Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
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Online Publication Date: 01 Dec 2008

Prediction of Tire Profile Wear by Steady-State FEM5

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Page Range: 290 – 303
DOI: 10.2346/1.2999703
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Abstract

Much research is being done in the tire industry in order to reduce tire development time as well as cost. One such field of particular importance is that of tread wear, where testing time for indoor tests is measured in days, compared to weeks for outdoor tests. Development time could be further reduced if a “virtual wear test” could be performed using a finite element approach to predict friction energy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the link between indoor tread wear profile and steady-state finite element prediction of friction energy. Blank grooved tires of a common construction with three different tread compounds are run through indoor wear tests of different severities to study severity versus compound interaction. The drive files provide a mix of low-speed cornering maneuvers that simulate city driving as well as highway speed steady-state rolling with acceleration and braking events. One drive file places more emphasis on the city maneuvers while the other places emphasis on the highway driving. Using the steady-state finite element model, a composite friction energy is calculated from friction energy predictions at selected loading conditions taken from the drive file events. The composite friction energy profile is finally compared to laser measurements of the worn tire profile to examine the feasibility of a “virtual wear test.”

Keywords: tread wear; indoor wear; friction energy; virtual wear; rolling contact; steady-state FEM
Copyright: The Tire Society
FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.

Lateral tire load trace (Fy) through time for both the standard and severe drive files. Note how the severe drive file has twice as many city turns as the standard drive file. The turns take place between 300 and 430 seconds.

FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.

Load traces for standard and severe drive file: (a) lateral force left turn, (b) lateral force right turn, (c) braking torque, and (d) driving torque.

FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.

Tread loss as measured from laser scanning for standard drive file.

FIG. 4.
FIG. 4.

Tread loss as measured from laser scanning for severe drive file.

FIG. 5.
FIG. 5.

Difference in predicted friction energy using Coulomb friction and local friction models in a right-turn event, standard drive file, all-season compound.

FIG. 6.
FIG. 6.

Average measured wear per rib and predicted average wear per rib.

FIG. 7.
FIG. 7.

Predicted and measured wear profiles, severe drive file, for (a) all season, (b) high-performance, and (c) snow compounds.

FIG. 8.
FIG. 8.

Measured and predicted wear, standard drive file for (a) all season, (b) high-performance, and (c) snow compounds.

FIG. 9.
FIG. 9.

Predicted wear using p and q combination for the best rib-by-rib wear prediction on (a) all season and (b) snow compound, standard drive file.

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