Electric Field Simulations Around A Car Of The Tire Pressure Monitoring System

摘要

In order to support driving safety, TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) has been introduced in U.S.A. and Europe. In lapan, the AIR watch system has been developed and commerciali2ed. Some studies were made to clarify the electric field environment of this system. However, no detailed calculation of the electric field between the transmitter in the tire and the receiving antenna has been published. This paper clarifies the electric field environment of the Japanese system through electromagnetic simulations by a high performance MoM simulator that utilizes the MLFMM scheme. First of all, electric wave emissions from an antenna mounted in a tire are shown to be larger than that of the same antenna in free space. The tire rubber effects are also investigated. Next, electric field distributions on the windshield holding the receiving antenna are calculated. By comparing calculated electric field levels with those in the free space condition, car body interruptions are clarified. Because car body interruptions are not so severe, it is shown that the free space electric field levels can be used as rough design parameters. Moreover, electric field changes due to tire rotation are also clarified. Calculation accuracy is confirmed by the good agreement with measured data collected from a 1/5 scale car model. To permit estimations to be made in actual situations, the effects of the ground are also investigated. This simulation study introduces a lot of important data useful in TPMS system design.