Impressions of footwear are commonly found in crime scenes. The quality and wide variability of these impressions makes their analysis difficult. This research will develop new computational methods to assist the forensic footwear examiner in the U.S. The research involves developing a database of representative footwear print images so that appropriate algorithms can be developed and their err...

A study of fatal traffic crashes in Florida examined contributing factors among crashes in which younger (under age 25) drivers were found to be at fault. A case-based analysis was used to improve the accuracy and completeness of the data from the original crash reports. Results were presented using over-representation factors (ORB), a simplified but statistically significant approach to freque...

Trucking fleets and owners of commercial vehicles utilize both new and retread tires on their vehicles in the United States. Retread tires are used primarily for the cost advantage they provide over a similar new tire. Despite the advantages that retreaded tires may bring, public perception is that retread tires are less safe than new tires as evidenced by the amount of tire debris frequently f...

This paper introduces a technique that relates the coefficients of the Magic Formula tire model to the physical properties of the tire. For this purpose, the tire model is developed by ABAQUS commercial software. The output of this model for the lateral tire force is validated by available tire information and then used to identify the tire force properties. The Magic Formula coefficients are o...

While a new tire may have excellent resistance to crack initiation and propagation between the steel belts, an aged tire of the exact same construction can exhibit dramatically reduced crack growth resistance, which in some cases may contribute to tire failure. This article will review the research that has gone into quantifying the rate of oxidation the steel belt rubber oxidizes in different ...

in this study, a simulation of tire–soil interaction model was considered with special view to two-dimensional (2-d) fem model of carcass. coefficients of mechanical behavior of silty-loam soil were accurately measured to obtain an effective simulation. the results of simulation which was implemented in matlab7, showed that the radial-ply tire had greater tractive efficiency than bias tire at t...

In this study, a low degree-of-freedom mechanical model of a rolling tire is constructed, in which the lateral deformation of the contact patch and tire carcass is considered. The so-called delayed contact patch model is implemented and combined with a simple tire carcass model. The interaction between the contact patch and the carcass together with the lateral mode of the attached suspension s...

Often when vehicles interact with roadside hardware like guardrails, bridge rails and curbs, the interaction between the roadside hardware and the tire causes the tire to lose its air seal and "blow-out". Once the seal between the rim and rubber tire is lost, the tire deflates. The behavior of the deflated tire is much different than the behavior of an inflated tire such that when this behavior...