Composite indices applied to vibration data in rolling tires to detect bead area damage

The primary objective of this research was to identify an online indicator of tire bead area separation for use in tire durability testing. The dynamics of tires with asymmetric bead area damage and the transmission of vibrations to an axle housing were studied. Experimental results from online data collected on a 67-in diameter roadwheel and a 120-in diameter roadwheel are presented. Statistical measures, trends in frequency content and transient wavelet maps, and composite damage indices were all evaluated as online damage detection features. Trends in statistical measures and frequency content were both indicative of damage progression, but were also sensitive to changes in test conditions. Wavelet maps were indicative of damage progression and showed potential for locating damage circumferentially on a tire. Wavelet analysis of data from both roadwheels indicated that damage increased the amount of higher frequency content in the response signals measured at the spindle arm and axle housing. The increase in broadband content was thought to come from transient vibrations generated when the damaged bead area passed through the contact patch. Composite damage indices that combined frequency and spatial data provided very clear indicators of potential damage initiation events, even predicting the number of ruptures, by drawing out the relevant information in the signals from the ambient vibration. The most effective composite indices multiplied several data signals such that only when all data signals indicated a change would the composite indices also indicate that damage had occurred.