Tire Models for Use in Dynamic Analyses

Traditionally, tires are included in driveline and full vehicle analyses as simple springs and dampers. There are several reasons for this simplified representation:

• Inclusion of a detailed tire model would substantially increase the model size.
• Methods for including the complex dynamics of the tire are not readily available.
• Measured test data may exist for the tire and simple spring/damper models can be used to simulate the response.

Sophisticated finite element models can be generated for tires that simulate an inflated tire under spindle and ground loads. Using a combination of static and dynamic reduction, these tire models can be reduced to generate models that include the effects of the loading and simulate the dynamic response of the full tire, but contain a much smaller set of degrees of freedom than the full tire model. The reduced models can be used in the analysis of drivelines and other automobile assemblies to more accurately represent the response of the tires without requiring the large, detailed tire model.