Tire Groove Research Articles

Effect of aircraft tire wear on water spray and water displacement drag

During an aircraft taxiing on a water-contaminated runway, the worn tires with shallower grooves will significantly deteriorate the safety of take-off and landing. The hydrodynamics generated by the tire-water-pavement interaction is numerically studied using the coupling method of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics and Finite Element Method. By comparing a completely worn tire with a new tire, the effects of tire wear on water spray and water displacement drag are analyzed. With the increasing tire speed and water film depth, the water spray composed of bow wave and side plume increases, and the water displacement drag decomposed of wave- and film-generated components also increases. The effects of tire wear depend on the relative height of tire grooves to the water film depth. For the shallow water film with a depth smaller than the grooves height, the water spray and water displacement drag of new tire is much smaller than those of worn tire, because the groove drainage effect can work very well. While for the deep water film that completely floods the grooves, the water spray and water displacement drag of new tire are similar with those of worn tires, because the groove drainage effect cannot be fully utilized.

Characterization analysis of particles emitted from aircraft using positive matrix factorization

In order to characterize particles emitted from aircraft, we analyzed the elemental composition information of particles collected from aircraft using positive matrix factorization (PMF). The factor profile and source contribution were deduced based on PMF analysis with five factors and 30 random starting points. Factor 1 contains particles derived from engine oil. Factor 2 contains particles originating from the friction between the runway surface and the tire. Factor 3 contains particles deposited on the runway surface, mainly composed of soil components. Factor 4 contains particles derived from the turbine blade. Factor 5 contains particles derived from plant combustion and particles scattered during landing. Engine reversers accounted for more than 85% of the element total value with factor 2, factor 4, and factor 5. The carbon disc brakes had different main factors depending on the sample. For the tire grooves, factor 2 and factor 3 accounted for the majority of the element total value. The PMF analysis revealed that the particles collected from aircraft contained elements with different modes of generation. In addition, it was found that particles derived from plant combustion, which are presumed to have little relevance to particles emitted from aircraft, were included in the particles collected from the engine reverser, carbon disc brakes, and tire grooves.

A feature-based method for tire pattern similarity detection

Innovation and inheritability are the key requirements of tire pattern design. This article call attention to the similarity detection of tire patterns. A similarity detection method based on tire pattern features is proposed. Through in-depth analysis of the pattern structure, the tire pattern features are separated into shape and texture features. Shape features describe the arrangement rules between tire grooves and pattern blocks. On the other hand, texture features define each pattern block’s surface characteristics, groove depth, groove width, and other characteristics. The tire pattern raw data is firstly analyzed through digital image processing technology. Then, shape and texture features were recognized and separated using edge extraction and co-occurrence matrix methods, respectively. The tire pattern photos are then realized, measured, and detected for similarity following the rules of similarity theory. Experiments were designed to fit the framework of the given detection method. The test results prove that the proposed method can detect tire pattern similarity quickly and conveniently.

Analysis of the water flow inside tire grooves of a rolling car using refraction particle image velocimetry

In order to better understand the hydroplaning phenomenon, local velocity measurements of water flow are performed inside the tire grooves of a real car rolling through a water puddle. Velocity fields are obtained by combining refraction Particle Image Velocimetry (r-PIV) illumination, seeding fluorescent particles, and either the classical two dimensional two components or the two dimensional three components stereoscopic recording arrangements. The presence of some bubble columns inside the grooves is highlighted by separate visualization using the fluorescent contrast technique evidencing two phase flow characteristics. A simple predictive model is proposed supporting the r-PIV analysis. It provides useful information to adjust the focusing distance and to understand the effect of the bubble column presence on the recorded r-PIV images, especially for the seeding particles located in the upper part of the grooves, as fluorescent light is attenuated by the bubbles. Also, the predictions provided by the model are compatible with the measurements. The velocity fields inside the grooves are analyzed using ensemble averaging performed over a set of independent snapshots, recorded with the same operating parameters. The variability of the longitudinal velocity distribution measured in a groove for several independent runs is explained by different mechanisms, like the random position of fluorescent seeding particles at various heights of the groove, the hydrodynamic interactions between longitudinal and transverse grooves, and the random location of the transverse grooves from one run to another. Three velocity components in cross sections of the longitudinal grooves are obtained using the stereoscopic arrangement. They are compatible with the presence of some longitudinal vortices assumed in the literature. The number of vortices is shown to be dependent on the aspect ratio characterizing a groove's rectangular cross section. We demonstrate, from measurements performed for several car velocities, that the velocity distribution inside longitudinal grooves shows self-similarity when using specific dimensionless length and velocity scales. Hydrodynamic interactions between longitudinal and transverse grooves are discussed on the basis of a mass budget; a fluid/structure interaction mechanism is proposed in order to correlate the overall direction of the flow in a transverse groove with its location inside the contact zone. Finally, some physical mechanisms are suggested for the birth of longitudinal vortices.

The Analysis of Stone Trapping in Tire Tread for Various Road Conditions

A tire tends to trap stones in its tread pattern when the vehicle is on a move and this might affects the tire balance due to uneven tread wear of tread portion. The study aims to simulate stone trapping performance under various tire tread patterns and road conditions as well as assessing the performance of tires with stones trapped. The stone trapping phenomena on different tire tread pattern were analyzed under dry and wet road conditions. The tire models chosen were the symmetrical tire, asymmetrical tire, and directional tire. The model of these tires, stone and a flat road surface were created using SolidWorks and Fusion360 software and the static structural simulation is performed by using finite element analysis method. Tire inflation analysis and steady state rolling analysis were conducted to evaluate three parameters: total deformation, Von-Mises stress and equivalent elastic strain of the tires. It found that all three parameters are higher when stone trapped in tire for all tread pattern types. Symmetrical tread pattern provides the least wear and tear since it has the lowest increment of maximum equivalent elastic strain in both road conditions. Stone trapping in tire grooves would impact on the lifespan of the tire.

MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION PERFORMANCE MODEL BASED ON SAFETY TRANSPORTATION, PERIODIC TRANSPORTATION TEST, BEHAVIOR, AND SATISFACTION IN CIREBON CITY.

The development of cities in Indonesia is marked by the high number of commuters (commuters) who travel between the main city and the surrounding city or district (hinterland) or between regions within a city due to an increase in population, population activities, types of services, and the relative functioning of the economy national and regional level of a country..       Transportation problems and challenges are multi-dimensional between transportation systems and urban systems, both operational, management and policy aspects. Urban transport policies that care about sustainable development in developing countries are very complex, but can be studied especially in the public transportation system because it is more possible when compared to private transport at this time.       In Indonesia, the number of motorized vehicles is increasing every year. The addition of that number in 2012 reached 10,036 million units, resulting in the population recorded in the Indonesian National Police increased 12% to 94.292 million units compared to only 84.19 million in 2011 (Kurniawan, 2013). Based on data from the National Police also stated that in 2012 there were 109,038 accident cases with 27,441 people died. Different data from the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs and People's Welfare of the Republic of Indonesia states that motorcycle rider accidents have reached 120,226 times or 72% of all traffic accidents in a year. Most accident cases occur in people with lower middle economic level as motorcycle and public transportation users (State Intelligence Agency, 2013).       As released by WHO (World Health Organization), of all accidents that occur on the highway, the human error factor (human error) has the highest contribution, reaching between 80-90 percent compared to the factor of vehicle vehicle improperities ranging from 5-10 percent, as well as due to damage to road infrastructure by 10-20 percent (DG Hubdat, 2010). Vehicle facilities that often occur are less than 1 millimeter of tire grooves resulting in vehicle skid or tire breaks, brakes failing, metal fatigue resulting in broken vehicle parts, worn equipment not replaced, and various other causes. This is very much related to the technology used and the care done to the vehicle. One of the government's efforts to improve road safety is through safety vehicle action programs such as compliance with vehicle operations, organizing periodic and type test repair procedures, handling overloading, vehicle scrapping, and developing motor vehicle design that aims to improve vehicle safety technology (DG Hubdat, 2013).Keywords:Transportation Performance, User Satisfaction.

Neural networks assisted computational aero-acoustic analysis of an isolated tire

The computational aero-acoustic study of an isolated passenger car tire is carried out to understand the effect of dimensions of longitudinal tire grooves and operational parameters (velocity and temperature) on tire noise. The computational fluid dynamics and acoustic models are used to obtain aero-acoustic tire noise at near-field and far-field receivers around the tire and artificial neural networks-based regression are used to study the highly non-linear and interactive causal relationships in the system. Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes based realizable k-epsilon model is used to solve the flow field in the computational domain. The Ffowcs Williams and Hawkings model is used to obtain aero-acoustic tire noise at far-field positions. Spectral analysis is used to convert the output time domain to frequency domain and to obtain A-weighted sound pressure level. Artificial neural network–based response surface regression is conducted to understand casual relationships between A-weighted sound pressure level and control variables (Groove depth, Groove width, Temperature and velocity). Maximum A-weighted sound pressure level is observed in the wake region of the tire model. The interaction study indicates that ∼10% reduction in the aero-acoustic emissions is possible by selecting appropriate combinations of groove width and groove depth. The interaction of velocity with width is found to be most significant with respect to A-weighted sound pressure level at all receivers surrounding the tire. The interaction of operational parameters, that is, velocity and temperature are found to be significant with respect to A-weighted sound pressure level at wake and front receivers. Therefore, the regional speed limits and seasonal temperatures need to be considered while designing the tire to achieve minimum aero-acoustic emissions.

Tire aerodynamics with actual tire geometry, road contact and tire deformation

Tire aerodynamics with actual tire geometry, road contact and tire deformation pose tough computational challenges. The challenges include (1) the complexity of an actual tire geometry with longitudinal and transverse grooves, (2) the spin of the tire, (3) maintaining accurate representation of the boundary layers near the tire while being able to deal with the flow-domain topology change created by the road contact and tire deformation, and (4) the turbulent nature of the flow. A new space–time (ST) computational method, “ST-SI-TC-IGA,” is enabling us to address these challenges. The core component of the ST-SI-TC-IGA is the ST Variational Multiscale (ST-VMS) method, and the other key components are the ST Slip Interface (ST-SI) and ST Topology Change (ST-TC) methods and the ST Isogeometric Analysis (ST-IGA). The VMS feature of the ST-VMS addresses the challenge created by the turbulent nature of the flow, the moving-mesh feature of the ST framework enables high-resolution flow computation near the moving fluid–solid interfaces, and the higher-order accuracy of the ST framework strengthens both features. The ST-SI enables moving-mesh computation with the tire spinning. The mesh covering the tire spins with it, and the SI between the spinning mesh and the rest of the mesh accurately connects the two sides of the solution. The ST-TC enables moving-mesh computation even with the TC created by the contact between the tire and the road. It deals with the contact while maintaining high-resolution flow representation near the tire. Integration of the ST-SI and ST-TC enables high-resolution representation even though parts of the SI are coinciding with the tire and road surfaces. It also enables dealing with the tire–road contact location change and contact sliding. By integrating the ST-IGA with the ST-SI and ST-TC, in addition to having a more accurate representation of the tire geometry and increased accuracy in the flow solution, the element density in the tire grooves and in the narrow spaces near the contact areas is kept at a reasonable level. We present computations with the ST-SI-TC-IGA and two models of flow around a rotating tire with road contact and prescribed deformation. One is a simple 2D model for verification purposes, and one is a 3D model with an actual tire geometry and a deformation pattern provided by the tire company. The computations show the effectiveness of the ST-SI-TC-IGA in tire aerodynamics.

Numerical Investigation of the Air Pumping Noise Generation Mechanism in Tire Grooves

Tire noise has been a topic of increased focus of research in industrial countries in the recent years, due to its contribution to traffic noise. However, knowledge about aerodynamic noise generation mechanisms, which are responsible for the high frequency noise in tires is lacking. This study focuses on the aerodynamic mechanism of small-scale air pumping in tire grooves, where computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is used to investigate the flow and noise features resulting from two different types of deformation in the process of a tire groove interacting with a smooth road surface. The two deformation types include (a) a commonly used piston-type motion of the bottom wall and (b) a more realistic bulging in/out of the side walls of a tire groove. The large eddy simulation (LES)-based approach consisting of the filtered Navier–Stokes equations is employed here along with the appropriate boundary conditions to accurately calculate the solution of the fluid flow resulting from the compression and expansion of air in the groove. Flow patterns are analyzed using velocity and pressure field data, whereas noise analysis is carried out using temporal pressure profiles and corresponding frequency spectra. The comparative study presented here provides a better understanding of the small-scale air pumping phenomenon in tire grooves and also demonstrates the significance of the choice of deformation type employed in such numerical simulations. The latter is critical in designing a more complete CFD model, which can further be used to optimize the tire acoustics.

Numerical simulation of effect of bionic V-riblet non-smooth surface on tire anti-hydroplaning

Inspired by the idea that bionic non-smooth surfaces (BNSS) can reduce fluid adhesion and resistance, and the effect of bionic V-riblet non-smooth structure arranged in tire tread pattern grooves surface on anti-hydroplaning performance was investigated by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The physical model of the object (model of V-riblet surface distribution, hydroplaning model) and SST k–ω turbulence model were established for numerical analysis of tire hydroplaning. With the help of a orthogonal table L16(45), the parameters of V-riblet structure design compared to the smooth structure were analyzed, and obtained the priority level of the experimental factors as well as the best combination within the scope of the experiment. The simulation results show that V-riblet structure can reduce water flow resistance by disturbing the eddy movement in boundary layers. Then, the preferred type of V-riblet non-smooth structure was arranged on the bottom of tire grooves for hydroplaning performance analysis. The results show that bionic V-riblet non-smooth structure can effectively increase hydroplaning velocity and improve tire anti-hydroplaning performance. Bionic design of tire tread pattern grooves is a good way to promote anti-hydroplaning performance without increasing additional groove space, so that tire grip performance and roll noise are avoided due to grooves space enlargement.

Application of a pattern recognition technique to the prediction of tire noise

Tire treads are one of the main sources of car noise. To meet the EU׳s tire noise regulation ECE-R117, a new method using a pattern recognition technique is adopted in this paper to predict noise from tire tread patterns, thus facilitating the design of low-noise tires. When tires come into contact with the road surface, air pumping may occur in the grooves of tire tread patterns. Using the image of a tread pattern, a matrix is constructed by setting the patterns of tire grooves and tread blocks. The length and width of the contact patch are multiplied by weight functions. The resulting sound pressure as a function of time is subjected to a Fourier transform to simulate a 1/3-octave-band sound pressure level. A particle swarm algorithm is adopted to optimize the weighting parameters for the sound pressure in the frequency domain so that simulated values approach the measured noise level. Two sets of optimal weighting parameters associated with the length and width of the contact patch are obtained. Finally, the weight function is used to predict the tread pattern noise of tires in the same series. A comparison of the prediction and experimental results reveals that, in the 1/3-octave band of frequency (800–2000Hz), average errors in sound pressure are within 2.5dB. The feasibility of the proposed application of the pattern recognition technique in predicting noise from tire treads is verified.

Bionic Method for Improving Tire Anti-hydroplaning Performance

Enhancing the groove drainage ability is one of the main ways to improve the tire anti-hydroplaning performance. Inspired by the bionic theory, the pit bionic non-smooth structure is introduced into tire groove and bionic method for enhance groove drainage ability by reducing fluid resistance is explored. The single tire groove of contact area is extracted for analysis and the pit bionic non-smooth structure is arranged on the bottom of tire groove. The computational fluid dynamics(CFD) and orthogonal experimental design are used to study the influence of pit bionic non-smooth structure on wall drag reduction, and the optimal parameters combination is determined. To further enhance the drag reduction rate of pit bionic non-smooth structure, a water drop shaped pit boinic structure is proposed and its drag reduction characteristic is analyzed. The results show the drag reduction effect of the water drop shaped pit boinic structure is better than spherical pit structure. The optimal water drop shaped pit structure is arranged on the bottom of tire groove for anti-hydroplaning analysis. The results show that the water drop shaped pit boinic structure can reduce flow resistance and improve the groove drainage volume. Therefore, it can decrease the tread hydrodynamic pressure when driving on water film and raise the tire anti-hydroplaning performance.

Comparing Spray from Tires Rolling on a Wet Surface

ABSTRACT Tire spray generated as automobile or truck tires roll over a wet roadway is a familiar hazard to all drivers. Past efforts to mitigate the effects of tire spray have focused on inventing and testing add-on devices to suppress, redirect, or contain spray. These devices have had only limited success in controlling spray. An alternate approach would be to examine tire spray at the source—the tire and wet roadway. This article describes a device designed to simulate tire spray in a laboratory setting, allowing a careful examination of spray in a controlled environment. The device limits the spray to that produced from water passing through a tire groove and then carried away from the roadway by the rotating tire. The spray pattern downstream of the tire patch is captured with high-speed video and stored on disk. The video images are then processed as desired by computer. A concept “time-to-drain” is introduced to characterize the angle at which spray leaves the tire. Time-to-drain is then used to compare the spray patterns of different tires.

ANALYZING EFFECT OF TIRE GROOVE PATTERNS ON HYDROPLANING SPEED

Hydroplaning is a major safety concern in wet-weather driving. Grooved tires have been commonly used to improve skid resistance and increase the hydroplaning speed. Tire grooves help in the expulsion of water from the tire pavement contact region by providing escape channels. Past researchers have shown that tire groove spacing, groove width, and groove depth affect skid resistance. However, analytical tools are unavailable for highway engineers to evaluate hydroplaning speed taking into account basic geometric parameters such as tire groove width, groove depth, and spacing. The present paper describes a numerical analytical tool to study the effect of tire groove spacing, groove width, and groove depth on hydroplaning speed by means of earlier verified analytical hydroplaning modeling for tire having transverse groove pattern, longitudinal groove pattern, and combined transverse and longitudinal groove pattern on plane pavement surface are analyzed in this paper.

Acoustic Radiation from Pavement Joint Grooves between Concrete Slabs

Sound generation and radiation from grooves in the joints between concrete slabs were modeled using relationships previously established for tire groove resonances and groove air pumping. Resonant behavior was clearly established from both in-lab and on-road onboard sound pressure level data. The strength of the noise source was found to be proportional to 20 times the logarithm of the groove cross-sectional area. This relationship, along with the accounting of residual texture background noise, was found to replicate that measured in laboratory testing. The model was then calibrated with the laboratory results and extended in speed range with a theoretical calculation of the sound radiation from the end of the joint groove. The predicted level produced by an isolated joint of specified dimension was then used to model the average sound intensity level for a pavement with a user-specified distance between joints, vehicle speed, and pavement texture-generated noise level. For smaller groove cross-sectional areas (~0.25 in.2), the contribution of joint grooves was on the order of 1 dB for quieter pavement textures. For larger cross-sectional areas, such as a groove width of 1/2 in. and depth of 1 in., the contribution increased to almost 3 dB.

Reduction of Tire Groove Noise Using Slot Resonators

Abstract Circumferential tire grooves form pipes in the contact patch and generate the nuisance noise, for which the fundamental natural frequency is approximately 1000 Hz for passenger car tires. The frequency coincides with the peak of pass-by noise spectrum. Therefore, controlling the groove resonance is of a main motivation of this paper to reduce environmental noise. If one lateral slot end is terminated in tread rib and if the other end merges to a circumferential groove, it is found that the slot performs as a side-branch or a Helmholtz subresonator to counteract to the pipe resonance. The slot parameters, such as cavity volume and the change in section area, determine the resonant frequency and effectively influence on the acoustic characteristics of whole groove space. Optimal slot geometry is widely investigated by using numerical analysis and validated by experiments. It is shown that the proposed tread design can significantly reduce groove noise without sacrificing other performances.

Prediction method for tire air-pumping noise using a hybrid technique

Air-pumping noise from a car tire is investigated with a hybrid technique composed of three stages: (1) small-scale air-pumping noise generation process is modeled as a piston-like movement of the base-side of the tire groove and then numerically simulated; (2) the flow properties in the tire groove are used as air-pumping sources and noise propagation is simulated with emphasis placed on scattering process with full tire/road geometry; (3) the far-field acoustic pressure is predicted from a Kirchhoff integral method by using unsteady flow data in space and time which is provided by the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculation of full tire-road domain. The comparison of predicted results shows that the nonlinearity of the air-pumping noise generation mechanism affects not only noise characteristics in frequency domain but also in the directivity pattern. It seems that this approach can overcome the weakness of the acoustic monopole theory which stems from the usual assumption of a small amplitude acoustic wave equation while using nonlinear governing equation for the CFD calculation. Furthermore, through the use of a computational domain which covers tire and road surface, the geometric effects on air-pumping noise generation and propagation are taken into account in the source modeling process.

Numerical investigation of hydroplaning characteristics of three-dimensional patterned tire

Abstract Hydroplaning characteristics of patterned tire on wet road are investigated by making use of finite volume and finite element methods. A detailed 3-D patterned tire model is constructed by our in-house modeling program and the rainwater flow is considered as incompressible and inviscid. Meanwhile, the fluid–structure interaction between the highly complicated tire tread and the rainwater flow is effectively treated by the general coupling method. Through the numerical experiments, the rainwater flow drained through tire grooves, hydrodynamic pressure and contact force are investigated and compared with those of the three-grooved tire model.

Computer aided parametric design for 3D tire mold production

This paper presents a parametric design system for 3D tire mold production. Tire grooves commonly used in the current industry are classified according to their modeling procedures, and the design parameters for each groove type are characterized. The result serves as a foundation for standardization of the tire mold design. The presented system simplifies the construction of 3D groove surfaces by reducing the number of interactive modeling operations. The resultant surface model is parameterized, and thus, allows for rapid creation of other grooves with simple design tables. In addition, a set of geometric algorithms is proposed that first detects undesired groove geometries arising in the design process, and then corrects them automatically. In this manner, 3D mold models are created with minimal user interactions. This work is implemented in an integrated CAD/CAM system for actual mold production. Test examples demonstrate that it provides an effective approach to reducing the time yet improving the quality of tire mold development.

Effects of Some Environmental and Test Conditions on Tire Treadwear Indices

Abstract A treadwear investigation was carried out with four brands of radial tires having different tread rubber compounds. The tires were randomly selected, except for one brand in which they were selected from the same mold and date. Identical series of tests were conducted in cold and hot weather. Treadwear was measured by both tire weight and groove depth. A discussion of the results is included.