Patent ID: 7280951

Claim:
A method of evaluating characteristics and performance of a tire comprising a tire main body and tread rubber provided with fine grooves each having a dead end including at least a bottom of the fine groove and confronting walls with a finite spacing between the walls at the dead end, the method comprising: making a finite element model of the tread rubber including: dividing said model into elements so that, for each fine groove, the elements include first elements on one side of the fine groove and second elements on the other side of the fine groove, wherein the first elements and second elements having on-border nodes in common at said dead end, but the first elements and second elements not having nodes in common at other positions than said dead end; determining a temporary boundary face between the first elements and second elements of each fine groove; defining nodes on each temporary boundary face, which nodes include off-border nodes and said on-border nodes; duplicating said off border nodes of each fine groove so that doubled nodes are defined which doubled nodes are first nodes and second nodes spaced from the first nodes in the widthwise direction of each fine groove; defining surfaces of the first elements by positions of ( 1 ) the first nodes or ( 2 ) the first nodes and the on-border nodes; and defining surfaces of the second elements by positions of ( 1 ) the second nodes or ( 2 ) the second nodes and the on-border nodes; combining the finite element model of the tread rubber with a finite element model of the tire main body to make a finite element model of the tire; simulating running of the finite element model of the tire; and evaluating characteristics and performance of the tire based on the response of the finite element model of the tire to the simulated running.