Tire Technology International
  • News
    • A-D
      • Appointments
      • Apps
      • Awards
      • Business
      • Certification
      • Components
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Data management
      • Design
      • Distribution
    • E-N
      • Education
      • Factory logistics
      • Headquarters
      • Industry 4.0
      • Investments
      • Machine Vision & Inspection
      • Manufacturing Facilities
      • Materials
      • New tires
    • O-S
      • OE Fitments
      • Partnerships
      • People
      • Regulations
      • Research & Development
      • Retreading
      • Sales facilities
      • Show News
    • S-Z
      • Simulation
      • Sustainability
      • Testing & Analysis
      • Tire Building
      • Tire handling
      • Tire Modeling & Digital Tools
      • Tire Recycling
      • TPMS & Electronics
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    • July 2023
    • March 2023
    • Annual Showcase 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • 年国际轮胎技术年刊
    • Archive Issues
    • Subscribe Free!
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Jobs
    • Browse Jobs
    • Post a Job – It’s FREE!
    • Manage Jobs (Employers)
  • Events
LinkedIn Facebook Twitter
  • Sign-up for Free Weekly E-Newsletter
  • Meet The Editors
  • Contact Us
  • Media Pack
LinkedIn Facebook
Subscribe
Tire Technology International
  • News
      • Appointments
      • Apps
      • Awards
      • Business
      • Certification
      • Components
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Data management
      • Design
      • Distribution
      • Education
      • Factory logistics
      • Headquarters
      • Industry 4.0
      • Investments
      • Machine Vision & Inspection
      • Manufacturing Facilities
      • Materials
      • New tires
      • OE Fitments
      • Partnerships
      • People
      • Regulations
      • Research & Development
      • Retreading
      • Sales facilities
      • Show News
      • Simulation
      • Sustainability
      • Testing & Analysis
      • Tire Building
      • Tire handling
      • Tire Modeling & Digital Tools
      • Tire Recycling
      • TPMS & Electronics
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    1. July 2023
    2. March 2023
    3. Annual Showcase 2022
    4. November 2022
    5. October 2022
    6. 年国际轮胎技术年刊
    7. Archive Issues
    8. Subscribe Free!
    Featured
    6th July 2023

    In this Issue – July 2023

    Online Magazines By Matt Ross
    Recent

    In this Issue – July 2023

    6th July 2023

    In this Issue – March 2023

    11th April 2023

    In this Issue – November 2022

    7th December 2022
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Jobs
    • Browse Jobs
    • Post a Job – It’s FREE!
    • Manage Jobs (Employers)
  • Events
LinkedIn Facebook
Tire Technology International
Opinion

Better rolling resistance measurement

Gregory SmithBy Gregory Smith18th December 20154 Mins Read
Share LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Email

Following the recent news that Volkswagen has taken engineering creativity to new heights to enhance its emissions results, the whole way that vehicle fuel consumption and emissions figures are calculated is being questioned (see also Automotive Testing). Why are quoted consumption figures unachievable in the real world? Does it have to be that way?

The problem is that car fuel consumption varies depending on a number of factors, with the driver arguably being most important. For example, if a hybrid is driven flat-out around a racetrack, while a sports sedan simply keeps up at the same pace, the sedan can actually burn less fuel than the hybrid. This is due to the hybrid being driven as fast as it will go, whereas the more powerful sedan does not have to work as hard to maintain the same pace.

Looking at fuel consumption from a vehicle engineering perspective, both temperature and humidity greatly affect engine performance, and aerodynamic drag changes when it’s raining.

Closer to home, the rolling resistance of a tire changes if it has to move road water out of the way, and the roughness of the surfaces also has an effect. For these reasons, among others, motor manufacturers test their cars’ fuel consumption under perfect lab conditions: dry, cold air; smooth steel drums; no water; and crucially, a driver carefully following an optimized routine without worrying about outside influences, such as traffic.

Though this approach gives consistent, repeatable results, it is not an accurate representation of real-world conditions. For that, the most obvious approach is to instrument a car, drive around on public roads and measure the tires’ rolling resistance. Unfortunately on-vehicle testing rarely provides useful data, as the rolling resistance is a very small measurement, often swamped by other forces and moments acting on the tire.

The same problem occurs when testing on most large Flat-Trac rigs, as they are designed to test the tire under extreme loads and high-slip conditions where massive forces are generated. So using the same rig to measure tiny rolling resistance forces under straight-line, zero-slip conditions is like trying to measure the thickness of a sheet of paper using a tape measure. Some Flat-Tracs might be reconfigurable with more accurate (but fragile) sensing equipment in an attempt to overcome this, but ultimately the internal resistances and complexities of the rigs often rule them out.

Camber Ridge – an all-new, ground-breaking tire testing facility currently being built in Charlotte, North Carolina – will likely offer

a solution by providing repeatable rolling resistance measurements on flat asphalt. This will be achieved by testing tires on articulating trolleys mounted to an oval test track. Watch this space.

A strong contender to improve rolling resistance measurements is trailer testing, where a rig including an instrumented hub is towed behind a car or truck. The trailer separates the test tire from the rest of the vehicle, isolating it from most of the outside influences that rule out on-vehicle testing. This means a highly sensitive rolling resistance hub can be used and accurate measurements can be collected during real-world conditions. Excellent! However, the motor industry needs to be able to test tires under identical conditions so that they can be rated and fairly compared against each other. It’s here where attempting to standardize trailer testing raises some problems. For example, what temperature should the tires be? Whichever temperature is chosen, what do you do when the weather at the outdoor test facility is not at that temperature? What do you do when it’s raining?

These limitations are why the current standards for testing rolling resistance are all based on drum testing. Drum rigs can apply all the necessary load cases to the tire, including camber and toe angles. They can also be used to warm the tire if needed and many can be fitted with asphalt tiles to better represent the road surface. The curved surface of these drums will affect rolling resistance measurements and of course, 1.2m diameter drums are not entirely representative of real-world conditions. However, in the absence of an all-round better alternative, it appears that drum testing remains the best overall solution. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t. tire

Gregory Smith is the director of Tyre CAE & Modelling Consultants, providing tire testing and modeling services to the OEM and motorsport industries. More information at www.TyreCAE.com

Share. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email
Previous ArticleHankook to build winter test facility at Test World
Next Article Hankook increases original equipment supply volume for trucks

Related Posts

Opinion

Opinion: Why Firestone recalled tires developed for the Ford Explorer

29th August 20234 Mins Read
Opinion

AI and the tire industry: sorting fact from hype

17th August 20234 Mins Read
Opinion

Opinion: Joe Walter 

13th March 20234 Mins Read
Latest News

Apollo launches updated EnduRace RA 2 regional truck tire

28th September 2023

Pirelli to bow out of WRC in 2024

27th September 2023

Giti announces ID Buzz as its first European EV fitment

26th September 2023

Receive breaking stories and features in your inbox each week, for free


Enter your email address:


Supplier Spotlights
  • SAMSON MACHINERY INC
Getting in Touch
  • Contact Us
  • Meet The Editors
  • Download Media Pack
  • Free Weekly E-Newsletter
Our Social Channels
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
RELATED UKI TOPICS
  • Automotive Testing
  • Autonomous Vehicle
  • Engine Technology
  • Professional Motorsport
© 2023 UKi Media & Events a division of UKIP Media & Events Ltd
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Notice & Takedown Policy

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie records the user consent for the cookies in the "Necessary" category.
elementorneverThe website's WordPress theme uses this cookie. It allows the website owner to implement or change the website's content in real-time.

Advertisement

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.

CookieDurationDescription
OAGEOsessionOpenX sets this cookie to avoid the repeated display of the same ad.
OAID1 yearCookie set to record whether the user has opted out of the collection of information by the AdsWizz Service Cookies.
test_cookie15 minutesdoubleclick.net sets this cookie to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysYouTube sets this cookie to measure bandwidth, determining whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYoutube sets this cookie to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt.innertube::nextIdneverYouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requestsneverYouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.

Analytics

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

CookieDurationDescription
CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded YouTube videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
_ga1 year 1 month 4 daysGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to calculate visitor, session and campaign data and track site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognise unique visitors.
_ga_*1 year 1 month 4 daysGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views.

Functional

Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.

CookieDurationDescription
__cf_bm30 minutesCloudflare set the cookie to support Cloudflare Bot Management.

SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by