TameTire: Introduction to the Model

ABSTRACT Tire modeling is an ever-growing area of interest for vehicles as more efficient development processes are desired in terms of time and resources. Vehicle simulations offer an opportunity for development teams to predict tire and vehicle performance before the construction of a physical prototype. Michelin has identified the need for more robust and accurate tire models that can be used for such simulations to give an accurate description of the transient mechanical and thermal behavior of a tire. Rubber's viscous and elastic properties are heavily dependent on their thermal state; when this effect is not modeled, it results in mathematical tire models that insufficiently predict tire performance. TameTire aims to fill this void for a broad range of maneuvers, track characteristics, and operating conditions based on the ability to predict tire forces and moments with physically based parameters. Some physical characteristics contained within a TameTire model include contact patch dimensions, tread, sidewall and belt stiffnesses, and rubber compound properties. Empirical tire models for handling have limited representation of tire physical properties due to the dependence on the measurement protocol and lack of identification of the thermal state of the tire. TameTire's advance modeling techniques include capturing a tire's thermal effects, thereby allowing for a more accurate and thorough analysis of tires behavior while being physically based (e.g., parameters for stiffness, rubber properties) and allowing the model to be grounded in the actual physics of a tire operating.