Studies On The Tire Tread Block Stiffness Characteristic And Its Effecton Mechanical Properties Of Tire

The tire tread pattern is in direct contact with the ground and the design of tread directly affects the performance of the tire. The stiffness properties of tread pattern is one of the important parameters for performance of the tire, wich performance for tire braking, cornering and noise performance. The research of the tread stiffness has important application value. The main work is as follows:Firstly, the various forms of block stiffness is calculated by theory. Computing the simple block stiffness by using the Timoshenko beam theory. The method of discrete triangle is used to compute the block stiffness with complex cross-section. Then,the equivalent beam method is used,while there area chamferes on the block. At last, the stiffness of the siped blocks is calculated by improving the mechanical model of siped tread block.Secondly, the experiment is finished to verify the above stiffness calculation theory. We produce various forms of tread blocks with a design of a mold for vulcanization. We record the deformation of tread blocks on the friction test bench with the VIC-3D non-contact strain measurement system for the stiffness calculation. By comparison with the theoretical value, it proves the theory of computation block stiffness.Then, the overall tread block stiffness is computed with finite element method. By theoretical calculation rigidity of the entire tread block, then use finite element validation. The stiffness of entire tread block is calculated by theoretical and validated with finite element. The influence of chamfer and groove bottom radius are taken into account to the overall stiffness of the tread blocks and the contact pressure distribution.Finally, the influence of the tread pattern to the mechanical properties of the tire has been studied. The three-dimensional patterned tire is modeled with TYABAS and CATIA by assembling the tread and the tire. Computing the overall stiffness of the tread blocks within the contact region in standard conditions. Then, by studying the radial, horizontal, vertical and torsional stiffness of the tire and stress analysis under radial, horizontal, vertical and torsional loads, we find the mechanical response to the difference of tread pattern block stiffness.