Tyre treaty

LMS and the automotive business unit of TNO have announced the signing of a partnership agreement for the integration of TNO’s tyre models into LMS Virtual.Lab Motion simulation software.

As a result of the agreement, LMS Virtual.Lab Motion users will gain access to scalable tyre models for concept studies, handling simulation, comfort analysis and fatigue prediction. LMS will market and sell the integrated TNO MF-Tyre and MF-SWIFT modelling capabilities as an integral part of LMS Virtual.Lab Motion. The integrated solution has become available with the release of LMS Virtual.Lab Rev 6.

According to a statement, the TNO MF-Tyre and MF-Swift tyre models complement the existing tyre modelling capabilities in LMS Virtual.Lab and allow users to perform realistic full vehicle simulation for key attributes like ride & handling, comfort and durability. High fidelity modelling of tyres is the prerequisite to correctly translate the impact of different road surfaces on the vehicle and to realistically simulate the vehicle’s driving behaviour. The TNO tyre models can be applied for the dynamic simulation of passenger cars, motorcycles, trucks, industrial vehicles and aircraft landing gear.

MF-Tyre is TNO’s implementation of the world standard Pacejka Magic Formula tyre model. Its semi-empirical approach is said to guarantee accurate handling simulation. MF-Swift is the high frequency extension to the Magic Formula MF-Tyre model, which mainly supports comfort and durability simulation.

Leo Kusters, General Manager of TNO's Automotive Business Unit commented, ‘A realistic and accurate tyre model is an essential tool in the iterative process of modelling, validating and optimising the vehicle-tyre interaction.

‘The combination of our tyre modelling capabilities and the LMS Virtual.Lab Motion simulation software therefore offers a powerful and complete solution to simulate full-vehicle performance. The integrated solution delivers more reliable results, strongly reduces the required modelling iterations and dramatically reduces design processes.’