Informative Article on Radial Force Variation

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https://www.tirereview.com/rfv-tire-industry-part-1/

Some excerpts:

Quote
...Radial Force Variation (RFV) is an important measurement in the tire industry that has been around since the 1970s but is often unclear.

...Most tiremakers test tires at the point of manufacture to verify that the RFV is within allowable quality limits. The more uniform the tire, the better the ride. Tires that exceed these limits may be scrapped or sold to markets that do not require stringent quality. Vehicle manufacturers often specify uniformity levels and pay more for tires with less RFV if the vehicle has special needs or is driven at high speeds on very flat surfaces.

...There are two types of OEM Radial Force Variation. The first is a low-speed tire test defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers as SAE Practice J332.

...A second form of OEM measurement is high-speed RFV measurement. The wheel and spindle are locked against a flat track with force sensors. High-speed RFV measurement is the latest technology and gives a better indication of high-speed RFV at the speeds normally encountered by a vehicle at highway speeds when vibration is most prevalent. Besides vertical RFV forces, a tangential (fore-aft) RFV force can also be measured. Many non-speed-rated tires with runout construction characteristics (such as light truck tires) can change shape significantly at highway speeds and exhibit RFV and imbalance that doesn't show up during low-speed measurement or low-speed garage balancer spin speed.

...RFV pounds force is measured around the tire and the measurements are defined in terms of highest to lowest (peak to peak) measurements and the harmonics (waveforms) that interpret the many measurements taken around the circumference of the tire/wheel.

...Using the harmonic calculation and not the peak-to-peak measurements to find the low and high points of the tire/wheel assembly are critical. As you can see in the accompanying charts (left), the high point, low points and magnitude of the waveform are not the same location or magnitude as shown in the harmonic calculation.

...R1H, Radial First Harmonic RFV, one bump per revolution (like an egg), can be caused by imbalance, runout of the tire and/or wheel, centering error on the balancer and centering error on the vehicle hub. It can be reduced by correct centering on the balancer, match-mounting and on-car hub matching.

...R2H, Radial Second Harmonic RFV, two bumps per revolution (like a football), are most often not displayed on shop RFV balancers and cannot be reduced by match mounting. In some cases, the tire can be loosened and rotated 90° to reduce R2H. The steering column in a vehicle is most sensitive to R2H causing steering wheel "nibble." If both wheels on the front axle have excessive R1H or imbalance, it can set up a phase-related R2H intermittent vibration that comes and goes as the two wheels turn at slightly different speeds.

...R3H-Radial Third Harmonic RFV, three bumps per revolution (like a triangle), is not often displayed on shop RFV balancers and cannot be reduced by match mounting. R3H vibration in a tire or wheel can add its vibration to driveline-related components with issues. As an example, a final drive axle gear ratio may be approximately 3:1 and if there are components failing and causing vibration, the vibration will add itself to R3H wheel vibration forces.
 
Some additional tidbits:

Vehicle suspensions have a natural resonant frequency that generally occurs in the 50 to 70 mph range for balance and R1H (with a few exceptions!). Outside that speed range you generally won't find wheel end (meaning tire and/or wheel related) vibrations. That's because of the damping action of the shock absorber.

The article mentions R2H and R3H. The speed where R2H can become an issue is 25 to 35 mph (notice it is half the speed for R1H), but it generally doesn't because a) R2H levels in tires are generally much smaller than R1H levels and b) there are a lot of other things vibrating at that speed that confuse the human body. Similarly for R3H.

I retired 7 years ago, and at that time, high speed uniformity measurement was a lab test, not an in-line production screening test. I doubt if things have change since then, mainly because the way to reduce high speed RFV issues in tires also resulted in lower low speed RFV issues. (that is, reducing low speed RFV had benefits for high speed RFV)
 
https://www.tirereview.com/rfv-tire-industry-part-2/

...Measuring RFV must rely on the correct process with a wheel balancer or else measurements cannot be relied upon for a correct diagnosis and repair. Most wheel balancer operators are not trained properly to use the equipment, which leads to incorrect diagnoses and inferior balancing services being performed. Used tire and wheel assemblies must always be road tested (exercised) in order to eliminate temporary flat-spotting measurements. New tires stored improperly may also have temporary flat spots that must be eliminated before the correct diagnosis and repair can be achieved.

If you own an RFV wheel balancer of any brand, make sure your techs know how to: first, quickly find the RFV; and second, reduce the RFV. Most techs don't use the RFV capability because nobody has taken the time to show them how simple and fast it is to do and how to do it right the first time. ...

...The most important measurement by far is finding the clock position of the RFV high spot. The location of the high point is in the belt plies splice area of the tread belts. The location of the "taller" or "stiffer spring" is always in the same area regardless of the measurement method being used for contact or non-contact measurements. RFV, eccentricity and radial runout measurements are all the same "high spot" in shop balancers.

...to ensure the best tire uniformity and ride quality, Michelin's Tire Fitment Guide states that once the tire has first been properly lubricated, sealed and seated (with the valve core removed), it should then be deflated so that the beads relax. Then, the tire should be re-inflated and brought back up to placard inflation pressure to allow the beads to move back into their correct position on the rim bead seats. This is critical today if you want uniform tires and wheels....

...Before removing the assembly from the balancer, perform an on-car vehicle hub RFV reduction. First, rotate the high point to 12 o'clock (TDC) using the prompts on the balancer screen. Then, mark the high point/stiff spot on the inside of the rim edge and tire with a tire crayon. Next, place the assembly on the vehicle hub with the index mark at TDC. Finally, install and torque the lug nuts/lug bolts per factory specification....

...Consider this: By using RFV measurement reduction and on-car cancellation of the eccentricity, a tire and wheel with some RFV can actually ride better than if it had none. As an example, if the assembly has RFV of 0.015-in. R1H (25 pounds Radial Force Variation) when placed on the vehicle, the hub clearance could subtract and cancel almost the same amount creating a "net zero" assembly. Just mark the high point and place it on the car at 12 o'clock… on everything....
 
Originally Posted by SubLGT
...…… Used tire and wheel assemblies must always be road tested (exercised) in order to eliminate temporary flat-spotting measurements. New tires stored improperly may also have temporary flat spots that must be eliminated before the correct diagnosis and repair can be achieved. …..


It's true that in service tires might have flatspots, but generally stored tires don't. The real problem with new tires is that the current generation of dealer units can give both false positive and false negative result - and there is no way to know if either is occurring until the operator gets a vehicle and can't figure out why or why not a vibration is occurring. It's the false positive reading that are generally to blame here.

Originally Posted by SubLGT
...…… The location of the high point is in the belt plies splice area of the tread belts. ……


Sooooo close!! It's the tread splice (if the tire has one.) And that location might be the high point or might be the low point. I suspect the writer didn't understand his notes when he wrote that.

But why the writer decided to put that in is a wonder. Only someone in tire manufacturing would be interested in knowing that - because it will aid in finding ways to improve the product.

Originally Posted by SubLGT
...…… ...to ensure the best tire uniformity and ride quality, Michelin's Tire Fitment Guide states that once the tire has first been properly lubricated, sealed and seated (with the valve core removed), it should then be deflated so that the beads relax. Then, the tire should be re-inflated and brought back up to placard inflation pressure to allow the beads to move back into their correct position on the rim bead seats. This is critical today if you want uniform tires and wheels.... …..


It's probably more important that the operator lube the beads thoroughly to make sure the beads seat smoothly, but that procedure will not harm anything and might do some good. If I jhad to pick something to emphasize, I would have highlighted lubing as many tire busters don't.

Originally Posted by SubLGT
...…… ...Before removing the assembly from the balancer, perform an on-car vehicle hub RFV reduction. First, rotate the high point to 12 o'clock (TDC) using the prompts on the balancer screen. Then, mark the high point/stiff spot on the inside of the rim edge and tire with a tire crayon. Next, place the assembly on the vehicle hub with the index mark at TDC. Finally, install and torque the lug nuts/lug bolts per factory specification....

...Consider this: By using RFV measurement reduction and on-car cancellation of the eccentricity, a tire and wheel with some RFV can actually ride better than if it had none. As an example, if the assembly has RFV of 0.015-in. R1H (25 pounds Radial Force Variation) when placed on the vehicle, the hub clearance could subtract and cancel almost the same amount creating a "net zero" assembly. Just mark the high point and place it on the car at 12 o'clock… on everything....


I think this is exaggerating the effect.

Hub piloted wheels have been OE for over 30 years - and the clearance at the hub is at worse a few thousandths of an inch. (One thousandth = about 1# road force). Only in aftermarket wheels would you have 0.025" clearance at the hub - and there, getting a hub ring would be a better recommendation.
 
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