Numerical Study on Vibration Characteristics of Non-pneumatic Tire Coupled with Quarter-Car Model

Non-Pneumatic Tires are primarily recognized for their puncture-free attributes, particularly suitable for specialized vehicles. However, not only the advantages, but also vehicle characteristics such as noise, vibration, and harshness need to be considered in case of application to standard passenger cars. To address this, estimating the vibration characteristics of NPT, considering the nonlinear behavior of the tire and its interaction with other car components, is important for vehicle development and chassis control. In this study, tire finite element analysis combined with the multibody simulation of a quarter-car model is employed. The vibration characteristics of a passenger car equipped with NPT are investigated on a specific tire construction and a car model in comparison to a pneumatic tire. It was found that the NPT exhibits high-frequency characteristic vibrations, although the overall trend is qualitatively similar to that of the pneumatic tire when the vertical stiffness and the contact properties are set to be close to those of the pneumatic tire.