Measurement and Modeling of Truck Tire Traction Characteristics

A new truck tire tester was built to measure tire forces in braking and cornering under various speed, vertical load, and slip angle conditions, and on different pavement surfaces. Six of the most common truck and bus tires were tested. In general, rib tires performed better than lug tires and radial tires performed better than bias-ply tires. All of the independent test variables such as pavement type, vehicle speed, axle load, and slip angle, have a significant effect on tire traction. The experimental data were processed to derive 48 regression models relating peak and sliding coefficients of braking and cornering friction and critical longitudinal slip to the independent variables.