Bridgestone Introduces Simulation Technology for Unprecedented Range of Surfaces

Bridgestone Introduces Simulation Technology for Unprecedented Range of Surfaces

Bridgestone Corporation has announced that it has begun using computer technology for simulating tyre performance on nearly any kind of road surface. The new technology, dubbed Comprehensive Road Surroundings Simulation (CROSS), promises to raise efficiency in developing optimal tread patterns. It allows for simulating tyre behaviour on unpaved roads and even off the road and in sunny, rainy, and snowy conditions.

CROSS incorporates a breakthrough in analysing terramechanics, which is the behaviour of soil under loads. Bridgestone uses a supercomputer to predict the movement and response of soil as it is compacted under a rolling tyre. That will streamline work in optimizing tread patterns on tyres for four-wheel-drive vehicles, earthmoving equipment, agricultural machinery, all-terrain vehicles, and other vehicles that operate on unpaved surfaces. Off-the-road settings present a vast range of surfaces for vehicles to negotiate, from hard stone in mine pits to soft mud in farm fields.

Tyre manufacturers have needed to rely on repeated field testing to evaluate the performance of different tread patterns on those surfaces. The new simulation technology of CROSS greatly reduces the amount of field testing required in tyre development, and it also lets engineers simulate a greater range of surfaces than would be available for field testing.

A paper presented by Bridgestone engineers on terramechanics captured attention at a September conference of the Tire Society in the United States. Terramechanics simulation technology is the latest addition to Bridgestone's growing portfolio of simulation tools. The company announced new hydroplaning simulation technology in 1999 for analysing water flow under tyre treads on wet surfaces. In 2001, it announced technology for simulating tyre performance on snow.