A Radial-Spring Terrain-Enveloping Tire Model

A radial-spring tire model was developed to envelop irregular features of a rigid terrain and redefine the terrain as an “equivalent ground plane” reflecting both the elevation and slope characteristic of the original terrain contacting the tire. Three different methods were proposed for defining the maximum deflection of the tire, thereby locating the “equivalent ground plane” and defining the radial tire force. Errors in the maximum tire deflections resulting from approximations in the solution procedure could be maintained below 3 per cent of the actual tire deflections when the tire model was tested on a rigid planar surface.