Modelling the interaction between a laterally deflected car tyre and a road surface

Abstract

The interaction between a deflected car tyre and a road surface was modelled under normal and overloaded conditions. The model incorporates the detailed geometry of the car wheel, including a metallic rim reinforcement, a hyper-elastic composite tyre and tyre treads, as well as the geometry of the road surface. The finite element method was used to investigate the nonlinear dynamics of the model and study the influence of tyre deflection on the friction coefficient of the tyre tread. The results were compared under different internal tyre pressures and external wheel loads, including underloaded, normal and overloaded states. The skewness of the distribution of friction coefficients was calculated under these different conditions. The results show that overloading and nonoptimal internal tyre pressure cause reduced and skewed friction, with the asymmetry in the tyre–road contact zone resulting in a moving instability of the car during braking.