Rubber friction and tire traction

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Rubber friction and tire traction

Heinrich, Gert / Klüppel, Manfred

We introduce into the concept of self-affine surfaces and its application to characterization of the texture of rough road surfaces. Then, we discuss the role of tread deformation in tire traction with special emphasize on the load and velocity dependency of the rubber friction coefficient. We apply a recently developed model of hysteresis friction of rubber on self-affine road surfaces for estimating the load dependency of the kinetic friction coefficient in the contact area of slipping tires. In this context the impact of track morphology (sharp or blunt) on the kinetic friction characteristics is demonstrated. Using the simple brush model for slipping tires we discuss consequences of the load dependence of the kinetic friction coefficient with respect to the overall tire friction and slip characteristics. We show that due to the presence of a load dependence of the local rubber-road friction coefficient the tread contact patch is globally never entirely in a fully sliding situation. The presented results yield an improved physical understanding of the dynamic frictional contact of tires with road tracks during cornering and braking, especially in the case of cars equipped with Anti-Blocking Systems (ABS).