Simulation method for tire

A computerized simulation method for evaluating a performance of a tire provided in its tread surface with a groove, comprising

• a step in which a tire model which is a finite element model of the tire is generated, wherein the tire model has a tread portion provided with the tread surface and the groove,
• a step in which a road surface model which is a finite element model of a road surface is generated,
• a rolling simulation step in which the tire model is brought into contact with the road surface model, and rotation of the tire model is computed,
• a step in which, based on computational results obtained in the rolling simulation step, chronological data about node points of the tire model which node points appear in the outer surface of the tire model during rotating are stored,
• a step in which, the outer surface of the tire model specified by the stored chronological data, the road surface model, and a fluid domain surrounding at least a part of the outer surface of the tire model and at least a part of the road surface model, are defined, and a fluid is defined in the fluid domain, and
• a fluid simulation step in which, physical quantities of the fluid in the fluid domain are computed by rotating the outer surface of the tire model using the stored chronological data, wherein
• the fluid simulation step includes
• a step in which at least a ground contacting area of the outer surface of the tire model is separated from the road surface model by a small distance so as to form a small gap between the tire model and the road surface model, and
• a step in which the fluid domain is defined in the gap.