Accurate characterization and evaluation of tire/pavement friction is critical in assuring runway and highway safety. Historically, Pavement Friction Measurement Devices (PFMDs) employing different measuring mechanisms have been used to evaluate tire/pavement friction. They yield significantly disparate friction coefficients under the same contact conditions. Currently, an empirically developed data harmonization method based on a reference device (Dynamic Friction Tester (DFT)) is used in an attempt to overcome the disparities between the measurements using various different PFMDs. However, this method, which has been standardized by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM E1960), has been criticized for its inconsistency by researchers and runway/highway operations personnel. The objective of this dissertation research was to develop a systematic and physically intuitive harmonization method for PFMDs that will improve the comparability of their data. As a foundation for such a harmonization, the LuGre tire model that employs physically meaningful parameters to represent the main attributes of tire/pavement friction was evaluated and validated. Measurements of tire/pavement friction by three widely used PFMDs; Locked Wheel Skid Trailer (LWST), Runway Friction Tester (RFT) and DFT, were accurately predicted using nonlinear optimization of LuGre model parameters. The LuGre model was found to be superior compared to the model used in the current ASTM E1960 standardization procedure for predicting PFMD measurements. A sensitivity analysis was performed to identify the relative significance of the LuGre model parameters in characterizing tire/pavement friction, and to study the effects of variation of those parameters on predicted frictional behavior. A set of laboratory tire experiments was designed and performed to validate the physical significance of LuGre tire model parameters and to study how they behave under typical load, inflation pressure, excitation frequency, and amplitude conditions. An empirical method was developed to accommodate the effects of water film thickness on tire/pavement friction in the LuGre model. The results of the sensitivity analysis and the experiments to directly estimate the model parameters were used to identify and quantify appropriate modifications to the measurement mechanisms of PFMDs that can be introduced to improve the comparability of their results. Friction experiments performed after introducing such modifications to the LWST showed an average reduction of 20% in the deviations between the results of LWST and RFT measurements. The research carried out in this dissertation is significant because it: (i) identified the deficiencies in the current method for harmonizing PFMD measurements and the underlying reasons for these deficiencies, (ii) emphasized the importance of a standardization approach that regulates the physical condition of PFMDs, in order to achieve universal comparability of tire/pavement friction measurements, (iii) validated that the LuGre tire model is a tire/pavement friction model capable of facilitating a better standardization approach, and, (iv) initialized the development of a physically meaningful harmonization procedure for PFMDs.

This diploma thesis deals with development and design modifications of tire mould segment which will be batch produced by additive technology Selective Laser Melting. Material for its production is maraging steel 1.2709. Lattice structure was used inside the segment construction. The geometry of the lattice cell was chose based on two main factors – eliminating production costs and providing sufficient stiffness. Strength of the segment was calculated by FEM. The functional sample was made and its distortion was analyzed by optical digitalization.

Work occupies computational modelling mechanical behavior elastomers and composits with rubber matrix and their utilization for compute model of tire creation. MATADOR tire 165/65 R13 Axisymetric 2D model was created in two geometric variants. For the computational modeling is applying the Finite element method (FEM). The model was in different variants distinctive grade of modeling material. At first was done inner pressure analyst impact on deformation of each of model. Then was count influence on tire load with angular velocity meanwhile with inner pressure. The impact thickness of tire protector layer on global deformation tyre casing was verified too.

This thesis describes the design of devices that will measure the directional characteristics of the tires. The first step is to analyze the directional characteristics and methods of measurement. The following equipment design, which should be designed to function while it was cheapest. The device is designed as a trailer towing vehicle. It also includes analysis of individual plant components important to measure those variables.

The aim of this thesis is a method selection and design of measuring device for experimental identification of directional tire characteristics for passenger cars. The first part analyse directional characteristic and method of measurement. The next part focuses on the design of the measuring trailer and selecting measuring equipment with description.

Wheeled Mobile Driving Simulators (WMDS) promise a high potential for urban traffic simulation. The tires generate the accelerations of WMDS and therefore are a key component of this simulator type. Hence, the choice of a proper tire concept is of high importance. Solid tires with compact dimensions and a high vertical stiffness are a possible alternative approach to conventional pneumatic tires. To assess the application potential of solid tires their characteristics are identified. The results show that high slip values and slip angles are necessary to reach the maximum friction coefficient of about 0.8 while their correlation is highly nonlinear. With the identified tire properties, the impact of the tires on energy consumption and motion control performance of WMDS is investigated. The solid tires show an increased energy consumption of about 4% compared to pneumatic tires in representative urban driving cycle simulations. Solid tires with their nonlinear characteristics lead to five times higher lateral acceleration errors in relation to pneumatic tires at accelerations of 5 m/s2 during a horizontal eight maneuver. The vertical properties of both tires were identified to be not sufficient for the application of a WMDS solely sprung by tires on uneven grounds of common quality.

<p> The tire air cavity mode is known to be a significant source of vehicle structure-borne road noise near 200 Hz. A porous lining placed on the inner surface of a tire is an effective countermeasure to attenuate that resonance. The two noticeable effects of such a lining are the reduction in frequency and the attenuation of the air cavity mode. In this thesis, through both theoretical and numerical analysis, the mechanism of the effects of a porous lining was studied. A two-dimensional duct-shaped theoretical model and a torus-shaped numerical model were built to investigate the lined tire in conjunction with the Johnson-Champoux-Allard model describing the viscous and thermal dissipative effects of the porous material. Design parameters of the porous lining were varied to study their impact and optimal ranges of the design parameters were identified. Finally, in an experimental analysis, the sound attenuation and the frequency drop were observed in measurements of force, acceleration, and sound pressure. In conclusion, it was demonstrated that the suggested theoretical and numerical models successfully predict the effects of porous linings and that the frequency reduction results from the decreased sound speed within the tire owing to the presence of the liner. </p>

Value Stream Mapping is a common tool used in a lot of instances in today’s industrieswho have adopted any kind of Lean initiatives. However, Value Stream Mapping (VSM) may not always fit to the best extent and intention of the industry applying it; therefore a need for tailoring certain aspects of it have been seen in some cases where the original tool has not been enough. However there is little research on how to adopt VSM towards the tire industry, it is the case that some adaptation is needed in order to fully map the value the chain is trying to capture as seen by some authors who use VSM on other industries. This leads to conclude that further research is needed in order to see the benefits and chal-lenges in the creating of a tailored value stream tool in order to understand how it would affect the company its applied on as well as increasing the knowledge of its capabilities and drivers for it application. The impact this research would have is to begin bridging a gap of the usage of how a Tai-lored Value Stream Mapping (TVSM) tool would affect when applied to a specific industry. For this paper, a case study within a Tire Company located in Europe, who stated that they had issues regarding their current usage and utilization of VSM, was conducted. The com-pany has projects going all over the globe but sees a lack of initiative and success without the direct involvement of its central plant. The purpose of this research is to investigate the perceived impact as well as the benefits and challenges of utilizing a company TVSM, in-stead of a standardized one, taking into consideration both particularities of the industry, as well as the culture of the firm. Also an understanding is sought to recognize the motiva-tions that drove the Tire Company to choose a tailored approach. The research was conducted as a qualitative single case study involving three different sitesbelonging to the tire industry located in Europe. It is built upon both a theoretical part, comprised by a literature review of the concepts of VSM, Lean and TVSM; and an empiri-cal part derived from the case. The Empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews as well as participant observations, supported by secondary data collected from the company in form of written documents concerning the internal training of VSM. The findings concluded that, the reasons for sustaining a TVSM are its ease of use, and ability to reach out and be understood by people with little to no training in VSM’s. The company fitted training documents would decrease the training needed and the time spent doing so. Some other benefits were the empowerment of employees and the sharing of knowledge across multiple sites in a standardized company language. Albeit with the chal-lenge of creating and upholding such documents and training, compelling the company to have experts with knowledge of VSM and the company processes and culture with the added challenge of also maintaining regularly updates as the company moves forward. Implementation of a tailored approach is practical where there has been identified that it exists a gap between different plants or departments, local or globally, regarding knowledge or experience when there is a requirement for standardisation, communication and need for change.

A análise de pneus em frotas de caminhões de longa distância atualmente é realizada apenas para efeito de controle de estoque e determinação de causas de falhas. A metodologia de análise de confiabilidade apresentada neste trabalho, utilizando dados obtidos de pneus sucatados, sistematiza a mensuração e análise de perda de vida útil causada por cada tipo de falha: as amostras são analisadas, verificando-se qual distribuição de probabilidade que melhor modela as amostras avaliadas quando comparadas às distribuições Weibull, normal, log-normal e exponencial; o modelo sugere uma forma de efetuar análises de confiabilidade das falhas mais freqüentes, sendo estas classificadas segundo as perdas de tempo de vida do produto. A metodologia ora proposta foi aplicada na análise de confiabilidade de pneus 295/80R22.5 empregados em frota de transporte rodoviário. Para tanto foram analisadas sucatas provenientes de 10 frotas, verificando-se que a confiabilidade do pneu é melhor representada por uma distribuição de Weibull. A aplicação desta metodologia possibilita a identificação das principais causas das falhas mais críticas, permitindo à empresa focar os esforços em medidas preventivas adequadas e definir o tempo de remoção antes da falha para obter o menor custo. / Long distance truck tire analysis is done nowadays only for the purposes of warehouse control and failure cause determination. The analysis methodology presented in this study, using tire data obtained in scrap tires, systematizes the measurement and analysis of useful tire life time losses caused by each failure type: the samples are analyzed, verifying which probability distribution best fits the evaluated samples when comparing Weibull, normal, log-normal and exponential distributions; the model suggests a way to carry out the reliability analysis of the most common failures classifying them according to product life losses. The proposed methodology was used to analyze the reliability of 295/80R22.5 tires applied in highway transport fleets. For that purpose scrap tires samples from 10 fleets were analyzed and one can verify tire reliability is better represented by a Weibull distribution. The application of this methodology makes it possible to identify the main causes of the most critical failures, allowing the fleet to focus efforts on appropriate preventive measures and define replacement time before failure to obtain the lowest cost.

A vulcanização é um processo termo-químico aplicado aos polímeros elastoméricos, também chamados de borrachas. Devido à vulcanização, as borrachas adquirem propriedades físicas que as tornam adequadas a várias aplicações mecânicas, entre estas, se destaca aquela desempenhada pelo componente automotivo pneu. Durante a vulcanização as moléculas do elastômero são unidas em vários pontos através de ligações cruzadas. Isso ocorre através do aquecimento da borracha adicionada de enxofre. O correto dimensionamento do tempo que o calor deve ser transferido ao composto de borracha a ser vulcanizado é crucial para definir as características finais deste composto. Em condições extremas, se o tempo de exposição ao calor for insuficiente, o composto continuará com comportamento de baixa resistência às deformações. Por outro lado se o tempo de exposição ao calor for excessivo, além do desperdício energético e econômico, o composto de borracha entra numa fase de reversão, que significa diminuição das propriedades já alcançadas. O dimensionamento da vulcanização de um pneu necessita basicamente de dois suportes fundamentais de engenharia: a) um modelo numérico para a reação termo-química que leve em conta a cinética de cura de cada composto de borracha do pneu; b) um modelo numérico de transmissão de calor, capaz de calcular para qualquer ponto do pneu a sua evolução térmica durante a vulcanização. Esta dissertação apresenta uma revisão da literatura sobre vulcanização de pneus, os modelos utilizados, e um modelo proposto pelo autor. Nesse, questões como reologia da borracha em regime de temperatura variável e reversão do composto recebem um tratamento numérico específico. Através da validação experimental verifica-se que o modelo proposto é altamente eficaz para aplicações industriais. / Vulcanization is a thermochemical process applied to the elastomeric polymers also called rubbers. Due to the vulcanization, rubbers acquire physical properties that make them capable to support mechanical applications, such as pneumatic tire. During the vulcanization, the elastomer molecules are tied together in many points due to the crosslinking process. This process is made possible due to the heating of the mixing of rubber and sulfur. It is very important to define the right time under the heat a rubber requires to be vulcanized. This vulcanizing period will define the future rubber characteristics. If an insufficient curing time is used for vulcanization, the rubber compound will maintain the poor characteristics of a raw rubber. In the other extreme, if a very extensive cure time is used, besides the energetic and economic losses, it will provoke reversion on the rubber, that means the reduction of the desired cured rubber properties. In order to produce a precise dimensioning of the cure cycle two fundamental engineering supports are necessary: a) a numerical model for the thermochemical reaction, dealing with the curing kinetics of each rubber compound involved in a tire; b) a numerical model for the heat transfer process, capable to determine during the vulcanization period, the temperature evolution in any point of a single tire. This work presents a discussion of previous literature on the tire vulcanization area, their cure models, and a new model proposed by the author. This model treats questions like the rubber rheology in non isothermal condition, and the compound reversion, applying to them specific numerical treatments. The use of experimental validation showed the model to be very efficient for industrial applications.