Abstract
An accurate description of the tire characteristics is very important for vehicle dynamic analysis. However, the characteristics of a tire are very complex, and it is not easy to develop the analytical model of tire force. It is also well known that the actual tire force is greatly affected by the suspension properties. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the tire characteristics including the effects of the suspension system. In order to evaluate the effects of tire-suspension system on vehicle dynamics, we had developed a tire-suspension hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS) system. In this system, the various contact conditions of the tire can be realized. In addition, the tire-suspension HILS system enables us to carry out evaluation tests under constant condition in comparison with actual running tests. In previous study, we used roller rolling system to rotate the tire. However, contact conditions between the tire and the roller were estimated to be different from the conditions on the real road, which might cause different tire characteristics. In this study, we developed a flat belt rolling system to improve contact conditions. The effectiveness of the flat belt rolling system was evaluated by slip angle input test and slalom runnning test.
