Effectiveness of Tire-Tread Patterns in Reducing the Risk of Hydroplaning

Abstract

Grooving of tire tread is necessary to provide sufficient skid resistance for wet-weather driving and to reduce the risk of hydroplaning. Many different groove patterns of tire tread are found in the market. However, their relative effectiveness in reducing hydroplaning risk is generally not known to motorists and highway engineers. The effects of changes in the groove depth of a tire tread's groove pattern also deserve further investigation. This paper presents an analytical study that aims to characterize quantitatively the influence of different tire-tread patterns and groove depths on the hydroplaning behavior of passenger cars. The analysis is performed by means of a computer simulation model with a three-dimensional finite element approach. The following six forms of tire-tread groove patterns are considered: ( a) longitudinal groove pattern, (b) transverse groove pattern, ( c) V-groove pattern with 20° V-cut, (d) V-groove pattern with 40° V-cut, ( e) combined groove pattern consisting of longitudinal grooves and edge horizontal grooves, and ( f) combined groove pattern consisting of longitudinal grooves and 20° V-cut grooves. The analysis shows that a parameter computed as the groove volume per tread area of the tire is a useful performance indicator to assess the effectiveness of various tire-tread groove patterns in reducing vehicle hydroplaning risk. The significance of V-shape grooves is discussed. For vehicular operations involving both forward and lateral movements, the analysis indicates that a combined pattern would provide a good compromise in lowering hydroplaning risk sufficiently in different modes of vehicle movements.

Macro-Scale Tread Patterns for Traction in the Intestine

“…Hydrodynamics -Effective de-wetting of the surface reduces hydrodynamic lubrication and increases the degree and speed of tread-substrate contact. A high groove volume (space between tread features) and grooves perpendicular to the shear direction are most effective at de-wetting a tyre-road contact [57]. Furthermore, a hierarchy of grooves significantly reduces hydrodynamic repulsion, resulting in faster and more complete de-wetting of the contact under reduced normal load [24,26].…”

The Experimental Study of Shallow Flows of Liquid on the Airport Runways and Automobile Roads

“…The hydroplaning speed at each point of interest is estimated by using an analytical computer simulation model. Fwa et al (2009) investigated the effectiveness of tyre-tread patterns in reducing the risk of hydroplaning. Grooving of tyre tread is necessary to provide sufficient skid resistance for wet-weather driving and to reduce the risk of hydroplaning.…”

Escape dynamics of liquid droplets confined between soft interfaces: non-inertial coalescence cascades

“…The behavior of liquid confined between solids, of which at least one is soft and elastomeric, is important in a number of technological applications such as aquaplaning, [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] tribology, printing [12][13][14] and adhesion. [15][16][17][18][19][20] The stability of liquid films is highly desirable in tribological applications such as contact lenses and cartilage joints, where direct solid on solid contact would induce wear and frictional heating.…”