Dynamic Behaviours of Vehicle Tyres - Dissertation Example

Nearly all forms of vehicles utilise tyres in order to interface engine energy with the road. Vehicles use tyres for a number of different purposes since vehicle tyres control a number of different driving characteristics. In the simplest terms, vehicle tyres are responsible directly for road traction, steering control, supporting the vehicle’s load and for braking control. In addition, vehicle tyres serve as an important part of the overall suspension by providing the initial cushion against shocks for vehicles travelling on the road.

Modern vehicle tyres are constructed in a rather complicated fashion. The complication in construction arises from the need to deal with a number of different functions that vehicle tyres have to perform. The mechanical properties of any typical vehicle tyre tend to delineate the tyre’s particular behavioural characteristics in response to various kinds of inputs. Vehicle tyres are subject to a number of inputs including steering changes, torque from the vehicle’s engine, loading from the vehicle’s weight etc.

These inputs tend to produce a number of varied outputs such as deflection in the vehicle tyre while rolling and other forces in the vertical and lateral directions. Most of the mechanical properties exhibited by vehicle tyres are closely related to each other and any changes in one property are sure to affect the others. For this reason, it is essential that research be carried out on how these characteristics and properties can be described and related to each other. A number of attempts have been done in order to develop a robust working vehicle tyres model that is able to satisfy all kinds of vehicular input.

However, the current success of these models is limited given the fact that most models are only able to satisfactorily predict the outcome for one mode of vehicle tyre behaviour. Current research supports separate tyre behaviour models for rigid and non-rigid surfaces. The detailed construction of a vehicle tyre is presented in the figure shown below. Figure 1 - Components of a radial tyre sourced from (Karaytug, 2009) The figure above clearly depicts the construction of a typical vehicle tyre.

The first layer is composed of a tread which is followed by a cap ply. The tread serves as the outermost surface of the tyre and is generally created out of specially vulcanised rubber in order to withstand various kinds of loads from the road surface. Generally in terms of the rubber involved in constructing a tyre, the tread rubber is the hardest. These sections are followed by the belt which serves as the sandwiching surface for the top surface of the vehicle tyre and its lower surface. The belt serves as a flexible interface between two harder sections of