Simulation of tyre–pavement interaction for predicting contact stresses at static and various rolling conditions

This paper describes the development of a 3D tyre–pavement interaction model to predict the tyre–pavement contact stress distributions for future use in the mechanistic analysis of pavement responses. The ribbed radial-ply tyre was modelled as a composite structure (rubber and reinforcement), and the tyre material parameters were calibrated through load-deflection curves. The steady-state tyre rolling process was simulated using an arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian formulation. The model results are consistent with previous measurements and validate the existence of non-uniform vertical contact stresses and localised tangential contact stresses. The analysis results show that the non-uniformity of vertical contact stresses decreases as the load increases, but increases as the inflation pressure increases. However, vehicle manoeuvring behaviour significantly affects the tyre–pavement contact stress distributions. For example, tyre braking/acceleration induces significant longitudinal contact stresses, while tyre cornering causes the peak contact stresses shifting towards one side of the contact patch. The model results provide valuable insights into understanding the realistic tyre–pavement interaction for analysing pavement responses at critical loading conditions.