Design of Nonsmooth Groove Tire Bioinspired by Shark-Skin Riblet Structure

Abstract

As one of the major causes of traffic accidents on wet roads, hydroplaning is prone to occur when the traveling speed of a vehicle rises so high that the hydrodynamic pressure between pavement and tires equals inflation pressure. In this condition, the vehicle nearly loses braking and steering capacity. Inspired by the superior drag reduction function of shark-skin riblet, the purpose of this study is to arrange bionic nonsmooth structures at the bottom of longitudinal grooves to promote the hydroplaning performance without affecting other tire performances. A finite element model of 185/60R15 tire was employed and its accuracy was verified by loading tests with CSS-88100 electronic testing instrument. Meanwhile, a fluid domain model was founded by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The simulated critical hydroplaning speed was in accord with that obtained by the NASA empirical formula. Inspired by shark-skin riblet, three kinds of nonsmooth surfaces were exploited. In addition, the drag reduction rate, shear stress, and flow velocity distribution were compared for different grooves. Then, the optimized nonsmooth structure with the best drag reduction effect among three nonsmooth surfaces was arranged at the bottom of longitudinal grooves for bionic tire. Simulation results demonstrated that the bionic tire obviously decreased hydrodynamic lift and increased flow velocities. With these improvements, the critical hydroplaning speed was effectively improved for the bionic tire. These research results can be applied to the promotion of hydroplaning performance without degrading other tire performances.