Effect of Surface Friction on Tire-Pavement Contact Stresses during Vehicle Maneuvering

Abstract

Accurate modeling of tire-pavement contact behavior plays an important role in the analysis of pavement performance and vehicle stability control. A threedimensional (3-D) tire-pavement interaction model was developed using the finite element method (FEM) to analyze the forces and contact stresses generated during vehicle maneuvering (free rolling, braking/acceleration, and cornering). A pneumatic radial-ply tire structure with rubber and reinforcement was simulated. The steady-state tire rolling process was simulated using an Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) formulation. An improved friction model that considers the effect of sliding speed on friction coefficients was implemented to analyze the effects of pavement surface friction on contact stresses, friction forces, and cornering forces. The results show that the magnitudes and non-uniformity of contact stresses are affected by vehicle maneuvering conditions. As the pavement surface friction increases, the tangential tire-pavement contact stresses at various rolling conditions (free rolling, braking/acceleration, and cornering) and the vertical contact stresses at the cornering condition increase. It is reasonable to use the constant friction coefficient when predicting tire-pavement contact stresses at the free rolling condition or at the cornering condition with small slip angles. However, it is important to use the sliding-velocity-dependent friction model when predicting the friction force at tire braking.