Title: Exploring effects of distribution of mass and driving torque on tyre wear for electric vehicles using simulations

Authors: Vishal Venkatachalam; Erfan Nikyar; Lars Drugge; Jenny Jerrelind

Addresses: KTH Vehicle Dynamics, Department of Engineering Mechanics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 8, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden ' KTH Vehicle Dynamics, Department of Engineering Mechanics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 8, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden ' KTH Vehicle Dynamics, Department of Engineering Mechanics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 8, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden ' The Centre for ECO2 Vehicle Design, KTH Vehicle Dynamics, Department of Engineering Mechanics, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Teknikringen 8, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: Increased tyre wear in electric vehicles is a major concern from an economic and environmental perspective. Changing certain vehicle parameters can help reduce the tyre wear. This paper investigates how tyre wear would vary if the centre of gravity position and drivetrain configuration are changed. To calculate tyre wear, a full-vehicle model and a non-linear brush tyre model is used in conjunction with Reye's wear method. The simulations performed are constant velocity, straight line acceleration and steady-state cornering events. As expected, the results show that equally distributing the vertical load and the driving torque between the front and rear axles gives the lowest wear rate in most scenarios. An increase in acceleration has the dominating effect on wear followed by torque distribution and lastly mass distribution. Torque and mass distribution have a larger effect on tyre wear during the straight line tests than the cornering ones.

Keywords: tyre wear; electric vehicles; driving torque; mass distribution; brush model; tyre model; Reye's hypothesis; torque distribution; frictional energy; tyre sliding.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVSMT.2021.120560

International Journal of Vehicle Systems Modelling and Testing, 2021 Vol.15 No.2/3, pp.102 - 121

Received: 17 Jul 2020
Accepted: 04 Aug 2020
Published online: 26 Jan 2022 *

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