The influence of the contact features on the tyre wear in steady-state conditions

Abstract

This paper focuses on invetigating the relationship between the contact features of the tyres and the tyre wear in a quantitative sense as a function of the tyre structure and the manoeuvre parameters by utilizing a modified theoretical tyre wear model. The modified tyre wear model was developed by combining a modified ring model for the tyres and a modified brush model and was validated. The model parameters were also identified by physical experiments. Moreover, the contact features were characterized as the contact length, the asymmetry factor and the rolling resistance shift in order to investigate the influence of the contact features on the tyre wear. The amount of wear versus the three key variables of the contact features with variations in the tyre parameters was plotted and analysed. The results show that the maximum normal contact pressure does not play the most important role in the tyre wear. An increase in the damping coefficient can lead to an increase in the tyre wear, whereas increases in the effective elastic constant, the effective bending density and the effective bending stiffness result in a decrease in wear. The three key variables of the contact features increase with increasing vertical load, increasing rolling velocity and increasing damping coefficient and with decreasing inflation pressure and decreasing effective bending stiffness. The tyre wear follows the same trend when the three key variables increase or decrease synchronously. This analysis provides a quantitative indication of the relationship between the contact features and the tyre wear in order to obtain guidelines for tyre manufacturers on how to achieve less tyre wear.