Abstract
The investigation of tire-road contact stresses involves complementary approaches such as the numerical and experimental research. The numerical approach comprises the development of a 3D finite element tire model. The model structure allows for the anisotropy of the tire to be accurately reflected. Static analyses of tire inflation and loading, as well as steady state rolling analyses have been performed on the model. Experimental research on tire-road contact stresses has been carried out under real rolling conditions (traction, braking and free rolling), using an outdoor tri-axial testing rig. The tire inflated shape and load-deflection curves validate the model. Under all rolling conditions the distributions of tri-axial stresses obtained through simulation are similar as regards the pattern and peak values to the experimental ones.
Keywords: finite element model, truck tire, tire-road contact, contact patch stress distribution, tri-axial transducer.