applied sciences Article Assessment of Tire Features for Modeling Vehicle Stability in Case of Vertical Road Excitation Vaidas Lukoševiˇcius*, Rolandas Makaras and Andrius Dargužis Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Design, Kaunas University of Technology, Studentu˛Str. 56, 44249 Kaunas, Lithuania;
[email protected] (R.M.);
[email protected] (A.D.) * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: Two trends could be observed in the evolution of road transport. First, with the traffic becoming increasingly intensive, the motor road infrastructure is developed; more advanced, greater quality, and more durable materials are used; and pavement laying and repair techniques are im- proved continuously. The continued growth in the number of vehicles on the road is accompanied by the ongoing improvement of the vehicle design with the view towards greater vehicle controllability as the key traffic safety factor. The change has covered a series of vehicle systems. The tire structure and materials used are subject to continuous improvements in order to provide the maximum possi- ble grip with the road pavement. New solutions in the improvement of the suspension and driving systems are explored. Nonetheless, inevitable controversies have been encountered, primarily, in the efforts to combine riding comfort and vehicle controllability. Practice shows that these systems perform to a satisfactory degree only on good quality roads, as they have been designed specifically for the latter. This could be the cause of the more complicated car control and accidents on the lower-quality roads. Road ruts and local unevenness that impair car stability and traffic safety are not Citation: Lukoševiˇcius,V.; Makaras, avoided even on the trunk roads.