The Relaxation Length Concept at Large Wheel Slip and Camber

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to understand the transient force and moment characteristics of tyres involving large wheel slip and camber, and to develop the tyre model which is capable of describing those characteristics. Various kinds of experiments are performed including large slip angles, camber, and also combined cases of side slip and camber. Some particular characteristics are found such as non-lagging part in side force response and an apparent peak in aligning torque response to a stepwise camber change. It is confirmed that the stretched string tyre model is able to reflect major fundamental characteristics of tyres with sufficient accuracy under conditions of relatively small slip quantities. Some aspects on the analogy of turn slip to camber are also discussed. The tyre model combines a dynamic part based on the physical aspect using the relaxation length concept of stretched string theory, and a steady state part which is often described empirically such as the Magic Formula. In co...