DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF TPMS TYRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM

Abstract

Defective tyres were contributing factor or a main cause in all fatal accidents. In two out of three tyre related accidents either worn-out tyres or tyres unfit for road conditions were a major contributory factor. This is all due to Under-inflated tyres. Many Transport Safety Council's general reports on fatalities illustrate that each year nearly 10 % citizens are killed and over 3.5 million are injured in transport crashes. In this dissertation work an effort has been made to minimize these accidents by incorporating an intelligent tyre/wheel system by means of TPMS - Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems. The dissertation work aims at making an additional data from the tyre and the tyre-road contact available at a communication interface on the vehicle. The objectives are met by integrating innovative low cost reliable strain gauge based TPM sensors into the tyres and a mechatronic tyre/wheel system is constructed. This report provides an overview on the intelligent tyre systems and potential technologies such as TPMS. Accident analysis with an investigation of tyre-related risk factors is discussed. Different system solutions for TPMS and more sophisticated sensor systems which are still in the process of development are discussed in brief. An overview of selected patent applications on Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems has also been presented. A Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPM Sensor) is designed and developed. The work is divided into two sections; first to design a cost effective TPM sensor and to check the feasibility of sensor for compatibility of tyres, secondly to fabricate the same and embed on to tyre and test for on road conditions. The developed TPM sensor is designed based on the available technology of strain gauges which is cost effective, reliable and robust sensor model for Tyre Pressure Monitoring. In this work a finite element model of TPM Sensor is presented. The analytical approach of Finite element model TPM Sensor for static analysis is obtained. A feasibility study of TPM Sensor design was undertaken to determine project's viability. The designed TPM sensor was fabricated and tested for static and dynamic tests. All results including static and dynamic results show that the designed TPM sensor will have considerable potential for offering increased caution against the