Scalable vehicle models for indoor tire testing

A method for determining the wear rate of a tire for use with a particular vehicle segment, comprising:

• defining a vehicle segment representing a plurality of individual vehicles having various weights and at least one tire;
• defining at least one vehicle model parameter of at least one vehicle in the vehicle segment, including at least one of:
• the vehicle's wheel base, the vehicle's wheel track, the vehicle's center of gravity, the vehicle's suspension compliance, the vehicle's suspension kinematics, the vehicle's steering kinematics, the vehicle's weight distribution, the vehicle's ballasting, the vehicle's front-to-rear brake proportioning, the vehicle's auxiliary roll stiffness, the vehicle's unsprung mass, the tire's stiffness, the tire's longitudinal force, the tire's lateral force, the tire's aligning torque, and the tire's camber thrust;
• determining a parameter regression function for at least one vehicle model parameter,
• wherein the parameter regression function provides the average value of the at least one vehicle model parameter for the range of weights of the vehicles comprising the defined vehicle segment,
• wherein the parameter regression function is characterized as a function of the total weight of a scalable vehicle model by the equation P(W)=C0(W)+C1(W)A+C2(W)A2+C3(W)A3,
• wherein W is the total weight of the scalable vehicle model,
• wherein P(W) is the at least one vehicle model parameter,
• wherein Cn(W) is a regression coefficient as a function of W, and
• wherein A is an independent variable, including at least one of:
• a vehicle's jounce and a vehicle's steering angle;
• predicting at least one of a tire force and an inclination angle exerted on a tire by the scalable vehicle model through a multibody vehicle dynamics simulation;
• and
• determining the wear rate of a tire by mounting the tire on a machine,
• wherein the machine is configured to rotate the tire at a desired speed and to apply the tire against a simulated road surface with at least one of:
• the predicted tire force and the predicted inclination angle,
• wherein the machine is placed into operation, and
• wherein the wear of the tire is measured over time.