Verification of Tire Hydroplaning Phenomenon Using Coupled FSI Simulation by CFD and FEM

Hydroplaning phenomenon is one of the major factors that must be considered to ensure safe driving on wet road surfaces. In this paper, the approach to numerical simulation of the physical hydroplaning characteristics using patterned tire is described. A detailed 3-D patterned tire model is constructed by in-house modeling program and the water flow is considered as incompressible. The complex tire material compositions are effectively modeled using composites, and rubber properties generalize the Mooney-Rivlin model. The finite element method (FEM) and the advanced finite volume method (FVM) are used for structural and for fluid-tire interaction analysis, respectively. Performance prediction of hydroplaning via coupling of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and FEM has delivered a detailed insight into the local mechanisms and root causes of hydroplaning. Numerical examples were verified by comparing the experimental test results and it is confirmed to indicate similar correlation tendency and high reliability. The effect of driving velocity, pattern groove size, and pattern direction on hydroplaning phenomenon of tire is discussed and logical results were obtained.

Finite Element Analysis for Groove Wander Prediction of Passenger Car Tires with the Longitudinal Tread Grooves

A finite element modeling technique is employed in this paper to predict the groove wander of longitudinal tread grooved tires. In generally, groove wander is the lateral force acting on a vehicle’s wheel resulting from the combination of rain grooves. If the lateral force of tire is generated by groove wander, unexpected lateral motion of vehicle will happen and it makes drivers uncomfortable. This paper describes the effect of groove wander according to the shape condition of tire tread groove and highway groove using the finite element analysis based on a static loading or a steady-state rolling assumption. The road groove can be located anywhere relative to the longitudinal tread groove. Therefore, the lateral force of the tire is changing depending on the location of the groove road. The numerical results for groove wander prediction of the longitudinal tread grooved tires are compared with the subjective evaluation. It is found that the waveform for the tire with varying grooved road position has a peak-to-peak lateral force in order to estimate the rating of groove wander. The effect of the road groove width and the pitch length on the peak-to-peak lateral force of tire is discussed. It is found that the prediction of FEA-based groove wander model using finite element analysis will be useful for the reliability design of the tire tread pattern design.

Numerical Estimation of the Uneven Wear of Passenger Car Tires

Tire wear is a very complicated phenomenon that is influenced by various factors such as tire material, structure, vehicle and road conditions. In order to evaluate tire wear, a method for measuring tire wear using the intensity of reflected light was presented?[1]. It comprises applying a single layer of reflected paint to a tread surface by spraying, and then measuring the intensity of light reflected from a matrix of blocks on the unworn tire. In this paper, a numerical technique for predicting the uneven wear of passenger car tire is presented. The uneven tire wear produced in wheel alignment condition with vehicle speed, camber angle, and toe angle is predicted by the frictional dynamic rolling analysis of 3D patterned tire model. The proposed numerical technique is illustrated through the method of paint testing the wear on the tread surface of a tire.

Prediction of Burst Pressure of a Radial Truck Tire Using Finite Element Analysis

This paper is concerned with the numerical prediction of the burst pressure of a radial truck tire. Even though relatively rare, the tire fracture or failure brings up a big accident. Especially, the tire burst or rupture is a rapid loss of inflation pressure of a truck and bus tire leading to an explosion. The tire burst pressure, under this extreme loading condition, can be predicted by identifying the pressure at which the cord breaking force of the composite materials is attained. Recently, the use of finite element analysis in tire optimal design has become widely popular. In order to determine the burst pressure of a radial truck tire, an axisymmetric finite element model has been developed using a commercial finite element code with rebar element. The numerical result shows that the bead wire among the various layers modeled the rebar element breaks off first in the radial truck tire. The finite element modeling with the rebar element on the bead wire of a radial truck tire is able to well predict the tire burst pressure identifying the pressure at which the breaking force of steel bead wires is reached. The model predictions of tire burst pressure should be correlated with test data, in which case the tire is hydro-tested to destruction. The effect of the design change with the different bead structure on the tire burst pressure is discussed.

Global-Local Finite Element Analysis for Predicting Separation in Cord-Rubber Composites of Radial Truck Tires

A global-local finite element modeling technique is employed in this paper to predict the separation in steel cord-rubber composite materials of radial truck tires. The local model uses a finite element analysis in conjunction with a glob-al-local technique in ABAQUS. A 3-dimensional finite element local model calculates the maximum cyclic shear strain of an interface between steel cord and rubber materials at the carcass ply shoulder region. It is found that the maximum cyclic shear strain is reliable as a result of the analysis of carcass ply separation in radial truck tires. Using the analysis of the local model, a study of the cyclic shear strain is performed in the shoulder region and used to deter-mine the carcass ply separation. The effect of the change of carcass ply design on the separation in steel cord-rubber composite materials of radial truck tires is discussed.

Finite Element Analysis of Tire Traction Using a Rubber-Ice Friction Model

The friction of road surface covered by snow or ice is very low and that results in reducing vehicle traction forces and potential traffic accidents. In general, to establish a master curve on a rubber-ice friction model is difficult because the ice surface, being not far removed from its melting point, reacts itself very sen-sitively to pressure, speed, and temperature changes. In this paper, an accepta-ble frictional interaction model was implemented to finite element method to rationally examine the frictional interaction behavior on ice between the tire and the road surface. The formula of friction characteristic according to tem-perature and sliding velocity on the ice surface was applied for tire traction analysis. Numerical results were verified by comparing the outdoor test data and it was confirmed to indicate similar correlation. It is found that the rub-ber-ice friction model will be useful for the improvement of the ice traction performance of tire.

The Effect of Tire Design Parameters on the Force Transmissibility

A finite element modeling technique is employed in this paper to predict the force transmissibility of tire-cavity-wheel assembly under a free-fixed condition. The tire and wheel force transmissibility is factor in structure borne road noise performance. In order to improve structure borne noise, it is required to lower the 1st peak frequency of force transmissibility. This paper presents an application of finite element analysis modeling along with experimental verification to predict the force transmissibility of tire and wheel assembly. The results of finite element analysis for force transmissibility are shown to be in good agreement with the results from the indoor test. In order to improve structure borne noise, it is required to lower the 1st peak frequency of force transmissibility. And, the effect of the tire design parameters such as the density and modulus of a rubber and the cord stiffness on the force transmissibility is discussed. It is found that the prediction of the force transmissibility model using finite element analysis will be useful for the improvement of the road noise performance of passenger car tire.