Wheels and Tires

Vehicle wheels have essentially two functions: to carry on the vehicle weight by exchanging vertical forces with the road surface; to exchange with the road surface longitudinal and side forces, able to move the vehicle and to control its path. As we have seen in the previous chapter the first function was already present on antique wheels that had to carry weights but only occasionally were demanded to brake the vehicle or to withstand significant side forces. With speed increasing the bearing capacity for side and longitudinal forces becomes more and more important.