Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
 | 
Online Publication Date: 01 Dec 2007

Prediction of Tread Pattern Wear by an Explicit Finite Element Model3

and
Page Range: 276 – 299
DOI: 10.2346/1.2804913
Save
Download PDF

Abstract

Tread pattern wear is predicted by using an explicit finite element model (FEM) and compared with the indoor drum test results under a set of actual driving conditions. One pattern is used to determine the wear rate equation, which is composed of slip velocity and tangential stress under a single driving condition. Two other patterns with the same size (225/45ZR17) and profile are used to be simulated and compared with the indoor wear test results under the actual driving conditions. As a study on the rubber wear rate equation, trial wear rates are assumed by several constitutive equations and each trial wear rate is integrated along time to yield the total accumulated wear under a selected single cornering condition. The trial constitutive equations are defined by independently varying each exponent of slip velocity and tangential stress. The integrated results are compared with the indoor test results, and the best matching constitutive equation for wear is selected for the following wear simulation of two other patterns under actual driving conditions. Tens of thousands of driving conditions of a tire are categorized into a small number of simplified conditions by a suggested simplification procedure which considers the driving condition frequency and weighting function. Both of these simplified conditions and the original actual conditions are tested on the indoor drum test machines. The two results can be regarded to be in good agreement if the deviation that exists in the data is mainly due to the difference in the test velocity. Therefore, the simplification procedure is justified. By applying the selected wear rate equation and the simplified driving conditions to the explicit FEM simulation, the simulated wear results for the two patterns show good match with the actual indoor wear results.

Keywords: wear rate equation; frequency; tread pattern wear; explicit FEM
Copyright: The Tire Society
FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.

Wear prediction procedure.

FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.

FEM generation process.

FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.

FEMs of patterned tires.

FIG. 4.
FIG. 4.

Cross-section wear profiles of pattern A.

FIG. 5.
FIG. 5.

Contour plot of wear results for pattern A.

FIG. 6.
FIG. 6.

All load conditions of the drive file.

FIG. 7.
FIG. 7.

Weight value of B and C tires at 45 load condition.

FIG. 8.
FIG. 8.

Weight function surface.

FIG. 9.
FIG. 9.

Integrated occurrence frequency at each simplified load condition.

FIG. 10.
FIG. 10.

Average camber angle and normal load graph.

FIG. 11.
FIG. 11.

Test sequence of the simplified drive file.

FIG. 12.
FIG. 12.

Lateral force and fore/aft torque sequence of the simplified drive file.

FIG. 13.
FIG. 13.

Simplified indoor wear versus actual indoor wear of patterns B and C.

FIG. 14.
FIG. 14.

Explicit FEM procedure.

FIG. 15.
FIG. 15.

Controlled responses of SLC no. 41 by explicit FEM procedure.

FIG. 16.
FIG. 16.

Cross-section wear profiles of pattern B.

FIG. 17.
FIG. 17.

Contour plot of tread wear by indoor test and by prediction for pattern B.

FIG. 18.
FIG. 18.

Cross-section wear profiles of pattern C.

FIG. 19.
FIG. 19.

Contour plot of tread wear by the indoor test and by prediction for pattern C.

FIG. 20.
FIG. 20.

Cross-section wear profiles of patterns B and C.

  • Download PDF