A combined Hertz/Maxwell model is presented to approximately describe the interaction between a rigid indenter and a viscoelastic half-space, and therefore the force-indentation relationship including the deformation rate and energy losses. This model is a numerically efficient alternative to the exact viscoelastic half-space formulation, to be implemented in a tyre/road interaction model for the prediction of tyre vibrations, rolling resistance and noise. Here the combined Hertz/Maxwell model is used to assess the influence of road texture on the contact stiffness and damping based on the analysis of 30 road surface types. The parameters of this model are obtained by fitting the load-penetration curves obtained from the exact viscoelastic half-space calculation. It is shown that both the stiffness and damping parameters decrease as the road texture depth increases, since, for a given penetration depth, the effective contact area decreases as the road texture depth increases. Assessing the relevance of these effects for the accurate prediction of tyre/road interaction is subject of ongoing work.
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