Abstract
This study studies the relationship between tyre pressure and fuel consumption of vehicles using experimental methods and mathematical model to predict vehicle fuel consumption. The model obtained was F = 0.6272- 2.5941p+3.3428p<sup>2</sup>±0.018 where F is the fuel consumed and p is the tyre pressure of a vehicle, which can also be used to predict the amount of fuel consumed by other vehicles. The model was validated with its own data which showed a deviation of ±5% which is within experimental error. Using the recommended tyre pressures the model reduces the fuel consumption by 17.6% thus reducing cost of fuel. From the experiment, it was observed that the relationship between the fuel consumption and the tyre pressures of various vehicles is in the form of $F = B_2p^2-B_1p+B_0±e$, where $B_0, B_1, B_2$ and ‘e’ depends on other factors of the vehicle such as the age of the vehicle and the conditions under which the measurements were taken. This equation can be used to predict fuel consumptions for vehicles when their tyre pressures are known. In all, it was seen from the research that any deviation in tyre pressure of vehicles resulted in an additional fuel consumed by vehicles. It is recommend that, there should be a massive public education or awareness about the need to keep recommended tyre pressure at all times because when tyre pressure falls below the recommended value, the decrease in the pressure invariably leads to an increase in fuel consumption.
Highlights
In the world today, due to the high cost of running a vehicle, there have been many research works to see ways of minimizing this cost
It could be inferred that the correlation between the fuel consumption and the tyre pressures are in the form of a polynomial function of a second degree
In the least square method, the equation for the model is given by F = B0+B1p+B2p2+e, where F represent the fuel consumption, p represent tyre pressure, B0, B1 and B2 are constants for the polynomial which must be derived from the data obtained and e represent the error in the data
Summary
Due to the high cost of running a vehicle, there have been many research works to see ways of minimizing this cost Some of this cost comes from the tyre of the vehicle, amount of fuel needed to run the vehicle smoothly, buying spare parts of vehicles and ensuring safety of the vehicle. Each surface (both the tyre and the road) is deformed slightly so that in effect, the wheel rolls uphill These effects combine to produce a rolling resistance. Consistent with these findings, the study of Friedrich (2002) reports a thirty percent reduction in a tyre's rolling resistance can reduce a vehicle's fuel consumption from two percent to six percent, depending on driving conditions and other factors
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