In order to reduce the number of accidents due to tyre blow-outs on motorways, it has now become important to find technical solutions to improve road safety. Experience has shown that driving at high speed on long distances with underinflated tyres may result in a fatal blow-out. This may even happen at an earlier stage because tyres store many former aggressions. So we are currently developing methods and technical means to check the tyre pressures and the good condition of tyre structures:
- Tyre pressures using a stationary equipment located outside the vehicle. This device consists of a propelled mass and a force transducer hitting the tyre tread. Parameters calculated from form and duration of the delivered signal are related to inflation pressure. The next step now consists in implementing the equipment where vehicles are likely to stop for a short period of time (e.g. toll gates).
- The good condition of tyre structures (mainly the internal condition of the casing). A microphone set close to a running tyre on a drum delivers time and frequency signatures based on specific signal processing methods. A statistical analysis is then necessary to correlate signature parameters and danger criteria for good and damaged tyres.