EngD position: Design tool for tire-snow performance predictions

Winter tires are characterized by excellent performance at cold temperatures and in snowy conditions. The development of new winter tires, however, can be challenging. For example, mold production is time consuming (due to all the small details – the so-called sipes – that are required for snow grip) and the quality and behavior of snow is highly variable, which is a challenge for design when comparing outdoor test results with laboratory conditions. Therefore, numerical simulation tools are being developed to better estimate the effect of design changes on the tire performances – especially relevant at the early stages of the development of new tires.

Although numerical simulation environments have been developed to predict the snow performance of newly developed tire prototypes, challenges remain in comparing and validating advanced numerical models, e.g., using the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE), Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL), and Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) methods for snowy conditions. Furthermore, investigation on the speed, accuracy, and convergence of these models and integration within the simulation environment of Apollo is required to ensure the robustness of the tire prototyping process.

The project aims to develop a comprehensive numerical model for tire-snow interaction: coupled numerical models for rubber-snow interaction will be implemented using the Abaqus software. The main objective is to select the most suitable solution, from the perspective of stakeholder demands, and implement and integrate it into Apollo’s professional environment. The accuracy for predicting snow performance of winter tires will be validated experimentally, followed by further model improvements, and implementation or design of a robust workflow and predictive design tool.