Vehicle Dynamics with RecurDyn Based on the TMeasy Tire Model

Abstract

The analysis of critical driving maneuvers, the development of control systems, and the introduction of autonomous driving functions rely on virtual simulation environments. Vehicles are commonly modeled using multibody systems supported by commercial software that enables efficient setup, testing, and simulation. A functional vehicle model consists of rigid or flexible bodies, joints, and force elements. Passenger cars and trucks typically follow standardized model structures composed of predefined submodels such as drivetrain, steering, and suspension. Special-purpose vehicles, however, represent a much broader range of multibody systems, from simple rigid models to complex configurations with flexible components and moving contacts. The RecurDyn software package addresses this diversity and includes an integrated finite element solver, making it suitable for advanced vehicle simulations. In all cases, the vehicle model must be complemented by an appropriate tire model. Tire models are commonly divided into comfort and handling models. Comfort tire models are highly complex and require extensive measurements, while handling tire models use semi-physical approaches to approximate steady-state tire behavior with analytical functions and simplified dynamics. Most established handling models are tailored to passenger car tires. The TMeasy tire model, originally developed for agricultural tractor tires, uses physical parameters that can be derived from measurements or estimated by experienced engineers, which is especially beneficial when data are scarce. Its threedimensional slip formulation ensures smooth transitions between standstill and motion. Combined with RecurDyn, TMeasy enables the simulation of a wide range of vehicles, particularly special-purpose vehicles with unconventional tires.

Received: 1 April 2025 | Revised: 29 December 2025 | Accepted: 2 February 2026



Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.



Data Availability Statement

Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.



Author Contribution Statement

Uwe Eiselt: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Project administration. Thomas Kelichhaus: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization. Georg Rill: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization.