A Unified Semi-Empirical Tire Model with HigherAccuracy and Less Parameters

A unified tire model with non-isotropy of friction and arbitrary contact pressure distribution is presented as a foundation to study the key features of a reasonable expression of tire shear force and alignment torque under combined slip conditions. The effects of contact pressure distribution on tire mechanical characteristics are analyzed. A unified semi-empirical tire model with convenience in dynamics simulation is recommended. For determining the model parameters, a series of simple expressions that satisfy the boundary conditions are proposed and a new global fitting method for tire data processing is employed. Based on the improved semi empirical model, the USPA software is developed. This software reduces the modeling time from the tire data to a practical tire model and allows various tire characteristics analyses. Some experimental validations are shown.