Theory of Optimum Tire Contour and Its Application

Abstract

A new approach to determine an optimum tire contour was developed and was applied to improve various tire performances following the corresponding objective function and constraints. Although several tire contour theories have been proposed in the past, some of them were based on a simple model and could not be used to improve tire performances effectively. On the other hand, others were not described by an equation and their application was limited. In the new approach, the optimization technology was applied to efficiently obtain the optimum contour by minimizing an objective function, while satisfying the constraints. The new approach was verified to be able to improve various tire performances.

Application of genetic algorithms for optimization of tire pitch sequences

“…Hence, we cannot obtain the optimum by the random search which has been used in the tire industry [4]- [7]. Moreover, the mathematical programming, which is the most popular technique in the optimization, cannot be used for the integer type problem in which the design variable is expressed by integer [10], [11], [8]. Hence, we applied a GAs (genetic algorithms) for the optimization of the pitch sequence.…”

“…Minimize : f (X) (11) (b) Constraints i. inequality constraints g^(X) < 0 j = 1, m (12) ii. equality constraints hk(X)=0 k=1,l (13) iii.…”

Non-natural equilibrium contour design for radial tire and its influence on tire performance

“…Although there is no general conclusion on how the tire carcass contour affects its characteristics, it is widely known that the tire contour design, especially the carcass contour structure, has a great influence on tire performance (Nakajima et al, 1996;Lee, et al, 2011). Since the tire works in the inflating state, the shape of the carcass contour has a direct influence on the main vehicle performances, such as internal force, driving performance, rolling resistance, wear and ride comfort (Tanaka and Ohishi, 2010;Lee et al, 2014).…”

“…Since the tire works in the inflating state, the shape of the carcass contour has a direct influence on the main vehicle performances, such as internal force, driving performance, rolling resistance, wear and ride comfort (Tanaka and Ohishi, 2010;Lee et al, 2014). Traditionally, the natural equilibrium contour design theory is widely used in the tire design progress, in which the carcass cord tension is assumed to be uniform (Nakajima et al, 1996). With the improvement of tire speed, the warping phenomenon is detected by people that the tire will not fully contact with the road, and parts of the tread may warp (Ben et al, 2005).…”

Tyre Design and Optimization by Dedicated CAD Tyre Model

“…The best results are achieved when it is used in conjunction with structural optimization methods [13]. FEA plays an important role in multi-objective optimization of tyre characteristics, such as manoeuvrability [14][15][16], endurance [15,17], rolling resistance [14], wear [18,19] or riding comfort [17].…”