Modeling the Effect of Rolling Conditions on Stress Development at Tire-Pavement Contact Patch

The interfacial pressure between tire and pavement is known to exhibit a highly non-uniform distribution over its contact area. This differs significantly from the uniform contact pressure distribution used traditionally in pavement design and analysis. Past research efforts have recognized that the contact stress distributions are dependent on tire type, tire inflation pressure, wheel load, tire tread patterns and vehicle rolling characteristics. This paper discusses the development of a numerical model that is capable of describing the contact stress distributions at the interface between a rolling tire and the pavement. The theoretical development of the finite element-based simulation model is first described. This model is then validated against the experiment data available in the literature and is applied to simulate the stress distributions at the tire-pavement contact area under different rolling conditions.