Hydroplaning Behavior during Steady- State Cornering Maneuvers

Vehicles running in wet conditions may experience hydroplaning of one or more tires. Hydroplaning can, and often does, change vehicle braking, acceleration and handling characteristics dramatically. Proper analysis of this behavior requires accommodating the clearing of paths for the rear tires that may result from the front tires engaging the water-coated surface first. In this work, a hydroplaning analysis is presented that examines steady-state cornering under potential hydroplaning situations and includes lateral weight transfer, tire load sensitivity and path clearing potential. The sensitivity of vehicle understeer/oversteer characteristics to path clearing and vehicle dimensional characteristics is also examined.