Tire tread block dynamics

Temperature has a crucial influence on rubber friction and tire dynamics. The temperature field in a rubber tread block is the sum of the background temperature $T_0({\bf x},t)$, which varies slowly in time and space, and the flash temperature $\Delta T({\bf x},t)$, which in nonzero only close to the macroasperity contact regions, and which varies rapidly in time often on the millisecond time scale. Here we study the motion of a single tire tread block and how it is influenced by the flash temperature. We also present a theory and experimental results for the size of the macroasperity contact regions. In particular, we show that for a large enough nominal contact area, in most cases the diameter $D$ of the macroasperity contact regions are nearly independent of the elastic modulus and the nominal contact pressure.