Development of a thermomechanical tyre-pavement interaction model

Tyre operating temperature is an important concern for both tyre manufacturers and highway agencies which is known to have a major influence on the tyre traction. Most of the past tyre-pavement interaction studies were focused on the performance of the tyre while giving limited importance to the effect of the pavement texture profile. This paper presents a methodology of coupled thermomechanical finite element (FE) model to determine the progressive temperature development in tyre cross section. The model is developed for a test tyre rolling over an FE mesh of an asphalt pavement surface, and the effect of the developed temperature on the hysteretic friction is evaluated. Such a model will enable tyre manufacturers to come up with optimised tyre design; on the other hand, road agencies can design their friction test protocol. In this study, an attempt has been made to examine the developed tyre-temperature in time at different regions of tyre.