A Comprehensive Study of the Impact of Tread Design on the Tire-Terrain Interaction using Advanced Computational Techniques 2023-01-0018

This paper investigates the impact of tread design on the tire-terrain interaction of two similar-sized truck tires with distinctly different tread designs running over various terrains and operating conditions using advanced computation techniques. The two truck tires used in the research are off-road tires sized 315/80R22.5 wide which were designed through Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The truck tire models were validated in static and dynamic domains using several simulation tests and measured data. The terrain includes a flooded surface and a snowed surface which were modelled using Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) technique and calibrated using pressure-sinkage and direct shear tests. Both truck tire models were subjected to rolling resistance and cornering tests over the various flooded surface and snowed surface terrain conditions on the PAM-CRASH software. Other tire operating conditions included varying vertical loads, terrain depths, longitudinal speeds, and slip angles. The flooded surface depth was set up at 0%, 10%, and 25% sidewall height, and the snowed surface depth was set up at 10%, 35%, and 50% sidewall height. The truck tires were subjected to vertical loading of 13 kN, 27 kN, and 40 kN, longitudinal speeds of 10 km/h, 50 km/h, and 100 km/h, and slip angles of 2 degrees, 6 degrees, and 12 degrees. To study the impact of the different tread designs between the two similar-sized tires, the Rolling Resistance Coefficient (RRC), lateral force, self-aligning moment, and overturning moment were determined for both tires and compared.