Understandings of dynamic tire contact patch characteristics would be essential for those of vehicle behavior; however, detailed, accurate and reproducible contact stress distribution measurement technology under severe rolling conditions could not have been seen. Therefore, dynamic tire contact patch measurement and visualization system has been developed. The measurement system basically consists of drum, tire stand, and data processing system. The tire stand reproduces tire alignments considering vehicle conditions while tri-axial stress sensors, which measure tire contact stress when they pass through a contact patch of a tire rolling on the drum, are placed within the drum surface. After the development of the measurement technology, a study of detailed dynamic contact patch behavior of a conventional eco-tire has been done for the enhancement of environment, handling, and braking performance. Detailed investigations make it clear that uneven propagations of slippage region in the contact patch is causing strong non-linearity in a process of lateral and/or longitudinal shear stress generation. In order to realize a highly ecological tire without compromising Cornering Power (CP)/Cornering Force (CF) and Dry/Wet-μ for driving safety, new construction and pattern technologies considering more uniform contact stress distributions have been developed. As a result, the latest eco-tire becomes one of the first tires in the world with the A-rating for wet grip as well as fuel economy in Europe and Japan. In this study, accurate and reproducible dynamic contact patch measurement technologies in terms of a visualization of the component stress distributions have been developed. The averaging measurement method has advantages over measurement duration and applied for the eco-tire's construction study from a CP/CF enhancement point of view. From the investigations of the conventional eco-tire's lateral contact dynamics by means of the dynamic contact patch measurement system, modified eco-tire's construction, which could have effectively suppressed rapid slippage propagations by realizing uniform shear stress and contact pressure distributions, has been developed and verified. In addition to the eco-tire's construction study, a tread pattern study has been carried out as well by developing the synchronous tread pattern visualization technology. In this case, characteristics of the local block stress concentrations in terms of longitudinal contact dynamics have been examined for the improvement of a conventional eco-tire's wet grip performance. Through the investigations of the fundamental block pattern's behavior in association with the conventional eco-tire's tread pattern, characteristics of a local block behavior under fore-aft force conditions have been clarified. By modifying a block shape and stiffness distribution through tread pattern and rubber optimization technology considering a suppression of local block slippage propagation, the new eco-tire deeply investigated through the new measurement system has become one of the first tires in the world with the A-rating for wet grip as well as fuel economy in Europe and Japan. Application of the presented measurement technology is goint to be expanded for a wide range of tire categories and Bridgestone will keep on offering attractive tires possessing superior ecological performance and outstanding safety.
Development of dynamic contact patch measurement system
2013
24 Seiten, 32 Bilder, 1 Tabelle, 5 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
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