7th VDI Conference on Tyres, Chassis, Roads

The contact area between tyre and road surface is generally compared to the size of a postcard. An area, whose smallness bears no relation to its importance as the central spot where the interaction between motorcar and supporting ground takes place. Generations of experts have thought long and hard how to optimise this A6-sized contact area in the interest of road safety.

The 21st and 22nd October saw the beginning of a new round in the eternal quest for more knowledge. On these dates the seventh conference in twelve years of the Association of German Engineers (VDI) took place under the headline “Reifen – Fahrwerk – Fahrbahn” (“Tyres – Chassis – Road Surface”) at the Hanover Congress Centre. As at several earlier meetings, the wheel was not studied in isolation but as the link between chassis and road surface.

The central theme of the meeting was therefore the interaction between those three components. Each lecture or discussion session consisted of three half-hour presentations grouped together under subject matters such as “Reciprocal influences between tyres and road surface”, “Tyre noise”, “Measuring and devising models”, “Warning and run-flat systems”, “Vibration and comfort” as well as “Chassis concepts”. Almost 225 VDI members from the sectors of research and manufacturing had accepted the invitation.