Rolling Resistance of Tires - An Analysis of Heat Generation

In rolling tires, heat is generated by hysteresis of rubber and cord. The tire temperature increases and the heat energy dissipates. The lost energy is a measure of the rolling resistance. In the following, the deformation due to the inflation and vertical loads and the heat generation due to the deformation are calculated using ABAQUS. The strain distribution around the circle is the strain time history. A heat generation equation and an effective strain amplitude equation are derived. The temperature dependency of the loss factor of rubber is considered in the analysis. The material properties are interpolated for the calculated temperatures and the temperature calculation is repeated.

The thermocouples are implanted at the shoulder and bead filler of the tire to measure the temperatures. The air temperature inside the tire is measured using a thermocouple implanted in the rim valve hole. The rolling resistance is measured using the SAE J1269 (4 steps) method. The analysis results correlate well with the measurements.