TRT: Thermo Racing Tyre a Physical Model to Predict the Tyre Temperature Distribution

In the paper a new physical tyre thermal model is presented. The model, called Thermo Racing Tyre (TRT) was developed in collaboration between the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Naples Federico II and a top ranking motorsport team. The model is three-dimensional and takes into account all the heat flows and the generative terms occurring in a tyre. The cooling to the track and to external air and the heat flows inside the system are modelled. Regarding the generative terms, in addition to the friction energy developed in the contact patch, the strain energy loss is evaluated. The model inputs come out from telemetry data, while its thermodynamic parameters come either from literature or from dedicated experimental tests. The model gives in output the temperature circumferential distribution in the different tyre layers (surface, bulk, inner liner), as well as all the heat flows. These information have been used also in interaction models in order to estimate local grip value.