Analyzing Effect of Tire Groove Patterns on Hydroplaning Speed

Hydroplaning is a major safety concern in wet-weather driving. Grooved tires have been commonly used to improve skid resistance and increase the hydroplaning speed. Tire grooves help in the expulsion of water from the tire pavement contact region by providing escape channels. Past researchers have shown that tire groove spacing, groove width and groove depth affect skid resistance. However, analytical tools are unavailable for highway engineers to evaluate hydroplaning speed taking into consideration basic geometric parameters such as tire groove width, groove depth and spacing etc. The present paper describes a numerical analytical tool to study the effect of tire groove spacing, groove width and groove depth on hydroplaning speed by means of earlier verified analytical hydroplaning modeling for tire having transverse groove pattern, longitudinal groove pattern and combined transverse and longitudinal groove pattern on plane pavement surface are analyzed in this paper.