D.

Zheng I

Prediction of Tire Tread Wear with FEM

Steady State Rolling Contact Simulation 2

REFERENCE: Zhcng, D., "Prediction of Tire Tread Wear with FEM Steady State Rolling
Contact Simulation," Tire Science and Technology, TSTCA, Vol. 3 l, No. 3, July-September,
pp. 189-202.

ABSTRACT: A procedure based on steady state rolling contact Finite Element Analysis (FEM)
has been developed to predict tire cross section tread wear profile under specified vehicle driv-
ing conditions. This procedure not only considers the tire construction effects, it also includes
the effects of materials, vehicle setup, test course, and driver's driving style. In this algorithm,
the vehicle driving conditions are represented by the vehicle acceleration histogram. Vehicle
dynamic simulations are done to transform the acceleration histogram into tire loading condi-
tion distributions for each tire position. Tire weight loss rates for different vehicle accelerations
are generated based on a steady state rolling contact simulation algorithm. Combining the
weight loss rate and the vehicle acceleration histogram, nine typical tim loading conditions are
chosen with different weight factors to represent tire usage conditions. It is discovered that the
tire tread wear rate profile is changing continuously as the tire is worn. Simulation of a new tim
alone cannot be used to predict the tire cross-section tread wear profile. For this reason, an
incremental tread wear simulation procedure is performed to predict the tire cross section tread
wear profile. Compared with actual tire cross-section tread wear profiles, good results are
obtained from the simulations.

KEY WORDS: finite element method, tread wear, steady state rolling simulation

Introduction

Tire tread wear performance is a very important performance criterion for

tire design. It is heavily dependent on tire material properties, tire design and
vehicle driving conditions. Due to the complexity of the problem, it is a very
challenging task to predict tread wear results using F E M simulation. To evaluate
the tread wear performance, the D O T / U T Q G requires that tire design engineers
check not only tire total weight loss, but also the tire cross section tread wear pro-
file (the distribution of tread wear in the tire cross-section) after running the tire
for a specified distance. However, the experimental evaluation of tire tread wear
performance is a very time consuming and expensive task. Outdoor wear tests
usually require the test tires to run for 20 000 to 40 000 km on a test course, a
process which lasts several weeks. Although indoor tread wear tests are cheaper

I Continental Tire North America, Inc., 1800 Continental Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28273.
2 Presented at the twenty first annual conference of The Tire Society, Akron, Ohio, September 9-10, 2002.

189
190 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

and shorter in duration, due to the rather severe loading conditions applied to the
tire, the results may not totally agree with outdoor tests.
Tire tread wear performance is influenced by many factors. Different tires
have different contact footprint shapes, contact pressures and rolling frictional
energy dissipations under a given load which lead to different tread wear rates
and patterns. On the other hand, different vehicles, test courses and driving styles
may also lead to different loading conditions for the same tire and therefore cause
different tread wear rates and patterns. Environmental conditions such as tem-
perature and humidity may also change the material characteristics and cause dif-
ferent tread wear rates and patterns. Another important factor is pavement tex-
ture, which spans test course and environment conditions.
Due to the complexity of the problem, very few attempts have been made to
predict tire tread wear results using FEM simulation. However, it is well accept-
ed that the tire footprint frictional energy dissipation is the main cause of tire
tread wear [1,2]. The recent development of steady state rolling simulation tech-
nologies [3-5] make it possible to calculate the tire footprint frictional energy dis-
sipation under different tire loading conditions. Becket and Seifert [6] tried to
correlate the frictional energy dissipation distribution in the tire cross section
directly with the tire tread wear distribution in the tire cross section. Their study
shows that if the tire loading condition is dominated by a single condition, the
frictional energy dissipation from the steady state rolling simulation can be used
to predict the trend of the tread wear distribution in the tire cross section.
In this study, an FEM simulation procedure has been developed to predict
tire tread wear under specific vehicle driving conditions. The goal of the proce-
dure is to predict the tire cross-section tread wear profile. This procedure not only
considers the tire construction effects, it also includes the effects of materials,
vehicle setup, test course, and driver's driving style.

Outline of the Procedure

During a tread wear test, the tires are under continuously changing loading
conditions. It is impossible to truly duplicate all these loading conditions in a
simulation. In order to predict tread wear using a steady state rolling simulation,
a small number of representative loading conditions are chosen. FEM steady
state rolling simulations are performed to predict the tire cross-section tread wear
rate profile for each loading condition. The tread wear rate profiles for all select-
ed conditions and their weight factors are used in an incremental procedure to
predict the final tread wear profile. The procedure is outlined in Fig. 1.
First, tire force and moment characteristics, which can be obtained either
from measurements or simulations, are combined with a vehicle model in a vehi-
cle dynamics simulation. The tire loading conditions are obtained from the sim-
 ZHENG ON TREAD WEAR 191

Vehiclemodel& Tire model& / Vehicle /

Tire F&M / material abrasion acceleration
function / histogram

Vehicledynamics Tire FEMsteadystate Tire loadcase selection

simulation rollingsimnlation algorithm

+ I +
Selectedtire load /

////vr'l'ire
////~ Tireloadas // weightloss /
unctionof vehicle// ate as functionof // cases &their /
accelerations / chicleacceleratio~ weightfactors /
+
Incrementalprocedure
fortire crosssection
tread weardistribution

FIG. 1 - - Overview of the tread wear simulation procedure.

ulation results, as functions of vehicle accelerations, for each tire position.

The tire loading conditions are then used in a steady state rolling simulation
to get the footprint mechanical conditions, such as contact pressures and fric-
tional energy dissipation rates. Combining these with material abrasion func-
tions, the rate of tire wear weight loss as function of vehicle acceleration is
obtained for the selected tire position.
The test course and test driver's driving style for the wear test is represent-
ed by the vehicle acceleration histogram. The tire wear weight losses attributed
to different vehicle accelerations are calculated combining the vehicle accelera-
tion histogram and the tire wear weight loss rates for different vehicle accelera-
tions. Based on this information, nine tire loading conditions and associated
weight factors are selected to represent the tire loading conditions during the
whole tread wear test. Then, an incremental procedure is used to finally predict
the tire cross-section tread wear profile. In this procedure, steady state rolling
simulations are done repeatedly for the nine loading conditions while the tread
profile is updated as the tire wears.
In the following sections, the procedures outlined above are discussed in
detail.

Tire Load Under Different Driving Conditions

In order to determine the tire tread wear, tire loading conditions during the
192 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

wear test have to be detemained first. When a vehicle is being driven, tire loads
are not only determined by the vehicle type and loading, but are also heavily
affected by the test course conditions and the driver's driving style. To take into
account the effects of the test course and the driver's driving style, the vehicle
acceleration histogram, which is the distribution of time at different vehicle
accelerations during the tread wear test, is chosen to represent the vehicle use
conditions during the wear test. An example of a vehicle acceleration histogram
is shown in Fig. 2. From limited measurement results, it is observed that the
acceleration histogram is largely determined by test course conditions and the
driver's driving style, and is relatively independent of the vehicle and the tire.

FIG. 2 - - Vehicle acceleration histogram during the wear test.

To relate vehicle accelerations to tire loads, simplified vehicle dynamic sim-

ulations are done. In this study, a generic ADAMS [7] vehicle model is used with
the vehicle settings adjusted to represent the vehicle used in the tread wear test.
The tire is represented in this model by the force and moment curves of the tire
under different load conditions and the tire vertical stiffness. The vehicle is sim-
ulated to run under different acceleration conditions. The tire vertical loads, lat-
eral forces, driving/braking torques, and camber angles under such conditions are
then obtained as functions of the accelerations, using regression analysis. The
regression functions can then be used to calculate the tire load under any vehicle
acceleration condition. Figures 3-6 are examples of vertical loads, lateral forces,
driving/braking torques, and camber angles for a left-front tire, respectively. As
shown in Fig. 3, since it is a front tire, the vertical load decreases while the vehi-
cle is accelerating and increases while the vehicle is decelerating. Also, since it
 ZHENG ON TREAD WEAR 193

is a left tire, the vertical load decreases while the vehicle is turning left and
increases while the vehicle is turning right. Although the lateral force is largely
determined by the lateral acceleration, it is also influenced by the fore-aft accel-
eration as shown in Fig. 4. In Fig. 5, it is noticed that the braking torque is much
smaller than the driving torque under the same acceleration value. The reason for
this is that the vehicle used is a front-wheel-drive vehicle. There are four tires
braking while there are only two tires driving. Like the laterial force, the camber
angle is also influenced by the fore-aft acceleration, as shown in Fig. 6.

FIG. 3 - - Vertical load for the left:front tire.

FIG. 4 - - Lateral force for the left-front tire.

194 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

FIG. 5 - - Driving~braking torque Jor the left-front tire.

FIG. 6 - - Camber angle Jor the left-front tire.

Weight Loss Distribution

Using the tire loading conditions from the above simulations, finite element
steady state rolling simulations are done for selected cases. The sliding veloci-
ties, contact frictional forces and frictional energy dissipation rates in the foot-
 ZHENG ON TREAD WEAR 195

print are calculated using Continental AG's in-house FEM code [5]. Figure 7 is
an example of the calculated frictional energy dissipation rate in a footprint. As
expected, the frictional energy dissipation is mainly caused by the sliding of the
tire tread at the trailing edge.

FIG. 7 - - Frictional energy dissipation in the footprint.

In order to calculate tire tread wear from mechanical loading, the material's
abrasion property is needed. In this study, a simple material abrasion function is
used. The tread wear rate is a power function of the frictional energy dissipation
rate: W = a"/~

where, Wis the wear rate in terms of tread depth reduction per unit time; E is the
frictional energy dissipation rate calculated from FEM simulation in terms of
energy per unit surface area and unit time; c~ and [3 are material parameters which
are not only dependent on the material itself, but also the road surface, and the
environmental variables such as temperature.
Using the calculated frictional energy dissipation rates together with the
material abrasion function, the wear weight loss rates are calculated for the
selected loading conditions. Using a regression function, the wear weight loss
rate is obtained as a function of the accelerations, as shown in Fig. 8.
The acceleration histogram of the vehicle center of gravity is a combined
characteristic of the test course and the driver's driving style. From the accelera-
tion histogram (Fig. 1), it is seen that the vehicle is operating mostly at or near
cruising conditions. The time spent in turning or accelerating/braking is rather
short. However, from the plot of wear weight loss rates (Fig. 8), it is seen that the
wear weight loss rate is very low when the vehicle is near cruising conditions.
The wear weight loss rates become much higher when the vehicle is either turn-
ing or accelerating/braking. To determine how much tread wear can be attributed
196 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

FIG. 8 - - Wear weight loss rate.

to which acceleration conditions, the wear weight loss rate and the vehicle accel-
eration histogram are combined to produce the wear weight loss distribution. For
example, the wear weight loss distribution for a left front tire is shown in Fig. 9.
From this plot, it is seen that the left front tire loses tread rubber mainly when the
vehicle is turning. There is more tread rubber loss when the vehicle is turning
right than turning left. Although the wear weight loss rate is very low at the cruis-
ing condition, it still produces some wear since the vehicle operates at the cruis-
ing condition for a long time.

FIG. 9 - - Wear weight loss distribution.

 ZHENG ON TREAD WEAR 197

Method for Representing All Loading Conditions

Based on the wear weight loss distribution, the acceleration histogram is

divided into nine regions as shown in Fig. 10. There are three zones, driving,
cruising and braking, in the fore-aft direction; and three zones, left, center and
right, in the lateral direction. The cruising and center zones are defined as having
acceleration values less than or equal to 0.06 g. One loading condition is chosen
to represent one region with the following criteria:
9 The ratio of the fore-aft and lateral accelerations is equal to the ratio of
the weight loss weighted average acceleration in the fore-aft and lateral
directions in the region.
9 The wear weight loss rate is equal to the average weight loss rate of the
region.
9 The weighting factor for each region is the percentage of time the vehi-
cle operates in the region.
9 The tire loading conditions and their weight factors for the left-front tire
used in this study are shown in Table I.

TABLE 1 -- Selected tire loading conditions.

Case Vertical load (N) Lateral Force (N) Torque (N'm) Camber Weighting factor

Left-driving 4226.1 ~ -731.4~ 233.67 -0.2533 1.20%

Left-cruising 4474.47 -671.94 32.82 -0.2508 6.35%
Left-braking 4576.82 -842.1(: -125.88 -0.4437 0.97%
Center-driving 4801.06 205,12 275.87 0.4228 6.48%
Center-cruising 4942.33 140.11 81.88 0.338(] 74.32%
Center-braking 5232.51 88.7s -209.04 0.1911 4.65%
Right-driving 5491.7(] 1355.77 238.60 1.1481 0,99%
Right-cruising 5492.83 1042.66 26.99 0.9103 4.41%
Right-braking 5725.6~ 1178.25 -129.77 09358 0.63%

Incremental Procedure for Cross-Section Tread Wear Profile

From the measurement results of the indoor tread wear test, it is noticed that
at the beginning phase of the wear test, the wear rates are very high at the edges
of the tire tread grooves. As the test continues, the wear rates at the edges of the
tire tread grooves become smaller and the cross-section tread wear rates stabilize
to a smoother profile. This phenomenon indicates that the cross-section tread
wear rates are not only dependent on the tire load, they are also dependent on the
existing tread wear.
198 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Driving

Cruising

Braking

Left Center Right

FIG. 10 - - Division of the acceleration histogram.

Due to the continual changes in the tire cross-section tread wear rate profile
during the test, the tread wear rate profiles calculated from the steady state rolling
simulation of a new tire can not be used to predict the final tread wear profile
directly. In order to predict the cross-section tread wear profile, an incremental
procedure is developed. The procedure is shown in Fig. 11.

Rolling simulation for wear rate

~ofile for each load case

Calculate weight-averaged cross

section wear rate vrofile

Model updates

New eqtfilibritml for new cross

section wear rate orofiles

FIG. 11 - - Incremental precedure fi)r tread wear profile.

First, nine F E M steady state rolling simulations are done to load the tire to
the nine loading conditions selected in the previous section. Nine tread wear rate
profiles are obtained from these simulations. Then, the nine tread wear rate pro-
 ZHENG ON TREAD WEAR 199

files are weight averaged to produce the average tread wear rate profile. For a
short travel distance, the average tread wear rate profile remains more or less the
same. In this study, the maximum tread wear is limited to 0.1 to 0.2 mm for each
one of the travel intervals. The tire cross-section tread wear increment for a given
travel distance can be calculated directly from the averaged tread wear rate pro-
file. The tire models are then modified to trim out the worn rubber from the tread.
The modified models are then used in a new steady state rolling simulation to
reach a new equilibrium and new tread wear rate profiles are calculated. The new
tread wear rate profiles can be used to produce a new weight-averaged tire cross
-section tread wear profile. The process is repeated until the desired tread wear
depth or travel distance is reached.

Simulation Results

To demonstrate the tread wear simulation procedure developed here, a

P225/60R16 test tire was used. The 2D model of the tire is shown in Fig. 12. The
tire was tested in an automotive OEM tread wear test with all conditions well
documented.

FIG. 12 - - 2D cross section o f the test tire.

The tire pressure, vehicle suspension settings and vehicle load are set
according to the tread wear test specifications. With an A D A M S vehicle dynam-
ics simulation, the tire loading conditions as functions of vehicle acceleration are
obtained. The tire loading conditions for the left front tire are shown in Figs. 3-6.
The vehicle acceleration histogram was measured during a tread wear test of
a different tire for the same OEM tread wear test procedure. Since it is assumed
that the acceleration histogram is relatively independent of the test tire and test
200 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

vehicle, the vehicle acceleration histogram is used to represent the test course and
the driver's driving style for this test. The acceleration histogram is shown in Fig. 1.
During the incremental procedure for the tire cross-section tread wear pro-
file prediction, the maximum tread wear is limited to 0.1 to 0.2 mm for each iter-
ation. Due to the high tread wear rate at the edges of the tire grooves, smaller
travel distance is used for the first few iterations at the beginning of the proce-
dure. As the tread wear rate profile stabilizes, larger travel distances are used. For
the cases used in this study, 30 to 50 iterations are used to reach the maximum
tread wear depth of 6 to 9 mm.
The predicted and measured cross-section tread wear profiles for the left
front tire are shown in Fig. 13. The same procedure is also used for the right front
tire. The results are shown in Fig. 14. Considering the fact that many uncontrol-
lable factors, such as the weather and road surface conditions, are not included
in the simulation and that there are uncertainties about the repeatability of the
tread wear test, these simulation results, at least qualitatively, are consistent with
the experiments.

FIG. 13 - - Cross section tread wear profiles Jor the lefi-Jront tire.

The whole procedure is computationally intensive. Many steady state rolling

simulations have to be done which require full tire models with relatively fine
circumferential meshes in the footprint region. With a J90 Cray computer, the
whole procedure takes about three weeks to complete. However, since most sim-
ulations can be done in parallel, the simulation time can be greatly reduced with
ever increasing computational power.
 ZHENG ON TREAD WEAR 201

FIG. 14 - - Cross section tread ~,vearprvfiles Jbr the right-front tire.

Summary

A tread wear prediction procedure based on an FEM steady state rolling sim-
ulation has been presented in this paper. The procedure can be used to predict tire
cross-section tread wear profiles under any given conditions. The procedure con-
siders the tire construction effects and includes the effects of materials, vehicle
setup, test course, and driver's driving style. In this procedure, many tread wear
related factors, such as vehicle settings, vehicle usage, tread material properties,
and tire design, can be considered. Although it is a lengthy procedure, the pre-
dicted tread wear matches well with actual tread wear test measurements.

Acknowledgments
The author gratefully acknowledges Dr. Ilya Vekselman, Dr. Jozef
DeEskinazi, Mr. Paul Shoemaker, Mr. Ted Warholic, and Dr. Seewoo Lee of
Continental Tire North America for their support and consultations.

References

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[2] Maitre, O. L., Suessner, M., and Zarak, C., "Evaluation of Tire Wear Performance," SAE Paper
202 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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[3] Oden, J.T., and Lin, T.L., "On the General Rolling Contact Problem for Finite Deformations of
a Viscoelastic Cylinder," Compter Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, Vol. 57,
1986, pp. 297-367.
[4] Kenedy, R., and Padovan, J., "Finite Element Analysis of a Steady-State Rotating Tire
Subjected to a Point Load or Ground Contact," Tire Science and Technology, TSTCA, Vol. 15,
No. 4, 1987, pp. 243-260.
[5] Zheng, D., "Frictional Rolling Contact Element," Continental General Tire internal report AN
90033, 1995.
[6] Becket, A., and Seifert, B., "Simulation of Wear with an FE Tyre Model Using a Steady State
Rolling Formulation," Contact Mechanics I11, 1997, pp. 119-128.
[7] "Adams/Solver--- Reference Manual," Mechanical Dynamics, Inc., 1994.