The Calspan Tire Research Facility: Design, Development, and Initial Test Results

A new tire research facility (TIRF) has been developed which uses appropriately surfaced steel belts to provide high-speed, flat, simulated roadway surfaces for measuring the forces and moments generated by pneumatic tires at various operating attitudes, loads, and speeds.

Descriptions of TIRF and several of its important features are presented. These include the method of support of the moving roadway beneath the tire contact patch, the method of maintaining belt tracking under high side loads, the balance system used to measure forces and moments, and the computer control system used to operate and control the machine and completely process the data.

Machine performance specifications and typical data are included.