A Dynamic Tire Concept Model for Early Phases of Ride Comfort Development

Abstract

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">In order to correctly predict the impact of tire dimensions and properties on ride comfort in the early phases of the vehicle development process, it is necessary to fully understand their influence on the dynamic tire behavior. The currently existing models for reproducing tire forces often need many measurements for parametrization, simplify physical properties by empiric functions, or have an insufficient simulation speed to analyze many variants in the short periods of early process phases.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">In the following analysis, a tire concept model is presented, which utilizes relations between the static and dynamic behavior of tires in order to efficiently predict the dynamic forces in the vertical and longitudinal direction during obstacle crossing. The model allows for efficient parametrization by minimizing the number of parameters as well as measurements and ensures a high simulation speed.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">To realize this, initially, a selection of tires is measured on a tire test rig. Based on the finding that the qualitative trends of the static and dynamic tire forces show a significant correlation, the static force curve is coupled to a dynamic multi-mass oscillator which integrates fundamental tire characteristics like belt stiffness and belt mass as well as tread properties. It is shown that the model has a high accuracy in reproducing the dynamic forces when running over a cleat, especially considering its low complexity.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">In a future prospect, the model can be used to predict the impact on the dynamic tire forces when the static behavior is changed due to varying tire properties. Consequently, tire characteristics can then be defined under consideration of ride comfort aspects, already in the early phases of the vehicle development.</div></div>