Three 3-axial Accelerometers Fixed inside the Tyre for Studying Contact Patch Deformations in Wet Conditions

The tyre-road contact area was studied visually by means of a high-speed camera and three accelerometers fixed to the inner liner of the tyre carcass. Both methods show a distorted contact area in wet conditions, but interesting differences appeared. First, the contact area in full aquaplaning seems strongly distorted on a glass plate when subjected to visual inspection, while accelerometers indicate a more even hydrodynamic aquaplaning contact length across the tyre width. Secondly, the acceleration sensors predict the clear shortening of the contact length of the tyre before the critical aquaplaning speed. It can be concluded that the visual contact area and shape are heavily dependent on the transparency of the liquid and smoothness of the glass. Meanwhile, the tyre sensors can provide a contact length estimate on any road surface imaginable.