Identification of the characteristics of motorcycle and scooter tyres in the presence of large variations in inflation pressure

Stability and safety of road vehicles are largely affected by tyre properties. Single-track vehicles are characterised by weakly damped modes of vibration (weave and wobble) and therefore this phenomenon is even more important. This article focuses on the study of both steady-state and transient properties of motorcycle and scooter tyres in the presence of very low and very high inflation pressures. The steady-state properties are defined as lateral forces (side-slip and camber forces) and yaw torques (self-aligning and twisting). The transient properties are described in terms of relaxation length, which represents the distance needed to reach a certain percentage of the steady-state value of the tyre force. Experimental tests are carried out on a specific rotating disk machine. Three sets of tyres are analysed. Steady-state properties are measured by increasing step by step the values of camber and side-slip angles. Transient properties are studied carrying out tests with harmonic sideslip excitation and measuring the phase lag between the excitation (input) and the tyre force (output). Experimental results show important variations in tyre properties with inflation pressure with general trends of all the tested tyres and particular features related to the tyre’s geometry. After the analysis and discussion of experimental results, the measured data are fitted by means of a specific version of the Magic Formula. The dependence of the Magic Formula’s coefficients on inflation pressure is analysed and interpolation curves are given.