A Double Interaction Brush Model for Snow Conditions

Commonly used tire models for vehicle-handling simulations are derived from the assumption of a flat and solid surface. Snow surfaces are nonsolid and may move under the tire. This results in inaccurate tire models and simulation results that are too far from the true phenomena. This article describes a physically motivated tire model that takes the effect of snow shearing into account. The brush tire model approach is used to describe an additional interaction between the packed snow in tire tread pattern voids with the snow road surface. Fewer parameters and low complexity make it suitable for real-time applications. The presented model is compared with test track tire measurements from a large set of different tires. Results suggest higher accuracy compared with conventional tire models. Moreover, the model is also proven to be capable of correctly predicting the self-aligning torque given the force characteristics.