Towards Digital Twin of Vehicle Tyre: Theoretical Framework for a Multibody Model

The rapid advancement in the automotive industry necessitates the creation of digital twins (DTs), fundamentally transforming design and testing processes. Among the various components, vehicle tyres present significant challenges for accurate modelling. This paper reviews current tyre modelling techniques, exploring their applications, associated challenges, and possibilities. An advanced tyre model (TM) is introduced that emphasises interactions between the tyre and rim, as well as between the three-dimensional tyre and road, while accounting for dynamic variations in gas pressure and thermodynamic factors. The modelling approach involves developing nine nodal discrete elements of varying thickness, with each element comprising twelve rheological components designed to function under tension and compression, alongside four additional rheological elements to evaluate the bending stiffness of each discrete element. During the validation procedure, an RMSE of 0.00892 was achieved by comparing the developed TM to the experimentally validated MF SWIFT model; however, the TM presents much more information regarding tyre parameters, which can be used for vehicle dynamics investigations. Future steps for model improvement are presented.