Marc Russouw from Monash Motorsport and Christoph Hahn from MathWorks introduce you to the benefits tire modeling can have on your car set up and how to choose the right model. There are many documented methods of tire modeling in literature ranging from sophisticated finite element models to empirical, semi-empirical, and even pure analytic models. The Monash team has chosen to work with a non-dimensional model based on the early Pacejka approach. Some key contributions:

• Nick Trevorrow, Track Surface Effects on Race Tyre Performance, https://www.sae.org/publications/technical-papers/content/2004-01-3527/, SAE Paper No: 2004-01-3527
• Milliken, W., & Milliken, D. (1995). Race Car Vehicle Dynamics. Warrendale: Society of Automotive Engineers.
• Pacejka, H. (2006). Tyre and Vehicle Dynamics. Delft: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Mark introduces you to the Tire Test Consortium (TTC), where Formula Student teams can register and gain access to tire test data by paying a one-time fee. The tire database is updated regularly. Marc and Christoph will also introduce you to tire performance plots which will help you visualize tire information including slip angle, and curve fitting.

After watching the episode, you’ll understand how to read tire test data and work with it, be able to choose a proper model for your needs, and know how to embed your results from tire modeling to an entire vehicle model. You’ll also have learned how to use MATLAB to implement your approach, and to plot and publish your results.