Abstract

Analyses have shown that the thermal state of a tire is influenced by both the size of and variation in the value of the convective heat transfer coefficient at the tire surface. In the work reported here, a test facility was constructed to permit the determination of convective heat transfer coefficients under a broad range of operating conditions. Data were obtained to show the effects of air speed, boundary layer thickness and turbulence level, humidity, tire surface contamination, tire surface roughness and unevenness, and tire surface wetness on convective heat transfer coefficients. The significance of these results to tire power loss is discussed.