Relationships among the contact patch length and width, the tire deflection and the rolling resistance of a free-running wheel in a soil bin facility

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of contact patch length-rolling resistance, contact patch width-rolling resistance and tire deflection-rolling resistance at different wheel load and inflation pressure levels is presented. The experiments were planned in a randomized block design and were conducted in the controlled conditions provided by a soil bin environment utilizing a well-equipped single wheel-tester of Urmia University, Iran. The image processing technique was used for determination of the contact patch length and contact patch width. Analysis of covariance was used to evaluate the correlations. The highest values of contact length and width and tire deflection occurred at the highest wheel load and lowest tire inflation pressure. Contact patch width is a polynomial (order 2) function of wheel load while there is a linear relationship between tire contact length and wheel load as well as between tire deflection and wheel load. Correlations were developed for the evaluation of contact patch length-rolling resistance, contact patch width-rolling resistance and tire deflection-rolling resistance. It is concluded that the variables studied have a significant effect on rolling resistance