Load and Inflation Effects on Force and Moment of Passenger Tires Using Explicit Transient Dynamics

Abstract

Abstract Explicit transient dynamic FEA (ABAQUS) has been used to model a rolling passenger tire (195/75R14) subjected to a slip-angle sweep of 0 to −1 degree. The computation tracks the rolling and yawing history of the tire on a 3 m (10 in.) diameter drum. Various loads and inflation pressures are applied, and the computed forces and moments at a slip angle of −1 deg are compared to identify their sensitivities to these parameters. It is found that for the current small slip angle used, the lateral force is quite insensitive to inflation and vertical load. The moment, however, is highly dependent on both. The difference in sensitivities is caused by the strong dependence of moment on footprint size, which is controlled by both load and inflation. The presented numerical analysis is useful in understanding tire cornering characteristics.