McHenry Forum - Crash Reconstruction & Simulation

For the latest posts on this topic scroll down or click here

Q: Is there a tire friction variation in cooler temperatures?
A: Studies have demonstrated that the coefficient of friction can vary with the temperature with the lowest values at or around freezing. See

• Grosch, Schallenbech “Tire Friction on Wet Roads”, Rubber Chemistry & Technology, Vol 49, pp 863

Other items which may occur in winter driving conditions are “Black ice” and “wet/icy roadway conditions”. However these conditions still provide friction. The average coefficient of friction for “black ice” is approximately 0.2 to 0.4. The average coefficient of friction for wet and glare ice is approximately 0.2 to 0.6 [1,2,3]. The average coefficient of friction for areas of the roadway which did not have water/ice accumulation was approximately between 0.40 to 0.70. A vehicle passing over a wet/icy area and/or “black ice” would react to the change in friction properties only if the vehicle were either braking or steering in such a manner that the vehicle required friction greater than the 0.2 to 0.4 range.
REFERENCES

• 1 Hunter, “Reconstructing Collisions Involving Ice and Slippery Surfaces”, SAE Paper 930896
• 2 Navin, Macnabb, Nicolletti, “Vehicle Traction Experiments on Snow and Ice”, SAE paper 960652
• 3 Martin, Schaefer, “Tire-Road Friction in Winter Conditions for Accident Reconstruction”, SAE 960657