A new role for tires on the vehicle design
The automotive sector is facing a profound transformation and it’s moving towards virtualization, which is the use of simulations and virtual models in the development of new architectures and vehicles. We can give as an example of that the increasing application of the knowledge acquired for years in motorsport in vehicle designs that will not necessarily be super sports as soon as this knowledge was being stimulated to the maximum by restrictive regulations such as the current Formula 1 technical regulation for example.
On this way with no return point, the tire stands out as a character who lives between the love and hate of vehicle manufacturers, as one of the only parts of the entire car where the conception, design, manufacturing, development and approval are exclusively competence of tire suppliers. The automakers role is only to validate this. Also, the tire is the only piece whose both supplier’s logo and brand are apparent on the vehicle, contributing decisively to the vehicle’s aesthetics. At same time, allow the good chassis design as well as defining the performance levels possible for the car.
The automaker’s participation still exists, mainly in the tire development and approval phases, but is less relevant due to the levels of complexity and confidentiality around the tire conception. This black-box design contributes to the tire being considered, in several automakers, as a design piece only, having its influence on the vehicle minimized or erroneously neglected.
And in this scenario where the simulation gains more and more relevance, the manner as the tire is handled in a development needs to be completely revised. Not only who relegates the tire to a piece of style shall accept the relevance of it as provider of fundamental data to allow a robust vehicle suspension design, or to help to correctly dimensioning of the steering and brake systems, for example, but also those other mature manufacturers, who already work with some tire parameters in their design phases, that must improve the level of their activities even more to remain at the forefront.
We are not just talking about reducing costs or schedules, but about a revolution in the design process, which demands the involvement of different suppliers in a project earlier.
The tire manufacturers are already able to work with tire simulation as well as virtual models, waiting when the majority of automakers oriented to the Time2Market (those that seek the shortest possible time between the beginning of a development and their launch) will start to work with complete vehicle virtual models. And the tire manufacturers are ready to support high level discussions about virtual submissions as well as to contribute with automakers to develop vehicles to face, and overcome as well, the challenges of new mobility and from more severe regulations to protect the environment.
This today’s transformation in the automotive area requires a strong evolution of processes, where virtual modeling and component simulation is one of the pillars for a robust solution.
These are disruptive ways of designing vehicles, and consequently tires with a high added value, that can mitigate the risks throughout complex developments, in order to improve performance and to find the best cost vs. value ratio for the entire chain, including the final consumer.
Carlos Barcha is a tire specialist with 20 years of experience in the automotive sector, founder and CEO of The Consulting Business Solutions and Technical Manager for Michelin South America. Opinions and information expressed here are personal and do not necessarily reflect the positioning of these companies.
