Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
 | 
Online Publication Date: 01 Jan 2020

A Calculational Aero-Acoustic Study of Spokes of an Isolated Nonpneumatic Tire

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Page Range: 46 – 61
DOI: 10.2346/tire.18.470102
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ABSTRACT

With the progress of noise control of engines and the rise of new energy vehicles, the severity of tire noise has been increasingly highlighted. Recently, the nonpneumatic tire (NPT) has drawn attention because of its novel structure design that surpasses traditional tires in anti-explosion, maintenance-free, and low rolling resistance characteristics. However, with an open-side structure and violent air impact at the flexible spokes, an NPT emits greater aerodynamic noise than a pneumatic tire during high-speed rolling, which results in an adverse effect on the riding comfort of vehicles.

The arrangement pattern of flexible spokes in an NPT plays an important role in the generation of aerodynamic noise. In this study, the aerodynamic flow around NPTs, which were in contact with the ground, rolled at a speed of 80 km/h, and had different arrangement patterns of spokes, was investigated using the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes method and Large-Eddy Simulation. Then, the far-field aerodynamic noise of different NPTs were calculated using Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings equations in the acoustic model of ANSYS-Fluent. The influence of spoke arrangements on the flow pattern and aerodynamic noise was analyzed. Based on the results, we propose an optimized design of spokes that can enhance the aero-acoustic performance of NPTs.

Keywords: nonpneumatic tire (NPT); calculational aero-acoustics (CAA); spoke; vortex sound; aerodynamic noise
FIG. 1
FIG. 1

Geometry of the NPT (in millimeters).

FIG. 2
FIG. 2

CFD domain for the aerodynamic analysis of the NPT.

FIG. 3
FIG. 3

Grid around the contact patch.

FIG. 4
FIG. 4

Definition of the contact angle.

FIG. 5
FIG. 5

Pressure coefficient of different meshes at the intersection of outer surface and plane z = 0.

FIG. 6
FIG. 6

Wall shear stress of different meshes at the intersection of outer surface and plane z = 0.

FIG. 7
FIG. 7

Comparison of pressure coefficient curves from different research.

FIG. 8
FIG. 8

Dynamic pressure contour on the plane y = −0.1785 m.

FIG. 9
FIG. 9

Primary divisions of an NPT surface.

FIG. 10
FIG. 10

Sound spectrum of each part of the NPT at receiver 2.

FIG. 11
FIG. 11

Definition of layers and columns of spoke cells.

FIG. 12
FIG. 12

Lateral parts of a single cell of spokes.

FIG. 13
FIG. 13

Dividing and staggering the spokes.

FIG. 14
FIG. 14

Lamb Vector contours on the reference plane z = 0.

FIG. 15
FIG. 15

Lamb Vector contours on the reference plane y = −0.1785 m.

Contributor Notes

1 Corresponding author. School of Automotive and Traffic Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Jingkou District, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, 212013 China. Email: marvinhuang@qq.com
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