Rubber friction and tire dynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple rubber friction law for tire dynamics, validates it against detailed theory, and demonstrates its application in a flexible 2D tire model for simulating braking and cornering behaviors.

Contribution

The paper presents a new simplified rubber friction law and integrates it into a versatile 2D tire model for improved vehicle dynamics simulations.

Findings

Good agreement between the simplified law and detailed rubber friction theory.

The tire model accurately predicts mu-slip and self-aligning torque curves.

Simulations of ABS braking demonstrate the model's practical applicability.

Abstract

We propose a simple rubber friction law, which can be used, e.g., in models of tire (and vehicle) dynamics. The friction law is tested by comparing numerical results to the full rubber friction theory (B.N.J. Persson, J. Phys.: Condensed Matter 18, 7789 (2006)). Good agreement is found between the two theories. We describe a two-dimensional (2D) tire model which combines the rubber friction model with a simple mass-spring description of the tire body. The tire model is very flexible and can be used to calculate accurate mu-slip (and the self-aligning torque) curves for braking and cornering or combined motion (e.g., braking during cornering). We present numerical results which illustrate the theory. Simulations of Anti-Blocking System (ABS) braking are performed using two simple control algorithms.