Abstract

Belt‐leaving‐belt tread separations in radial tires have been pointed out as a cause of vehicle accidents. This paper presents the results of measurements on the level of forces generated during a tread delamination. This study showed that tires that had been cut to generate a belt‐leaving‐belt separation always generated a leading edge flap and that the interaction of this flap with the vehicle body is responsible for the tractive force generation. The research also showed that the total impulse generated by a belt‐leaving‐belt separation represents a small fraction of the total vehicle momentum at highway speed.