The Tire as a Vehicle Component C0101
Topics: Chassis, Air Frame, Vehicle Dynamics
The principal functions of the pneumatic tire are to generate driving, braking, and cornering forces while safely carrying the vehicle load and providing adequate levels of ride comfort. This course explains how tire forces and moments are generated under different operating and service conditions and, in turn, demonstrates how these forces and moments influence various vehicle responses such as braking, handling, ride, and high-speed performance. The content focuses on the fundamentals of tire behavior in automobiles, trucks, and farm tractors, but also includes experimental and empirical results, when necessary.
The Pneumatic Tire, a 700-page E-book on CD, edited by Joseph Walter and Alan Gent is included in the course material.
This course has been approved by the Accreditation Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction (ACTAR) for 7 Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Upon completion of this course, accredited reconstructionists should mail a copy of their course certificate of achievement and the $5 participant CEU fee to ACTAR, PO Box 1493, North Platte, NE 69103.
Learning Objectives
By attending this course, you will be able to:
- Explain the force and moment generating behavior of tires as related to construction, materials, and operating conditions
- Predict vehicle response based on tire characteristics using basic laws of mechanics supplemented by experimental results as necessary
Who Should Attend
This course is designed principally for technical professionals in the automobile, tire, and wheel industries and their suppliers. In addition, some case studies and examples involve truck, agriculture, and aircraft tires.
Prerequisites
An undergraduate degree in a technical field or commensurate experience is desirable.
Testimonials
"Very good training and instructor very professional.”
Enrique Hernandez
Customer Engineer
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
"Relevant introduction to the importance of tire properties as it relates to vehicle dynamics and performance."
David Klyde
Principal Research Engineer
Systems Technology, Inc.
"A great course to get your feet wet in the world of tire handling and dynamics."
Martin Garcia
Project Engineer
Quest Engineering & Failure Analysis
You must complete all course contact hours and successfully pass the learning assessment to obtain CEUs.
Gerald Potts
Dr. Potts is the Principal in GRP Consulting specializing in tire and vehicle dynamics and is an Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Akron, teaching tire and vehicle dynamics. Previously he worked for Firestone Research as a Research Scientist working on tire dynamics and developing a new Dynamics Research Laboratory and MTS Systems Corporation as Manager of Tire/Wheel Systems and headed the Flat-Trac™
test system development team. He also initiated the development of indoor tire wear test machines. Dr. Potts also served as an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the General Motors Institute (now Kettering University) teaching classes in vehicle dynamics, chassis engineering, vibrations, and instrumentation. He has also owned his own businesses where he developed tire test system controls and tire rolling resistance test machines and a laboratory high-speed uniformity tire test machine, as well as vehicle safety test systems for vehicle crash tests and component strength tests for major tire and vehicle companies around the world. Dr. Potts earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Wichita State University and Master's and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Kansas State University.
