due to changes in tyre slip ratios are considered in the prediction model of the controller. It is observed that the proposed combined-slip controller takes advantage of the more accurate tyre model and can adjust tyre slip ratios based on lateral forces of the front axle. This results in an interesting closed-loop response that challenges the notion of braking only the wheels on one side of the vehicle in differential braking. The performance of the proposed controller is evaluated in software simulations and is compared to a similar pure-slip controller. Furthermore, experimental tests are conducted on a rear-wheel drive electric Chevrolet Equinox equipped with differential brakes to evaluate the closed-loop response of the model predictive control controller.     

Analysis of vehicle rollover dynamics using a high-fidelity model

Recent data show that 35% of fatal crashes in sport utility vehicles included vehicle rollover. At the same time, experimental testing to improve safety is expensive and dangerous. Therefore, multi-body simulation is used in this research to improve the understanding of rollover dynamics. The majority of previous work uses low-fidelity models. Here, a complex and highly nonlinear multi-body model with 165 degrees of freedom is correlated to vehicle kinematic and compliance (K&C) measurements. The Magic Formula tyre model is employed. Design of experiment methodology is used to identify tyre properties affecting vehicle rollover. A novel, statistical approach is used to link suspension K&C characteristics with rollover propensity. Research so far reveals that the tyre properties that have the greatest influence on vehicle rollover are friction coefficient, friction variation with load, camber stiffness and tyre vertical stiffness. Key K&C characteristics affecting rollover propensity are front and rear suspension rate, front roll stiffness, front camber gain, front and rear camber compliance and rear jacking force.     

Design of tyre force excitation for tyre–road friction estimation

Knowledge of the current tyre–road friction coefficient is essential for future autonomous vehicles. The environmental conditions, and the tyre–road friction in particular, determine both the braking distance and the maximum cornering velocity and thus set the boundaries for the vehicle. Tyre–road friction is difficult to estimate during normal driving due to low levels of tyre force excitation. This problem can be solved by using active tyre force excitation. A torque is added to one or several wheels in the purpose of estimating the tyre–road friction coefficient. Active tyre force excitation provides the opportunity to design the tyre force excitation freely. This study investigates how the tyre force should be applied to minimise the error of the tyre–road friction estimate. The performance of different excitation strategies was found to be dependent on both tyre model choice and noise level. Furthermore, the advantage with using tyre models with more parameters decreased when noise was added to the force and slip ratio.     

Dynamic Friction Models for Road/Tire Longitudinal Interaction

Summary In this paper we derive a new dynamic friction force model for the longitudinal road/tire interaction for wheeled ground vehicles. The model is based on a dynamic friction model developed previously for contact-point friction problems, called the LuGre model. By assuming a contact patch between the tire and the ground we develop a partial differential equation for the distribution of the friction force along the patch. An ordinary differential equation (the lumped model) for the friction force is developed, based on the patch boundary conditions and the normal force distribution along the contact patch. This lumped model is derived to approximate closely the distributed friction model. Contrary to common static friction/slip maps, it is shown that this new dynamic friction model is able to capture accurately the transient behaviour of the friction force observed during transitions between braking and acceleration. A velocity-dependent, steady-state expression of the friction force versus the slip coefficient is also developed that allows easy tuning of the model parameters by comparison with steady-state experimental data. Experimental results validate the accuracy of the new tire friction model in predicting the friction force during transient vehicle motion. It is expected that this new model will be very helpful for tire friction modeling as well as for anti-lock braking (ABS) and traction control design.     

Dynamic Friction Models for Road/Tire Longitudinal Interaction

Summary In this paper we derive a new dynamic friction force model for the longitudinal road/tire interaction for wheeled ground vehicles. The model is based on a dynamic friction model developed previously for contact-point friction problems, called the LuGre model. By assuming a contact patch between the tire and the ground we develop a partial differential equation for the distribution of the friction force along the patch. An ordinary differential equation (the lumped model) for the friction force is developed, based on the patch boundary conditions and the normal force distribution along the contact patch. This lumped model is derived to approximate closely the distributed friction model. Contrary to common static friction/slip maps, it is shown that this new dynamic friction model is able to capture accurately the transient behaviour of the friction force observed during transitions between braking and acceleration. A velocity-dependent, steady-state expression of the friction force versus the slip coefficient is also developed that allows easy tuning of the model parameters by comparison with steady-state experimental data. Experimental results validate the accuracy of the new tire friction model in predicting the friction force during transient vehicle motion. It is expected that this new model will be very helpful for tire friction modeling as well as for anti-lock braking (ABS) and traction control design.     

Analysis of lateral tyre friction dynamics1

The tyre friction model is a key part of the overall multi-body tyre dynamics model. The LuGre dynamic tyre friction model is analytically linearised for pure cornering conditions. The linearised model parameters are conveniently expressed as functions of static curve slope parameters. The linearised lateral force and self-aligning torque submodels are described by equivalent mechanical systems. The linearised model and equivalent system parameters are analysed for different slip angle and wheel centre speed operating points. An example of the application of linearised tyre friction model to tyre vibration analysis is presented as well.