J. J.

Lazeration 1

An Investigation of the Slip of a Tire

Tread 2

REFERENCE: Lazeration, J.J., " A n Investigation of the Slip of a Tire Tread," Tire
Science and Technology, TSTCA, Vol. 25, No. 2, April-June, 1997, pp. 78-95.

ABSTRACT: Tire performance such as handling, noise, traction, wear, etc., is determined
ultimately in the tire footprint. The nature of the distribution of the contact stresses within
the tire footprint determine whether or not the tire tread adheres to the road or slips relative
to the road surface. Loss of adhesion between the tire tread and the road can be extreme
as in gross slippage resulting in the loss of vehicle control or it can be subtle as in the
small magnitude slippage that promotes treadwear. This paper presents results from an
experimental characterization of the slip between the tread of a free-rolling tire and a
simulated road surface. Trajectories of discrete points on the tread surface were measured
from the entrance to the exit of the footprint and were used to calculate the total slip of
each point. The relationship between the average slip of the tire and toe angle was estab-
lished. Also, the relationship between toe, camber, and the distribution of tread slip and
velocity across the tire footprint, was investigated in this paper.

KEY WORDS: elastic lead, elastic trail, footprint, free-rolling tire, tread slip, treadwear

The determination of the relative motion between the tire tread and the
road surface, here referred to as tread slip, is an experimental challenge.
A technique must be selected to minimize the disturbance to the field being
measured. This is especially critical for the measurement of tread slip
because of the relatively high compliance of the tread rubber compared
with the stiffness of common displacement transducers. Therefore, it was
determined to simulate the road surface by a glass plate and to use an
optical technique for tread slip measurement. A commercially available
high-speed video system, capable of recording 1000 pictures per second,
was chosen to record the footprint images as the tire rolled over the glass
plate. Image data were transferred to an IBM-compatible personal com-
puter and analyzed using in-house-developed software. A schematic of
the experimental setup is shown in Fig. 1.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Akron, OH 44309.

2 Presented at the fourteenth annual conference of The Tire Society at the University of Akron,
Akron, Ohio, March 21-22, 1995.

78
 LAZERATION ON TIRE TREAD SLIPPAGE 79

FIG. 1 - - E x p e r i m e n t a l setup.

The tire chosen for this investigation was a P195/75R14 radial tire having
an experimental construction and a simple tread geometry consisting of rec-
tangular lugs. Test conditions are summarized as follows:

Inflation: 1.8, 2.4 kg/cm 2

Vertical load: 4770 N
Speed: 1.6 km/hr
Toe angle: - 1 . 0 , - 0 . 5 , 0.0, 0.5, 1.0~
Camber angle: 0.0, - 1.0, - 2 . 0 ~

Targets located at predetermined points on the tread lugs identify the locations
where slip was measured. The displacements of four targets outlining each lug,
20 targets total, were determined for each test condition. These are the displace-
ments in the plane of the glass plate, with the initial point of contact of each target
taken as its origin. Tread slip is calculated as the line integral of the trajectory of
these displacements. The experimental tire footprint for 2.4 kg/cm2 inflation and
a 4770 N load is shown in Fig. 2 along with the location of the targets.

Tread Slip of a Free-Rolling Tire Subject to a Toe Angle

The deformation and potential slip of a free-rolling tire subject to a toe angle
is well-documented []] and is illustrated in Fig. 3. Here it is shown that a tread
80 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

FIG. 2 - - Experimental tire footprint with locations f o r slip measurements.

Wheel Plane Tire

_ . ~ j / .......Footprint

FIG. 3 -- Mechanics of a free-rolling tire subject to a slip angle.

 LAZERATION ON TIRE TREAD SLIPPAGE 81

1.25

0.75 -

0.5-
t:x,

0.25 -

0 "1 i I I I
0 25 50 75 100 125

D I S T A N C E IN C O N T A C T (ram)

FIG. 4 -- Tread displacement as a function of distance in contact; - 1 . 0 ~ toe angle, 0 ~ camber

angle.

lug is displaced laterally from its equilibrium position on the tire because of
the difference between the direction of travel and the plane of rotation of the
tire. Some displacement occurs before the lug enters the footprint because of
the carcass and belt deformation from the preceding lugs contacting the road.
The projected distance from the last point where the lug was at its equilibrium
position to the edge of initial contact with the road is often referred to as the
elastic lead. Once in contact with the road, the lug remains adhered to the
surface until the ratio of lateral to normal stress exceeds the coefficient of
friction and sliding begins. Sliding continues until the lug leaves contact with
the road, which occurs before the lug has returned to its equilibrium position.
The projected distance from the exit of contact to the point where the lug is
82 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

FIG. 5 - - T r e a d d i s p l a c e m e n t as a f u n c t i o n o f distance in contact; - 1 . 0 ~ toe angle, 0 ~ c a m b e r

angle.

again at its equilibrium position is referred to as the elastic trail. This geometric
representation of tread Slip does not account for any longitudinal stresses gen-
erated in the footprint. It predicts tread slip to be predominantly lateral, only
varying from lateral (with respect to direction of travel) by an amount equal
to the toe angle. It also predicts the actual slip to be less than the potential slip
because of the elastic trail. Experimental measurement of tread slip will help
in the investigation of this representation.

Results
The displacement of a point on the outside shoulder of the test tire for - 1.0~
toe angle is shown in Fig. 4 as a function of distance in contact in the tire
footprint. Only small-magnitude "secondary" slip was measured after initial
contact with the glass plate and through most of the footprint. Large-magnitude
"primary" slip was observed only at the trailing edge of the footprint. Al-
though some stick/slip behavior could be observed during secondary slip, pri-
 LAZERATION ON TIRE TREAD SLIPPAGE 83

40

30

2: 20
9
~q

10

0 I I I I I I I I I I
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

TREAD WIDTH (ram)

F I G . 6 - - Slip z o n e a s a f u n c t i o n o f t r e a d width; - 1 . 0 ~ toe angle, 0 ~ c a m b e r angle.

mary slip was continuous in nature. The slip zone, defined as the region where
primary slip occurs, was very small for this shoulder point. However, it can
vary significantly across the footprint and is very dependent on tire construc-
tion and service conditions.
Figure 5 shows the displacements of corresponding points on each of five
tread lugs across the tire for the same conditions as discussed previously. In
Fig. 5, point 2 lies on the inside shoulder lug, point 10 lies on the centerline
lug, and point 18 lies on the outside shoulder lug. A trapezoidal footprint shape
resulting from the imposed toe angle can be inferred from the progressively
shorter contact lengths from the outside shoulder (point 18) to the inside shoul-
der (point 2). Variations in the slip zone and total displacement of the indi-
vidual points are also evident. Total displacements are comparable for all
84 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Outside Edge

DIRECTION
Shoulder
OF TRAVEL Lug

Inside Edge
FIG. 7 - - Trajectory of target on outside shoulder lug.

points inboard of the outside shoulder, but the manner in which they were
achieved are very different. The outside shoulder had the smallest slip zone
and the inside shoulder had the largest slip zone. Expressed as a percentage
of the total' contact length, the inside shoulder was in a state of primary slip
for nearly 70% of its total contact. Differences in the widths of the slip zones
across the footprint are attributed to the normal and in-plane stress gradients
across the footprint due to the toe angle. The slip zone distribution is quantified
in Fig. 6.
Tread displacement and the location in the footprint where it was developed
were discussed previously. The direction of the displacement relative to the
 LAZERATION ON TIRE TREAD SLIPPAGE 85

FIG. 8 - - A v e r a g e tread slip directions.

direction of travel of the tire can also be quantified. Figure 7 shows the tra-
jectory of the point on the outside shoulder lug that was discussed previously.
This is the trajectory of the point on the tread relative to the surface of the
glass plate. The point is sliding laterally and in the direction of motion. The
average angle of slip, relative to the lateral direction, is much greater than the
1~ that would be predicted by the geometric slip model. The average direction
of tread slip also varies across the tread, as shown in Fig. 8. The average slip
directions of all points on the lugs superposed on the tire footprint correspond-
ing to - 1~toe angle are shown. Although the slip of all points is predominantly
lateral, the longitudinal components vary from lug to lug and are actually in
opposite directions on the two shoulders.
The difference between the measured tread slip and the potential tread
slip as predicted by the geometric slip model provides an interesting com-
parison. The potential tread slip is defined as the lateral deformation re-
sulting from the toe angle while the tread is in contact with the road, and
it is given by the expression x sin (a). Here, x is the variable representing
the length contact of each point in the tire footprint and a is the toe angle
86 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

[] M E A S U R E D T O T A L SLIP

........O ........ M E A S U R E D L A T E R A L SLIP

.... O .... PREDICTED L A T E R A L SLIP

~.0,0"0"-0"O, ,D'Q',o.O'
,0-0
s

0 ,15
J

R
i

0-0

"\.o
. . . . . . . . 9

I I I
0 5 10 15 20 25

POINT
FIG. 9 - - P r e d i c t e d a n d m e a s u r e d slip; +1.0 ~ toe angle, 0 ~ c a m b e r angle.

of the tire. Figure 9 is a graph of the potential slip and measured tread slip
of all points across the tread surface. The measured tread slip is shown as
both the total magnitude and the magnitude of the lateral component, be-
cause the latter would be the direct comparison to the predicted total slip.
It is shown that only a fraction of the potential slip is recovered as in-plane
tread slip before the tread leaves contact. The graph also shows that the
total tread slip is predominantly lateral, except at the outside shoulder where
a significant longitudinal component exists.

Effect of Toe Angle

The effect of wheel alignment on vehicle and tire performance has been
investigated rigorously. Toe angle, in particular, has been found to sig-
nificantly impact the treadwear performance of free-rolling tires. The el-
 LAZERATION ON TIRE TREAD SLIPPAGE 87

FIG. 10 -- Tread displacement as a function of distance in contact; 0 ~ camber angle.

fect of toe angle on tread slip is substantial. Figure 10 shows tread slip of
a point located on the outside shoulder of the tire as a function of the
distance from the leading edge of the footprint for 0, - 0 . 5 , and - 1.0 ~ toe
angle. Here, the lateral displacement of the point is shown as positive and
the longitudinal displacement is shown as negative to be able to distin-
guish easily the separate components. The graph demonstrates the signif-
icant impact of toe angle on the slip of the tire tread increasing not only
the lateral displacement but the longitudinal displacement as well. The
majority of the slip of this point occurs near the trailing edge of the foot-
print for all toe angles tested.
It is also interesting to look at the pointwise tread velocity, as shown in Fig.
l 1. The sliding velocity is very dependent on toe angle reaching a maximum
88 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

6o
9
[] 0.0 T O E

50- .........o ......... 0.5 T O E

.... ~ . . . . . 1.0 T O E

40-

30-

O~
0 O:
20-
0

g
10

0 I
0 25 50 75 100 125

D I S T A N C E IN C O N T A C T (ram)

FIG. 11 - - Tread slip velocity as a function o f distance in contact; 0 ~ c a m b e r angle.

velocity of approximately 60 mm/sec for - 1.0 ~ toe angle. This is about one-
seventh of the 1.6 km/hr linear speed of the tire.
The distribution of tread slip from shoulder to shoulder across the tread is
shown in Fig. 12 for 0, - 0 . 5 , and - 1 . 0 ~ toe angle. On this graph, rib 1 is the
outside shoulder and rib 5 is the inside shoulder. Also, each data point rep-
resents the average slip of the four points on each lug. Low magnitude, uni-
formly distributed slip was measured f o r 0 ~ toe angle. The slightly higher
average slip on the outside shoulder was attributed to the plysteer of the tire.
Both the magnitude and the uniformity of the slip increase as toe angle is
increased, with the slip of the shoulders accounting for most of the nonuni-
formity.
One final measure of tread slip investigated as a function of toe angle
 LAZERATION ON TIRE TREAD SLIPPAGE 89

[] - 1.0 T O E

........O ......... 0.5 T O E

.... O .... 0.0 T O E

1.5-

r.o

0 .............. ......0 ................... ~ .................... 4>

>
<

0.5

O-~.,
........ 0 .......... 0 .......... 0 .......... 0
OUTSDE ~SDE
SHOULDER SHOULDER
0 I I I I I
0 l 2 3 4 5 6

RIB

FIG. 12 -- Tread slip distribution; 0 ~ camber angle.

was the global slip o f the tread. Global slip is defined as the average slip
o f all 20 targets on the tread surface. This is shown in Fig. 13 where each
data point represents the average mentioned previously. The a s y m m e t r y
of the graph is very apparent as seen by the higher magnitude slip at - 1.0 ~
toe angle than at + 1.0 ~ This is attributed to the plysteer of the tire, which
adds to the force generated by the toe angle at - 1 . 0 ~ and subtracts from
the force due to toe angle at + 1.0 ~ Another interesting observation is that
m i n i m u m slip does not occur at 0 ~ toe angle, but rather at the toe angle
that corresponds to zero lateral force. That value is approximately +0.25 ~
for this tire. Finally, the average tread slip was found to be a second-order
function of toe angle. This helps explain the high sensitivity of treadwear
to vehicle alignment.
90 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

S = 0.530T 2 - 0.245T + 0.257 r 2 = 0.997

1 -

0.75 -

L9
0.5-
>.
<

0.25 -

0 I I I I I
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5

TOE A N G L E (DEGREES)

FIG. 13 - - Global tread slip as a function of toe angle; 0 ° camber angle.

Effect of Camber Angle

The previous discussion showed that increasing toe angle increases both the
magnitude of tread slip and its distribution across the tread surface. Camber
angle also affects the slip of the tire tread, with the most significant impact
occuring when the tire is cambered so as to load the shoulder also loaded by
a large toe or slip angle. Figure 14 shows the pointwise slip of a point on the
shoulder of the test tire for - 1 . 0 ° toe angle and 0, -1.0, and - 2 . 0 ° camber
angles. The increase in the magnitude of the slip with increasing camber is
much less than that resulting from a comparable increase in toe angle, and is
mainly caused by the increase in contact length. It is interesting to note that
the three curves are almost parallel near the trailing edge of contact, suggesting
 LAZERATION ON TIRE TREAD SLIPPAGE 91

1.5
[] -1.0 TOE / 0.0 C A M B E R o
J

........, ......... 1.0 T O E / -1.0 C A M B E R o

.... ~ . . . . . 1.0 TOE / -2.0 C A M B E R J

1
t o +
9
?
2: 6

+
r/] I
0.5 9

9 6
I O 6
6 6

o
0 50 100 150

DISTANCE IN C O N T A C T (ram)

FIG. 14 - - Tread displacement as a function of contact length; - 1 . 0 ~ toe angle.

that the increase in the width of the slip zone is also caused by only the increase
in contact length.
Figures 15 and 16 show the effect of camber on the treadslip distribution and
on the global tread slip, respectively. The tread slip distribution is characterized
by higher outside shoulder slip and greater overall nonuniformity when the tire
is cambered onto the shoulder loaded by the toe angle. Globally, tread slip in-
creased with the addition of negative camber, but the increase was not symmetric
with respect to positive and negative toe angles. Figure 16 shows only minimal
differences in tread slip for positive toe angles when the effects of toe and camber
counteract each other. When toe and camber act together to create footprint asym-
metry, global slip differences become more pronounced. These differences are
largely influenced by the slip of the loaded shoulder,
92 TIRE S C I E N C E & T E C H N O L O G Y

2.25
[] 0.0 CAMBER

........~>. . . . . . . . . 1 . 0 C A M B E R
2- q

, .... O ..... 2.0 CAMBER

~" 1.75 -

\\ '"o.. .o
].5-
"O"
t

1.25 -

OUTSIDE INSIDE
SHOULDER SHOULDER
0.75 i i i , i
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

RIB

FIG. 15 - - Tread slip distribution; -1.0 ~ toe angle.

The above sections illustrated the significant impact that vehicle align-
ment can have on tread slip and, therefore, the potential treadwear of a
tire. However, owners of a vehicle do not determine the r e c o m m e n d e d
alignment settings. They can maintain the inflation pressure, though, and
the following discussion will show that this parameter also has a signifi-
cant impact on tread slip.

Effect o f Inflation P r e s s u r e
The effect of inflation pressure on tread slip for three levels of toe angles
and two levels of inflation pressures is shown in Fig. 17. Here, rib 1
represents the outside shoulder and rib 5 represents the inside shoulder as
discussed previously. Lowering the inflation pressure increases the con-
 LAZERATION ON TIRE TREAD SLIPPAGE 93

1.5
[] 0.0 C A M B E R

-1.0 C A M B E R

o -2.0 C A M B E R

r~

>
<

01 i i i i i I
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5

TOE A N G L E (DEGREES)

F I G . 16 - - Global tread slip as a function of toe angle.

tact stresses on the shoulders causing a higher magnitude shoulder slip

for all levels of toe angle. The nonuniformity of the slip distribution in-
creases substantially when a low inflation pressure is combined with
higher-magnitude toe angles. A larger increase in the overall slip might
have been expected as inflation pressure was decreased, but these com-
parisons were made at a constant toe angle.
If the slip distributions at the two inflations are compared at equal levels
of cornering force, then a marked difference in overall slip is observed.
Figure 18 shows the tread slip distributions for 1.8 and 2.4 kg/cm 2 inflation
pressure when the comparison is made at a cornering force of 1330 N. The
magnitude of the slip at 1.8 kg/cm 2 inflation is approximately 40% higher
than the slip measured at the 2.4 kg/cm 2 inflation. This is a result of the
 94 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2.5- r-l,, 2.4 KG/SQ.CM / -1.0 TOE

--..~- 1.8 KG/SQ.CM / -1.0 TOE
2.4 KG/SQ.CM / -0.5 TOE
r 1.8 KG/SQ.CM / -0.5 TOE
2- 2.4 KG/SQ.CM / 0.0 TOE
1.8 KG/SQ.CM / 0.0 TOE

1.5-
r~

<

0.5

OUTSIDE INSIDE
SHOULDER SHOULDER
0 I I I I I
0 1 2 3 4 5

RIB
FIG. 17 -- Tread slip distribution for varying toe angles and inflation pressures; 0 ~ camber angle.

higher toe angle that the tire must assume at the lower inflation to generate
the same cornering force.

Conclusions

This investigation demonstrates that the optical measurement of tread

slip is an effective noncontacting method for the fundamental character-
ization of motion in the tire footprint. Tread slip magnitude and uniformity
were found to be very sensitive to the alignment parameters of toe and
camber and to tire inflation. Global tread slip was determined to be a
second-order function of toe angle. Camber angle increased tread slip,
especially when the tire was cambered onto the shoulder also loaded by
 LAZERATION ON TIRE TREAD SLIPPAGE 95

2.5

~
'D 2.4 KG/SQ.CM

Q.CM
2-

1.5

r~

;>
<

0.5

OUTS/DE INSIDE
SHOULDER SHOULDER
0 I I I I I
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

RIB
FIG. 18 - - Tread slip distribution for 1330 N cornering force.

toe angle. Superposing camber on toe angle significantly increased the

nonuniformity of the tread slip distribution. Finally, lowering inflation
pressure resulted in higher shoulder slip and greater overall nonuniformity
in the tread slip distribution.

Reference
[1] Clark, S. K., Ed., The Mechanics of Pneumatic Tires, U.S. Department of Transportation,
DOT-HS-805-952, 1981, pp. 667-669.