Numerical investigation of passive control flow to improve tire hydroplaning performance using a V-riblet non-smooth surface

Haichao Zhou,Yangmin Ding,Guolin Wang,Huihui Zhai

doi:10.1177/1687814017727249

Haichao Zhou, Yangmin Ding + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1177/1687814017727249

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Abstract

As one of the major causes of traffic accidents, tire hydroplaning is a key driver safety concern. A tire model 205/55R16 was employed in this study, and a virtual simulation of a deformed half-tire domain for calculating hydroplaning speed was built by virtue of computational fluid dynamics. Water-flow field characteristics were simulated using gas–liquid two-phase flow. The simulated tire hydroplaning speed is in accord with the measured tire hydroplaning data. Guided by the idea that the drag-reduction effect of the V-riblets based on bionic study of shark skin, effects of V-riblet bionic non-smooth surface parameters on water displacement, and flow resistance were analyzed to improve tire tread pattern draining capacity. The water drag-reduction mechanism was declared by the vortex vector and speed field, and the optimal V-riblet surface for drag reduction was set on the bottom circumferential grooves to analyze hydroplaning speed. The results demonstrate that the V-riblet bionic non-smooth surface can effectively decrease tread hydrodynamic pressure when driving on a water-film and increase tire hydroplaning speed.

Highlights

Various traffic safety studies all over the world indicate that about 20% of road accidents occur in wet weather conditions
Tire hydroplaning simulation was conducted using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method, and water-flow field characteristics and dynamic pressure acting on the tire can be predicted by the CFD method
From the comparison of hydroplaning speed between the simulation results with the experimental results, it can be concluded that CFD method can effectively predict hydroplaning speed

Summary

Introduction

Various traffic safety studies all over the world indicate that about 20% of road accidents occur in wet weather conditions. Many previous studies have been conducted to experimentally investigate the influence of tire characteristics, inflation pressure, driving conditions, and water-film thickness on tire hydroplaning performance.[1] These studies have shed light on different factors affecting hydroplaning and resulted in useful reduction measures, including increased tread pattern width and depth and enlarged pavement grooving. Experimentation on this scale requires a test set-up and. The results show that the V-riblet bionic non-smooth surface tread grooves can increase drainage water velocity and improve tire hydroplaning performance. 0.0157 0.0154 0.0149 turbulence parameters were calculated according to the fluid theories

Wall boundary conditions

Inlet conditions

Findings

Conclusion