Patent ID: 7373287
Filing Date: 2008-05-13
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method for smoothing a perimeter boundary of a finite element analysis generated contact region between a tire and a road surface, comprising: (a) generating a plurality of contact regions, each contact region generated for the tire against the road surface by performing a finite element analysis for each of a plurality of given load condition values; (b) generating a contact region boundary data for each of the plurality of contact regions by determining at least a length of the contact region and a width of the contact region; (c) generating a plurality of load-averaged curve equations based upon the contact region boundary data; and (d) generating a predicted boundary for a given contact region based on the plurality of load-averaged curve equations; (e) displaying the given contact region within the predicted boundary, wherein each contact region between the tire and the road surface is an area of contact between the tire and the road surface, and wherein the contact region boundary data defines an outer perimeter of the respective contact region.