AITC-AIT 2006

International Conference on Tribology

20-22 September 2006, Parma, Italy
NUMERICAL MODELS FOR TYRES SIMULATION
A. SORNIOTTI, A. VIGLIANI
Politecnico di Torino, Dipartimento di Meccanica
C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
aldo.sorniotti@polito.it, alessandro.vigliani@polito.it
ABSTRACT
The rst part of the paper contains an overview of the main techniques, based on Pacejka Magic
formula, currently adopted to model tyre behaviour for vehicle dynamics simulation, as a function of
longitudinal slip and sideslip angle. Then the paper describes the tyre model developed by the Vehicle
Dynamics Research Group of the Politecnico di Torino. It is a physical model which considers the
deformation of the elements of the tread. It determines the forces and the aligning torque between the
tyres and the ground and permits to understand the inuence of the main design parameters of the tyres
on the behaviour of the component, without a consistent increase in complexity.
This model can be linked to a vehicle dynamics model, to evaluate the effects of tyre parameters on
vehicle handling. The physical models are experimentally validated by means of data obtained on a tyre
testing machine.
KEYWORDS Tyres, tread deformation, anisotropy, adhesion, sliding.
1 INTRODUCTION
Tyres are the fundamental components to determine vehicle dynamics and handling [1]. The concepts of
understeer and oversteer are based on tyres properties. The working principles of the active systems to
improve vehicle performance from the point of view of longitudinal and lateral dynamics (e.g. Anti-lock
Brake System, Electronic Stability Program or Active Roll Control) are based on tyres properties.
Nowadays vehicle dynamics simulation is getting the necessary step to design more and more ef-
cient active systems. As a consequence, detailed models of tyres behaviour are needed by the automotive
industry during the design process.
At the moment, the most diffused tyre model is based on Pacejka Magic Formula [2], which can
give reliable results in terms of longitudinal and lateral forces and aligning moment as a function of
longitudinal and side slips and, in second approximation, camber angle. However, it is an empirical
model and contains parameters which have no physical meaning: they are computed by optimization
algorithms on the basis of experimental results obtained by testing the whole tyre. The inconvenience
of this model is due to the fact that it does not permit to understand which is the real working condition
of the tyre. For example, it is not possible to know which parts of the contact patch are in conditions
of adhesion and which are sliding on the ground. It would be useful to have a tyre model capable of
predicting the variation of tyres behaviour and vehicle handling depending on the variation of the lateral
stiffness of the belt, the friction properties of the rubber of the tread, etc. At the same time, this model
should not be very heavy from the computational point of view, to permit also vehicle simulation in real
time conditions.
In the past some authors ([3, 4, 5]) have presented physical tyres models having these characteristics.
They concentrate the deformation of the elements of the tyre in the tread and compute the forces and
the aligning torque as the integrals of the strains on the tread elements over the contact patch between
tyre and ground. These models usually consider the variation of tread deformation as a function of the
longitudinal coordinate of the contact patch and neglect the variation of tread deformation along the y
axis of the tire reference system (dened according to the conventions presented in Figures 5 and 6).
The tyre physical model developed by the Politecnico di Torino Vehicle Dynamics Research Group
summarizes the main key points of the mentioned tyres physical models with some important improve-
ments, which will be presented in the next paragraphs, to permit a good correspondence between exper-
imental and numerical results.
2 PACEJKA MAGIC FORMULA
This paragraph summarizes the main properties of the most diffused tyre model, based on Pacejka Magic
Formula. The main inputs of the model are tyre longitudinal slip s, sideslip angle (for the denition,
refer to [1] and Figure 5), tyre vertical force F
z
and friction coefcient between tyres and ground.
Equation (1) is the mathematical expression of tyre longitudinal slip:
s =
V
sx
V
x
=
V
x
V
r
V
x
=
V
x
r
e
V
x
=

0
=

0
1, (1)
where V
x
is the longitudinal speed of the wheel centre, V
sx
is the longitudinal slip speed (the velocity,
referred to the ground, of the part of the tread attached to the belt, in the area of the contact patch), V
r
is the longitudinal speed, referred to the wheel centre, of the elements of the tread attached to the belt
of the tyre, is the wheel angular speed,
0
is the angular speed of the same tyre in the condition of
rolling without slipping and r
e
is tyre free rolling radius. For example, according to Pacejka model, the
tyre longitudinal force F
x
is expressed by
F
x
= D sin{C arctan[Bx E (Bx arctan(Bx))]} +S
v
, (2)
where x is a function of longitudinal slip
x = s +S
h
(3)
and the other coefcients D, C, B, E, S
v
and S
h
depend on F
z
, and some empirical parameters which
have to be tuned on the basis of experimental results.
The mathematical structure of eq.(2) can be adopted to model the dependence of tyre side force and
self-aligning torque on sideslip angle. It is necessary to substitute s with and change the empirical
coefcients to obtain a good tting with the typical shapes of the experimental diagrams. In this case,
it is possible to give as input to the Magic Formula also the value of camber angle. In the evaluation,
through vehicle dynamics simulation, of the properties of suspensions it would be useful to have different
camber variations as a function of wheel vertical displacement, roll angle, etc.
Figures 1 and 2 show typical results obtained through the adoption of Pacejka Magic Formula, in the
conguration of eq.(3). In a second approximation form, also the interaction of lateral and longitudinal
forces between tyres and ground can be considered, thus obtaining the typical elliptic diagram (Figure
3).
Figure 1: Tyre longitudinal force F
x
versus longi-
tudinal slip s, for different values of F
z
.
Figure 2: Tyre self-aligning torque M
z
versus
sideslip angle , for different values of F
z
.
Figure 3: Tyre side force F
y
versus longitudinal
force F
x
, for different values of sideslip angle .
3 THE PHYSICAL MODEL
This paragraph describes the properties of the developed tyre model, including the physical character-
istics, like contact patch variation as a function of the tyre vertical load, or anisotropic stiffness of the
elements of the tread, which are adopted to obtain a good correspondence with experimental results and
are added to the simple models presented in [2].
The basis of each physical model is the well-known brush model. The tread of the tyre is represented
by a brush of elastic elements attached to the belt. The belt is linked to the rim and has an innite lateral
stiffness. However, the belt can have a deformation in the plane of the rim, as shown by Figures 4 and 5.
The at contact patch between the tyre and the ground is due to the deformation of the belt. According
to this simplied model, the lateral deformation of all the elements of the tyre between the belt and the
rim is concentrated in the tread.
3.1 The contact patch: the hypothesis of the model
The key point of a tyre model is the representation of the contact patch. The presented model considers
a linear contact patch; as a consequence, it neglects the variation of deformation of the elements of the
tread along the y axis of the tyre. However, a realistic tyre physical model has to consider the variation of
the length of the contact patch as a function of vertical load. The variation of tyre properties depending
on the vertical load is fundamental to justify the effects of active systems (e.g. Active Roll Control) on
vehicle handling.
The tyre vertical stiffness C
z
is a physical parameter which can be easily measured. It has to be
linked to the variation of the contact patch length as a function of F
z
. Tyre vertical deection
z
(Fig.4)
can be expressed as

z
=
F
z
C
z
. (4)
Considering the triangle AOC (Figure 4), it follows:
a
2
=
2
1
(
1

z
)
2
= 2
1

2
z
. (5)
If
z

1
, as it usually happens, then eq. 5 can be approximated as
a
_
2
1

z
(6)
Figure 4: Scheme of the main dimen-
sions of a tyre.
Figure 5: Scheme of the deformation of
the elements of the tread.
The model does not consider the inuence of the normal load on the width of the contact patch. As
previously stated, the shape of the modelled contact patch is linear (Fig.5); this approximation is quite
strong, but it is necessary to conceive a force model based on analytical algebraic formulae and not on
the decomposition of the contact patch in a system of nite elements.
3.2 The model of the contact between the tyre and the ground
A realistic tyre physical model has to take into account the anisotropic stiffness properties of the tread
of the tyre. The anisotropic model of the elements of the tread is needed both to consider the physical
anisotropy of the real tread and to include the effect of the lateral deformation of the carcass of the tyre,
which is not explicitly considered in the model (to avoid heavy mathematical expressions). In the future
it will be necessary to dene a procedure to identify the lateral equivalent stiffness of the elements of the
tread.
Let C
px
and C
py
be the longitudinal and lateral stiffnesses of the tread per unit length of the contact
patch. A parabolic distribution of the load q
z
(per unit length) along the contact patch is considered:
q
z
= k
_
a
2
x
2
_
, (7)
where k can be computed as a function of F
z
. In fact, it must be:
F
z
=
_
+a
a
k
_
a
2
x
2
_
(d)x. (8)
From eq.(7) and (8), it follows
q
z
=
3F
z
4a
_
1
_
x
a
_
2
_
. (9)
Longitudinal and side slips can be represented by the parameters
x
and
y
, that can be considered as
theoretical slips (for more details, see [1]):

x
=
V
sx
V
r
=
s
1 +s
(10)
and

y
= tan =
V
sy
V
r
, (11)
where V
sy
is the lateral component of wheel speed (it is due to sideslip angle ).
According to the model, the force per unit length of the contact patch is directly proportional to the
deection of the tread element due to
x
and
y
. Depending on the motion of the tyre, a part of the tread
elements of the contact patch can be in adhesion (the contact with the ground is along line r, Fig.5),
whereas the remaining part is sliding.
In the part of the contact patch where the tread elements adhere to the surface of the road, their
deections (u along x axis and v along y axis) correspond to:
u = (a x)
x
(12)
and
v = (a x)
y
. (13)
When an element of the tread reaches the contact patch, it has no deformation. Then, as far as it
moves in the contact patch, it gets a deformation which is directly dependent on the motion of the wheel
referred to the ground. As a consequence, in the area of adhesion, longitudinal and side forces q
x
and q
y
per unit length of the contact patch can be expressed as the product of tread deformations (u and v) and
longitudinal and lateral stiffnesses (C
px
and C
py
) of the elements of the tread:
q
x
= C
px
(a x)
x
(14)
and
q
y
= C
py
(a x)
y
. (15)
The angle between the resultant vector (having components q
x
and q
y
) and the longitudinal com-
ponent of force per unit length in the area of adhesion is given by
= arctan
q
y
q
x
= arctan
C
py

y
C
px

x
= arctan
C
py
V
sy
C
px
V
sx
. (16)
Due to the anisotropy of the stiffness of the tread elements, the direction dened by is not the direction
of the motion (referred to the ground) of the points of the belt between A and D that correspond to
longitudinal and side slips (Fig.5).
Adhesion is veried when (Fig.6):
|q| =
_
q
2
x
+q
2
y
q
z
, (17)
where is the friction coefcient between the rubber of the tread and the ground. In the sliding area, the
forces per unit length of the contact patch are dened by
q
x
=
V
sx
|V
s
|
q
z
=

x
||
q
z
(18)
and
q
y
=
V
sy
|V
s
|
q
z
=

y
||
q
z
, (19)
where |V
s
| =
_
V
2
sx
+V
2
sy
and || =
_

2
x
+
2
y
. In the sliding area, the force per unit length of the
contact patch is directed according to the sliding speed and forms the angle with the longitudinal axis:
= arctan
q
y
q
x
= arctan

y

x
= arctan
V
sy
V
sx
. (20)
By comparing eq.(16) and (20), it is clear that if C
px
= C
py
, then = ; consequently, there will
be a discontinuity in the deformation of the elements of the tread while passing from the condition of
adhesion to the condition of sliding. A more sophisticated model, which is under development, would
describe also the transition between the two areas (sliding and friction).
If present (the whole contact patch could be in sliding conditions for large sideslip angles), the
adhesion area is located in the rst part of the contact patch, where the tread element gets in contact with
the ground. The discontinuity from the adhesion area to the sliding area (Fig.6) takes place when
|q| =
_
q
2
x
+q
2
y
= q
z
; (21)
|q| can be expressed as
|q| =
_
[C
px

x
(a x)]
2
+ [C
py

y
(a x)]
2
. (22)
Figure 6: A sketch of the strains along the contact patch of the
tyre, in the case of || < |
sl
|.
By using equations (9), (21) and (22), it follows:
_
[C
px

x
(a x
t
)]
2
+ [C
py

y
(a x
t
)]
2
=
3F
z
_
a
2
x
2
t
_
4a
3
(23)
where x
t
is the x coordinate of the point of the contact patch which corresponds to the discontinuity.
After a few passages, it follows:
x
t
=
3aF
z
+ 4a
3
_
C
2
px

2
x
+C
2
py

2
y
3F
z
. (24)
In the particular case of C
px
= C
py
= C
p
, eq.(24) becomes
x
t
=
4
3
C
p
a
3
||
F
z
a, (25)
which coincides with the expression obtained in [2].
Let be a vector having components C
px

x
and C
py

y
; then
|| =
_
(C
px

x
)
2
+ (C
py

y
)
2
(26)
and x
t
can be expressed as
x
t
=
4a
3
|| 3aF
z
3F
z
. (27)
In the case of x
t
< a, the contact patch is characterized by both adhesion and sliding areas, otherwise
the whole contact patch will be in sliding conditions; such case, which can be dened as total sliding,
occurs when x
t
= a, i.e.:
|
sl
| =
3
2
F
z
a
2
. (28)
If || < |
sl
|, then the contact patch is characterized by both adhesion and sliding; as a consequence,
longitudinal and side forces and the self-aligning torque will be expressed by
F
x
=
_
a
x
t
C
px

x
(a x) dx +
_
x
t
a

x
||
q
z
dx, (29)
F
y
=
_
a
x
t
C
py

y
(a x) dx +
_
x
t
a

y
||
q
z
dx (30)
and
M
z
=
_
a
x
t
C
py

y
(a x)xdx +
_
x
t
a

y
||
q
z
xdx. (31)
The solutions of the integrals in eq.(29), (30) and (31) gives:
F
x
=
_

_
C
px
_
a
2
2
ax
t
+
x
2
t
2
_
+
3F
z
_
2a
3
3
+a
2
x
t

x
3
t
3
_
4a
3
_

2
x
+
2
y
_

x
, (32)
F
y
=
_

_
C
py
_
a
2
2
ax
t
+
x
2
t
2
_
+
3F
z
_
2a
3
3
+a
2
x
t

x
3
t
3
_
4a
3
_

2
x
+
2
y
_

y
(33)
and
M
z
=
_

_
C
py
_
a
3
6
ax
2
t
+
x
3
t
3
_
+
3F
z
_

a
4
4
+
a
2
x
2
t
2

x
4
t
4
_
4a
3
_

2
x
+
2
y
_

y
. (34)
In the case of || |
sl
|, the contact patch is working in total sliding; hence eq.(29), (30) and (31)
become
F
x
=
_
a
a

x
||
q
z
dx, F
y
=
_
a
a

y
||
q
z
dx and M
z
= 0. (35)
Integrating eq.(35), the longitudinal and side forces are
F
x
=
F
z

x
_

2
x
+
2
y
and F
y
=
F
z

y
_

2
x
+
2
y
. (36)
Through eq.(3234) and (36), the physical model allows to compute the desired forces and torques from
the same inputs adopted by Pacejka Magic Formula. Also the camber angle can be an input of the model.
In addition to the typical output in force and torque, this tyre model allows the computation of the
longitudinal and side deections of the components of the tyre and the areas of sliding and adhesion.
This is a fundamental information, which can be useful not only for tyres engineers but also for vehi-
cle engineers, for example during the process of development of an active system to improve vehicle
dynamics. These additional outputs are obtained without any additional cost in terms of complexity or
computational power, since nal formulae are not more complex than those of Pacejka model. It must
be underlined that the model, in its basic conguration described so far, has too few tuning parameters
to reproduce the values of the forces and the torques of real world tyres. As a consequence, to obtain
results closer to experimental data, it is necessary to introduce the variability of some of the parameters
of the model, thus allowing to increase the degrees of freedom on which the user of the model can
work. Some of the main additional parameters will be described in the next paragraph.
3.3 Additional parameters for practical applications
A model conceived for a practical application, and not only for theoretical purposes, has to consider dif-
ferent friction coefcients along x and y directions of the contact patch. The model has to be anisotropic
not only from the point of view the stiffnesses of the elements of the tread, but also from the point of
view of the friction coefcient, which will have to dene an adhesion ellipse. In formulae:

x
=
x
0
sin (37)

y
=
y
0
cos (38)
where
x
0
and
y
0
are the values of friction coefcients between the rubber of the tread and the ground
respectively in conditions of pure longitudinal and side slip, while
x
and
y
are respectively the actual
values of longitudinal and lateral friction coefcient between the rubber of the tread and the road. In the
area of adhesion
= (39)
whereas in the area of sliding
= . (40)
The friction coefcient, which is different in the adhesion and sliding areas, can be described with a
vector, whose modulus is
|| =
_

2
x
+
2
y
. (41)
The tyre model has to consider the inuence of the sliding speed on the friction coefcient between
the rubber and the ground in the sliding area; such dependence has to be described with an empirical
formula:
(V
s
) =

0
1 +a

V
s
, (42)
where
0
is the friction coefcient in the condition of null longitudinal and lateral slip and V
s
is the
velocity correspondent to
x
and
y
.
A further correction to the values of the friction coefcients computed in the areas of adhesion and
sliding can be introduced by making friction coefcients (both in sliding and adhesion areas of the contact
patch) depend on the vertical load; hence, the friction coefcient is given by the value computed by the
former equations plus the quantity , with
= K (F
z
F
z
0
) , (43)
where K and F
z
0
are suitable tuning parameters. Tyres and vehicle engineers know that the lateral
elastic properties of the carcass of the tyre vary depending on the vertical load. Tyre cornering stiffness
decreases with F
z
: this phenomenon corresponds to a reduction of C
py
with F
z
and is taken into account
by the following equation:
C
py
(F
z
) = K
1
(F
z
F
z
1
) +C
py
0
, (44)
where C
py
0
, K
1
and F
z
1
are the tuning parameters of the model.
Figure 7: Tyre longitudinal force F
y
versus F
x
(model of section 3.2).
Figure 8: Tyre longitudinal force F
y
versus F
x
(model of section 3.3).
4 EXAMPLES OF RESULTS
This paragraph summarizes some results obtained through the presented tyre model. The equations pre-
sented so far are implemented in Matlab/Simulink
TM
. Figures 7 and 8 are carpet plots of F
y
versus F
x
for different values of longitudinal slip and sideslip angle, referred respectively to the models described
in sections 3.2 and 3.3. It is interesting to observe that both models can consider some second order ap-
proximation phenomenon of real tyres, e.g the ellipse is not symmetric, as it is experimentally observed.
A value of side force larger in braking than in driving is computed for the same value of longitudinal
force.
The more advanced model can also reproduce the typical shape (area A in Fig.8) of the plots at
constant sideslip angle in conditions of extremely large longitudinal forces: to get these results it is
necessary to consider the variation of the friction coefcient versus V
s
.
Figures 9 and 10 are the demonstration of the good correspondence between the results of the model
and some experimental results obtained on a Flat Track test rig. The full validation of the model requires
a complete characterization of the tyre, fromthe point of viewof longitudinal and side forces and aligning
torques. Tests are carried out at different values of the vertical load and also in conditions of combined
slip.
This tyre model is inserted in the Vehicle Dynamics Model of the Politecnico di Torino [6] and the
results are compared to those obtained through Pacejka model. Also real time simulation is possible by
adopting this tyre physical model, without any signicant increase of computational requirements.
It has to be remarked that the presented equations are the basis for a stationary tyre model; during the
implementation with a Vehicle Dynamics model, it is necessary to consider also longitudinal and lateral
relaxation lengths of the tyre, that are fundamental to give origin to a realistic dynamic model of the
whole vehicle. In particular, it is necessary to take into account the variation of relaxation lengths as a
function of several parameters (longitudinal slip, sideslip angle and vertical load).
Figure 9: Tyre longitudinal force versus s: com-
parison between simulation and experimental re-
sults.
Figure 10: Tyre lateral force F
y
versus : compar-
ison between simulation and experimental results.
5 CONCLUSIONS
The paper presents the basic principles of the tyre model developed by the Vehicle Dynamics Research
Group of the Politecnico di Torino. It takes into account the anisotropic stiffness and adhesion properties
of the tyres, the dependence of the contact patch longitudinal dimension on vertical load, the dependence
of tread lateral stiffness on vertical load, the dependence of the friction coefcient on vertical load, the
interaction between tyre longitudinal and side forces. These extreme parametrization of the model is
fundamental in order to provide a tool to be actually adopted for simulation of vehicle dynamics and
for a rst approximation design of tyre characteristics; in this case, a model of the dynamics of the tyre
(relaxation lengths) is necessary to reach good results also in dynamic manoeuvres.
In the near future, the description of the model of the transition of the contact patch from the area of
adhesion to the area of sliding will be completed.
Secondly, the inuence of the camber angle on side force will be dealt with, together with a model
of the structure of the tyre in order to obtain better estimated of the self-aligning torque. In any case,
the simplied equations described in this paper are a valid alternative to the empirical Pacejka Magic
Formula model, that has been presented in the rst part of the paper.
References
[1] W. D. Milliken, B. Milliken, Race Car Vehicle Dynamics, SAE Int. (2001).
[2] H. B. Pacejka, Tire and Vehicle Dynamics, SAE Int. (2002).
[3] H. Sakai, Theoretical and Experimental Studies on the Dynamic Properties of Tyres, Int. J. Vehicle Design,
v.2, n.1 and n.3 (1991).
[4] G. Gim, P. E. Nikravesh, An Analytical Model of Pneumatic Tyres for Vehicle Dynamics Simulation, Int. J.
Vehicle Design, v.11, n.1 and n.2 (1991).
[5] H. Sakai, K. Araki, Study of Tire Model Consisting of Theoretical and Experimental Equations for Vehicle
Dynamics Analysis Under the Condition of Constant Velocity, SAE Tech. Paper 932884, SAE Int. (1993).
[6] N. DAlo, A. Morgando, A. Sorniotti, M. Velardocchia, Base Model Simulator (BMS) - A Vehicle Dynamics
Model to Evaluate Chassis Control Systems Performance, SAE Tech. Paper 2005-01-0401, Vehicle Dynamics
and Simulation 2005, SAE Int. (2005).