New tyre-road contact model for applications at low speed

Most of the tyre models have been developed for high speed, combined forces, etc., however, in certain tests it is necessary to know tyre behaviour at very low speed in order to evaluate different systems. So, during vehicle inspection and maintenance of the steering and brake system, by means of sideslip tester and roller brake tester respectively, the forces transmitted by the tyres are measured; all of these inspections are carried out at low speeds. Furthermore, usually, automobile vehicles run at low speeds during an important part of their operating life (less than 60 km/h), mainly during urban traffic, and in steady state conditions. Therefore, it is particularly interesting to develop an accurate model of the contact patch tyrepavement for low speeds without the complexity of models that cover a wide speed range but provide less precision at very low speeds. The dynamometer plate has proved to be an appropriate test equipment to characterise the tyre-pavement contact at low speed and the steering geometry and wheel alignment. It has the feature of being able to carry out tests with the tyre installed in the vehicle as in completely real conditions. The main aim of this research is to set up a contact model between tyre and pavement at very low speed based on the measurement of longitudinal and lateral forces. A test methodology that allows carrying out the experimental tests in a systematic and controlled way with the dynamometer plate has also been developed. From this model it will be possible to estimate the forces that tyres are capable of transmitting in different situations to act in the parameters which affect these forces and maximize them.