Proceedings of the ASME 2012 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition

IMECE 2012
November 11-14, 2012, HOUSTON, TEXAS, USA

IMECE2012-88199

THE DYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF A NON-PNEUMATIC TIRE WITH FLEXIBLE

AUXETIC HONEYCOMB SPOKES

Chihun Lee1 Jaehyung Ju2

chihunlee@kau.ac.kr jaehyung.ju@unt.edu
1
Doo-Man Kim
dmkim@kau.ac.kr
1
School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Korea Aerospace University
Goyang City, Republic of Korea
2
Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering
University of North Texas
Denton, TX 76203-5017, USA

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION

Motivated by our previous study on the flexibility and low
local stress of auxetic hexagonal honeycombs in uni-axial
loading, we explore the dynamic characteristics of a flexible
auxetic hexagonal lattice structure when it is used as the flexible
spokes of a non-pneumatic tire. In this study, a modal analysis
and the steady state vibration characteristics of NPTs with
cellular spokes are investigated with a series of vertical loads
and rolling speeds using a commercial finite element code,
ABAQUS/Explicit. The angular velocity and the displacement
at the hub center and the reaction force on the ground were
investigated in the time and frequency domains for the steady
state rolling condition for vehicle speeds of 60km/h and 80km/h.
The orthotropic properties of the honeycomb spokes create
different modal behaviors compared with those of pneumatic
tires; e.g., the in-plane shear at the initial mode. The discrete
spoke geometry induces a non-homogeneous mass (non-
uniformity) distribution, which also causes local vibration
effects.
Key Words: Non-pneumatic tire, auxetic, lattice spokes,
vibration, finite element (FE) analysis, Fast Fourier Transform
(FFT)
Honeycomb structures have seen wide-spread use in
aerospace and industrial applications due to a high out-of-plane
stiffness to weight ratio [1]. Recently disclosed inventions have
demonstrated a lower in-plane stiffness that can be used to
design flexible honeycomb structures for applications that need
high deformation under targeted loads. Flexible micro-electro-
mechanical-system (MEMS) structures [2] and aircraft
morphing structures [3-5] are good examples. Hexagonal cell
honeycombs are known to be bending dominated structures,
which is good for a flexible structural design and can easily be
tailored to have targeted in-plane properties by changing cell
angles [6].
Since the recent emergence of newly invented non-
pneumatic tires (NPTs), which consist of flexible spokes and an
elastomer layer with reinforced rings [7], research on NPTs has
been actively conducted to improve structural performance; e.g.,
contact pressure [8-10], the design and structure of flexible
spokes [6, 11-19] and rolling resistance [20, 21]. In particular,
the air pressure of the pneumatic tire is replaced to the
honeycomb structure with auxetic structures. Figure 1 shows
how compression affects the volume of honeycombs with
respect to geometric reduction, and it also shows how the

1 Copyright © 2012 by ASME

tension action increases the volume, which consists of structures hyperelastic polyurethane material and flexible auxetic
with negative Poisson’s ratios. honeycomb spokes, a modal analysis for the natural frequency
and the steady state rolling vibration characteristics are
Figure 2 depicts flexible honeycomb NPT investigated in both time and frequency domains for vehicle
spokes using auxetic structural characteristics [7]. The speeds of 60km/h and 80km/h. As a result, the dynamic
geometric characteristics of NPTs are different from those of properties are discussed while comparing the results with those
pneumatic tires with a side-wall; that is, the NPT consists of of a conventional pneumatic tire and angular velocity for an
porous spokes. Thus, NPTs are composed of un-continuous and NPT.
non-homogeneous mass (non-uniformity), which is vulnerable
in terms of rotational vibration. In fact, NPT vibrations have
similarities in terms of vibration characteristic with tractor tires
with lugs [22], tires with tread discontinuities effects [23] and
pneumatic tires with non-homogeneous mass due to oscillations
[24].

(a) Unit cell geometry for auxetic honeycombs Figure 2 Auxetic type non-pneumatic tire

MODELING OF A PNEUMATIC TIRE

0.60
effective stress, σ11* (MPa)

0.40
An NPT is selected for a small vehicle and is designed to
compression have the equivalent size of a pneumatic tire (175/60R14). Figure
0.20 3 shows the pneumatic tire (175/60R14) used for the simulation.
tension The pneumatic tire is made of rubber material and reinforced by
0.00 body plies, a steel belt and a rim. The tire model is composed of
-0.15 -0.1 -0.05 0 0.05 0.1 0.15
the tire body (the sidewall and the tread), which is made of a
-0.20
rubber material (density, ρ=1100kg/m3, Young’s modulus,
-0.40 E~11.9MPa, shear modulus, G~4MPa and Poisson’s ratio,
ν~0.49) whose stress-strain behavior is also available in the
-0.60 literature, and is shown in Figure 4 [25]. A hyperelastic strain
effective strain, ε11* energy model with neo-Hookean properties is used for the
nonlinear material modeling of the rubber; the strain energy of
the neo-Hookean hyperelastic model is used for nonlinear
materials modeling, which is given by

1
U = 𝐶10 (𝐼̅1 − 3) + 𝐷 (𝐽𝑒𝑙 − 1)2 (1)

(b) Uni-axial stress-strain behaviors of Auxetic hexagonal
honeycombs (𝛉 = −𝟏𝟓°, h=l)
Figure 1 Characteristics of auxetic hexagonal honeycombs
In this study, the dynamic properties of NPTs with flexible
cellular spokes are investigated. The modal analysis and steady
state rolling vibration behavior of 3D-NPTs with flexible auxetic
honeycomb structures are investigated. Using a commercial
finite element code, ABAQUS/Explicit, with a nonlinear
where the coefficients of the model C10 and D1 are 1.0×106, and
5.085×10-8, respectively.
Two layers of the belts are made of a steel cord
(ρ=7800kg/m3, E=172.20GPa, and ν=0.3), and the carcass is
made of a cord fabric (ρ=7800kg/m3, E=9.87GPa, and ν=0.33).
The sidewall and tread are modeled with a solid element
(C3D8R in ABAQUS). The carcass and the belt are modeled
with a shell element (S4R in ABAQUS).

2 Copyright © 2012 by ASME

 composed of a synthetic rubber. All interfaces, e.g., i) the hub
and the spokes, ii) the spokes and shear-band, are modeled with
the tie constraint in ABAQUS.

Polyurethane (ρ=1100kg/m3, E~32.8MPa, shear modulus,

(a) 3D-model of a pneumatic tire with the size of 175/60R14
G~11.3MPa) is used as the constituent material of the
honeycomb spokes and the shear-band. Its uni-axial, bi-axial,
and planar tension material behaviors are available in the
literature, and the Ogden strain energy potential is used to
represent the material’s nonlinear behavior (Figure 5). Its
coefficients are shown in

Table 2 [21], and its stress-strain behavior curve is shown in

Figure 5. The tread component is made of a synthetic rubber
(ρ=1100kg/m3, E~19.5MPa, shear modulus, G~6.78MPa) whose
stress-strain behavior curve for the Ogden model (Table 2) is
shown in Figure 6. The Ogden hyper-elastic strain energy model
is used for modeling nonlinear materials, and the coefficients of
the model are shown in

𝑊(𝜆1 , 𝜆2 , 𝜆3 ) = ∑ 1 (𝜆1 + 𝜆2 + 𝜆3 − 3) (2)

(b) Cross-section views
Figure 3 Schematic of a pneumatic tire (175/60R14) For finite element modeling (FEM), each component is
designed in accordance with their characteristics. The hub,
spokes, shear-band and tread are used to model a solid element
4.5 (C3D8R in ABAQUS). The reinforced rings are modeled with a
shell element (S4R in ABAQUS). The road surface is modeled
4
with an analytical rigid body, which is moving with a velocity
3.5 that simulates a vehicle speed.
3
stress (MPa)

Table 1 Densities of the NPT components

2.5
Part Property Density(kg/𝑚3)
2
1.5 Spokes Polyurethane 1100
1 Shear band Polyurethane 1100
0.5 Steel code &
Reinforced rings 2994
0 Polyurethane
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Tread Synthetic rubber 1100
strain

Figure 4 Uni-axial stress-strain behavior curve of

the synthetic rubber [25]
Table 2 Coefficients of the Ogden hyperelastic model
MODEL OF A NON-PNEUMATIC TIRE WITH LATTICE for polyurethane and synthetic rubber
SPOKES Polyurethane Synthetic rubber
As shown in Figure 2, the NPT is made up of auxetic i 𝜇 (𝑀𝑃𝑎) 𝛼 𝜇 (𝑀𝑃𝑎) 𝛼
spokes, a shear band, a hub and inner/outer face-sheets. The
1 13.546 1.513 13.356 1.633
auxetic spokes’ radial flexibility is utilized to replace the
internal air of the pneumatic tire. The shear-band with an inner 2 -2.338 2.212 -6.631 1.9
diameter of 262mm and an outer diameter of 272mm is
composed of polyurethane and two reinforced rings made of a 3 0.093 -2.471 0.058 -2.456
high strength steel cord (ANSI 4340; ρ=7800kg/m3, E=210GPa,
and ν=0.29). It is set to be 0.5mm. The tread, with an inner
diameter of 272mm and an outer diameter of 277mm, is

3 Copyright © 2012 by ASME

 20
are the average values of the vertical cell lengths, the inclined
cell lengths and the cell angles, respectively (Figure 7(a)). Es is
15 the Young’s modulus of a base material, and t is the cell wall
thickness. The density of a honeycomb, ρ*, from CMT [23-25] is
10
also given by
Stress (MPa)

5
Uni-axial t l  h l  2
0  *  s (6)
Bi-axial 2 cos   h l  sin  
-5
Planar where ρs is the density of the constituent material. The modeled
-10 dimension of the tire is as follows; l, h, t, and θ are 24.58mm,
-15
24.38mm, 3.2mm and 32o, respectively. From Equations (3), (4),
and (5), the specific effective moduli for 𝐸𝑟∗ /𝐸𝑠 , 𝐸𝛺∗ /𝐸𝑠 and
-20 𝐺𝛺∗ /𝐸𝑠 are 0.00429, 0.00548 and 0.000189, respectively.
-30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Strain Figure 7(b) shows the structural concept of the reinforced
Figure 5 Stress-strain curves for the Ogden model ring (one-ply steel cord; the Halpin-Tsai equations [29] is used)
for polyurethane that forces shear in the shear-band. The embedded ring has an
orthotropic material for its engineering constants properties; the
moduli and Poisson’s ratios in the principal directions are as
10
follows: E1=59.4GPa, E2=E3=71.6MPa, G12=G13=20.22MPa,
8 G32= 18.84MPa, ν12=ν13=0.40 and ν23=0.45.
6
4 The load carrying capability of the NPT is shown in Figure
Stress (MPa)

2
8, which depicts the vertical force-deflection curve. The NPT’s
Uni-axial load carrying capability was calibrated with a pneumatic tire
0
(175/60R14), which was set at 16mm for a vertical load of
-2 Bi-axial 3,000N.
-4
Planar
-6
-8
-10
-30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Strain

Figure 6 Stress-strain curves for the Ogden model

for synthetic rubber

Effective in-plane honeycomb moduli were developed by

earlier engineers using the beam theory, and these developments
are collectively called cellular materials theory (CMT) [26-28].
According to CMT, the effective moduli are given by [27] (a) Auxetic 30° Spoke

𝑡 3 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
𝐸𝑟∗ = 𝐸𝑠 ( 𝑙 ) (3)
( +𝑠 𝑛𝜃)𝑠 𝑛 𝜃

𝑡 3 ( +𝑠 𝑛𝜃)
𝐸𝛺∗ = 𝐸𝑠 ( 𝑙 ) 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃
(4)
(b) Orientation direction of Shear band in
𝑡 3 ( +𝑠 𝑛𝜃)
reinforced ring (one-ply steel cord)
𝐺𝛺∗ = 𝐸𝑠 ( ) (ℎ/𝑙) (1+2ℎ/𝑙)𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
(5)
𝑙
Figure 7 A non-pneumatic tire with the compliant
where Er*, EΩ*, and GΩ* are the effective moduli in the radial, the auxetic spokes and the reinforced rings
circumferential and the shear directions, respectively. h, l, and θ

4 Copyright © 2012 by ASME

 (23.37Hz) for the pneumatic tire and the NPT, respectively. The
Pneumatic tire
low initial modal frequency may not be favorable for the riding
4000
comfort, and the dynamic behavior of the cellular spokes should
Non-Pneumatic tire
be further investigated.

3000
200 Pneumatic Tire
Non-Pneumatic Tire
Load (N)

2000
150

Frequency (Hz)
1000 100

0 50
0 5 10 15 20
Deflection (mm) 16mm
0
Figure 8 Load-deflection curves for the pneumatic tire and 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
NPT
Mode
RESULTS & DISCUSSION Figure 9 Modal frequencies of the pneumatic tire and NPT
on the ground
The modal frequencies and mode shapes of a pneumatic
tire are affected by constituent materials and geometry [30]. For Tire vibration analysis for the steady state rolling
an NPT, the local cell geometry of the spokes appears to be an simulation of the NPT was conducted using a commercial finite
additional factor that affects modal behavior. element (FE) code, ABAQUS/Explicit. Figure 11 shows a
boundary condition of the NPT for the steady state rolling. A
Figure 9 shows the modal frequencies of the pneumatic tire vertical load (=3,000N) is applied at the hub center, whose
and the NPT on the ground when a 3000N load is applied at the displacements are fixed in the x and z directions. Upon
hub center. It should be noted that modal frequencies and mode completion of the vertical load at the hub center, the degree of
shapes are affected by the boundary conditions, which means freedom of rotation with respect to the z axis at the hub center is
that the modal behaviors which occur will not necessarily be the set to be free, which enables the NPT to rotate. The
same modal behaviors as those which occur in the constraint displacement of the road is initially fixed in the y and z
free condition [31]. The loading at the center and the contact on directions. Once the vertical loading at the hub center is
the ground were chosen for consistency on the boundary completed, velocities (60km/h and 80km/h) are applied on the
conditions for the rolling analysis, which will be covered in the ground in the x direction, which induces rotation at the hub
next section. center due to friction on the contact surface between the tread
and the ground.
As shown in Figure 9, the modal frequencies of the
pneumatic tire are higher than those of the NPT except for the
third mode. Under contact with the ground, both tire structures Pneumatic tire NPT
show vertical deflection in the initial mode. The second mode
shape of the NPT is an in-plane shear of the spokes. As
confirmed in Equations (1) through (3), the effective in-plane
shear modulus has the lowest value, which may affect the
second mode. On the other hand, the second mode of the Vertical
pneumatic tire has an out-of-plane axial deformation in the Vertical direction
lateral direction at about 65.09Hz (Figure 10). The deformation direction
in the lateral direction of the pneumatic tire in an initial mode is
typically observed through theories and experiments [30-32].

As can be seen in Figure 10, the first mode occurs through

Mode 1; 53.3 Hz Mode 1; 23.37Hz
the vertical deflection of the side wall (53.3Hz) and the spokes

5 Copyright © 2012 by ASME


Mode 2; 65.09 Hz
Torsion
Mode 3; 66.22 Hz
Mode 4; 97.35 Hz
Figure 10 Mode shapes of the pneumatic tire and NPT
on the ground
Figure 11 Boundary conditions on the NPT – a vertical force
followed by rolling
Figure 12 and Figure 13 show the angular velocity of the
NPT for steady state rolling. The angular velocity was measured
at the hub center for the vehicle velocities of 60km/h
(=60.17rad/s) and 80km/h (=80.22rad/s).
Spoke
in-plane As can be seen in Figure 12 and Figure 13, the angular
shear velocities measured at the hub center show a harmonic
oscillation due to the vibration along the vertical direction.
The measured average angular velocities at the hub center are
higher than the average from the theory by about 2.35%, which
Mode 2; 54.14 Hz may be caused by the decrease in the effective radial while
rolling due to the deformation of the spokes by the vertical
loading.
65
Angular Velocity (rad/s)
60
55
Mode 3; 71.93 Hz
50
1 1.5 2
Time (s)
Figure 12 Angular velocities of the NPT in the time domain
for a vehicle speed of 60km/s
85
Angular Velocity (rad/s)
Mode 4; 87.58 Hz 80
75
70
1 1.5 2
Time (s)
Figure 13 Angular velocities of the NPT in the time domain
for a vehicle speed of 80km/h
The responses of Figures 12 and 13 in the time domain (1s
~ 2s data use) can be plotted in the frequency domain using the
Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). Figure 14 shows the angular
velocity for a frequency range of 1 to 1,000Hz of log-log scale.
The characteristic frequencies are identified with the following
equations [22, 33].
6 Copyright © 2012 by ASME
 𝜔
𝑓𝑤 = 2𝜋; Excitation frequencies of the NPT assembly (7)
1.E+01
𝑛𝜔
𝑓𝐿1 = ; First-order excitation frequencies of the spoke pair
2𝜋
(8) 1.E+00 247.1 Hz

𝑛𝜔
𝑓𝐿2 = ; Second-order excitation frequencies of the spoke
𝜋 1.E-01
pair (9)

|x|
12.95 Hz 495.2 Hz
where n is the number of spoke pairs (n=19) 1.E-02

As shown in Figure 14, the results of the FFT analysis of 1.E-03

the peak values were compared with the result of equation (7) ~
(9). The results for a vehicle speed of 60km/h were 10.04 Hz,
186.66 Hz and 374.31 Hz, respectively. The results for the
excitation frequencies from Equations (7) to (9) were compared
with the numerical simulation, as follows: 𝑓𝑤 =9.58Hz (with a
4.84% error), 𝑓𝐿1 =181.95Hz (with a 2.59% error) and 𝑓𝐿2 =
363.89Hz (with a 2.86% error). For a vehicle speed of 80km/h,
the excitation frequencies were 12.95Hz, 247.1Hz and 495.2Hz
for fW, fL1 and fL2, respectively. The excitation frequencies from
Equations (7) to (9) could also be compared with a numerical
test using the FE model, with the following results:
𝑓𝑤 =12.771Hz (with a 1.41% error), 𝑓𝐿1 =242.6Hz (with a 1.85%
error) and 𝑓𝐿2 = 485.19Hz (with a 2.06% error).
Figure 14 shows the response of the angular velocities in the
frequency domain. As can be seen in Figure 14, the first
excitation frequency, 𝑓𝐿1 , is the main factor which affects the
vibration due to the angular velocity at the hub center.
1.E+00
186.66Hz
1.E-01
1.E-04
1 10 100 1000
Frequency (Hz)
(b) FFT- Angular velocity for a vehicle speed of 80km/h
Figure 14 Angular velocities in the frequency domain
for vehicle speeds of 60km/h and 80km/h
Figure 16 shows the vertical displacement of the NPT at the
hub center for the time and frequency domains for a vehicle
speed of 60km/h. In this analysis, a displacement of 18mm was
initially applied at the hub center and its rolling vibration
behaviors were investigated. Due to the dynamic effect, the
average vertical deflection measured during the steady state
rolling was 22.3mm, which was 23.89% higher than the
deflection at the static loading (18mm). As can be seen in Figure
15, the first excitation frequency, 𝑓𝐿1 , was also the main factor
which influenced the oscillation of the displacement at the hub
center.
25

374.31 Hz
20
Displacement (mm)

1.E-02
|x|

10.04 Hz
1.E-03 15

1.E-04 10

1.E-05 5
1 10 100 1000
Frequency (Hz) 0
(a) FFT- Angular velocity for a vehicle speed of 60km/h 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Time (s)
(a) Vertical displacement at the hub center in the time domain

7 Copyright © 2012 by ASME

 1.E+00 186.66 Hz,
1.E+02
35.657 N

1.E-01 186.66 Hz, 374.31 Hz,

1.E+01
0.034 mm 17.205 N
10.04 Hz,
0.052 mm 10.04 Hz,
1.E-02
1.E+00 1.515 N
374.31 Hz,
|x|

|x|
0.0074 mm
1.E-03
1.E-01

1.E-04
1.E-02

1.E-05
1 10 100 1000 1.E-03
1 10 100 1000
Frequency (Hz)
Frequency (Hz)
(b) Vertical displacement at the hub center in the frequency
(b) Ground reaction force for FFT
domain
Figure 15 Vertical displacement at the hub center in the time Figure 16 Ground reaction force in the time and frequency
and frequency domains for a vehicle speed of 60km/h domains for a vehicle speed of 60km/h

Reaction forces on the ground were also measured for
rolling. Figure 16 shows the reaction force on the ground while
the NPT rolls with a speed of 60km/h. A similar behavior is
observed compared to that of the displacement in the time
domain. The 𝑓𝐿1 is the main contributor to the reaction force on
the ground; 35.66N at 186.66Hz (Figure 16).
4000
Ground Reaction Force (N)
For a higher vehicle speed, similar analyses were applied.
Figure 17 shows the vertical displacement of the NPT at the hub
center in the time and frequency domains for a vehicle speed of
80km/h. Compared to the displacement (18mm) for a static load,
a higher displacement (22.4mm) was measured. However, the
displacement at the speed of 80km/h was not distinctive
compared to the displacement at a speed of 60km/h. The 𝑓𝐿1
was the main contributor to the displacement at the hub center;
0.0817mm at 247.1Hz (Figure 17).

3000

25
2000

20
Displacement (mm)

1000
15

0 10
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Time (s) 5
(a) Ground reaction force in the time domain
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
Time (s)
(a) Vertical displacement at the hub center in the time domain

8 Copyright © 2012 by ASME

 1.E+00 247.1 Hz,
1.E+02
91.747 N
1.E-01 247.1 Hz,
12.95 Hz, 495.2 Hz,
0.0817 mm 1.E+01
0.0698 mm 35.265 N
12.95Hz,
1.E-02
3.394 N
1.E+00
|x|

1.E-03 495.2 Hz,

|x|
0.00325 mm
1.E-01
1.E-04

1.E-02
1.E-05

1.E-06 1.E-03
1 10 100 1000 1 10 100 1000
Frequency (Hz) Frequency (Hz)
(b) Vertical displacement at the hub center in the frequency
(b) Reaction force in the frequency domain
domain
Figure 17 Vertical displacement at the hub center in the time Figure 18 Reaction force on the ground in the time and
and frequency domains for a vehicle speed of 80km/h frequency domains for a vehicle speed of 80km/h

Figure 18 shows the reaction force on the ground while the

NPT rolls with a speed of 80km/h. A similar behavior was Table 3 FFT results for angular velocity
observed compared to that of the displacement in the time 𝑓𝑤 (Hz) 𝑓𝐿1 (Hz) 𝑓𝐿2 (Hz)
domain. The 𝑓𝐿1 was the main contributor to the reaction force
on the ground; 91.747N at 247.1Hz (Figure 18), which is 2.5 Equation (6) ~(8) 9.58 181.95 363.89
times higher than the reaction force for a speed of 60km/h. 60km/h
Analysis result 10.04 186.36 372.67
(60.17rad/s)
The angular velocity, the displacement at the hub center and Error 4.84% 2.59% 2.86%
the reaction force on the ground were investigated in the time Equation (6) ~(8) 12.77 242.6 485.19
and frequency domains for the steady state rolling condition for 80km/h
vehicle speeds of 60km/h and 80km/h, and they were Analysis Result 12.95 247.1 495.2
(80.22rad/s)
summarized in Table 3 and Figure 19. Error 1.41% 1.85% 2.06%

4000
Ground Reaction Force (N)

3000 fL2
Frequency (Hz)

2000
fL1
80km/h
60km/h
1000

fw

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
Time (s)
Displacement (mm)
(a) Reaction force in the time domain
(a) FFT for displacement of a vehicle at two speeds

9 Copyright © 2012 by ASME


fL2
Frequency (Hz)
fL1
80km/h
60km/h
fw
0 20 40 60 80 100
Ground reaction force (N)
(b) FFT for displacement of a vehicle at two speeds
Figure 19 FFT result for angular velocity of displacement at
hub center and ground reaction force
SUMMARY
In this study, modal frequencies and mode shapes of the
NPT with auxetic honeycomb spokes were investigated using a
hyperelastic nonlinear material model. 1) The angular velocity
and the displacement at the hub center and 2) the reaction force
on the ground were also investigated in the time and frequency
domains for the steady state rolling condition for vehicle speeds
of 60km/h and 80km/h. The major findings through the current
study are as follows:
• For the NPT, the orthotropic properties of the honeycomb
spokes is the important factor to create different modal
behaviors compared with those of pneumatic tires; e.g.,
the in-plane shear at the initial mode.
• The discrete spoke geometry induces a non-
homogeneous mass (non-uniformity) distribution, which
also causes local vibration effects (𝑓𝐿1 ,𝑓𝐿2 ). In particular,
the first excitation frequency of the spoke pair, 𝑓𝐿1 , is the
important factor which affects the vibrations associated
with the angular velocity, displacement and reaction
force.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors appreciate Hankook Tire’s financial support for
this study. Computational resources were provided by the
University of North Texas (UNT)'s High Performance
Computing Initiative. The authors also thank Professor Andrew
Calhoun of the English Department of Korea Aerospace
University for editing the manuscript.
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of Chiral-core Airfoils." Journal of Intelligent Material
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[6] Ju, J., J.D. Summers, J. Ziegert, and G. Fadel. "Compliant
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[13] Ju, J., and J.D. Summers. "Hyperelastic Constitutive
Modeling of Hexagonal Honeycombs Subjected to In-
Plane Shear Loading." Transactions of the ASME: Journal
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[31] Kao, B.G. "Tire Vibration Modes and Tire stiffness." Tire
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"Rolling Resistance of a Non-Pneumatic Tire having a
Porous Elastomer Composite Shear Band." Tire Science
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TST-10064-320522)
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[25] Pina-Hernandez, C., Hernandez, L., Flores-Velez, L.M., del
Castillo, L.F., and Dominguez, O. "Processing and

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