Investigation of Tire‑Tread Rubber Hysteretic Behaviour on Aggregates Through Experiments and Modelling

ABSTRACT Friction between tire rubber and pavement is governed by the interplay of hysteresis and adhesion yet their individual contributions remain difficult to quantify. This study addresses the long‐standing challenge by using reciprocating sliding tests by means of a tribometer and viscoelastic finite element modelling (FEM) to investigate rubber–aggregate friction across controlled variations in temperature, reciprocating sliding frequency and surface wetness. Unlike previous studies, the proposed experimental design strongly suppresses the adhesive contribution using a sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) solution, so that the friction measured under these conditions is predominantly hysteretic. Results show friction consistently decreases with increasing temperature and frequency. Wet surfaces also show lower friction. Within the tested, higher rubber temperature reduces friction. Among the tested aggregates, cement concrete exhibits the highest friction across all conditions. The FEM, in which the measured coefficient of friction (COF) is assigned as the Coulomb friction input, reproduces the experimentally observed trends and provides evidence consistent with a dominant role of viscoelastic hysteresis in rubber–aggregate interaction. The hysteretic energy dissipation computed by the model, which is not prescribed as an input, agrees with the energy obtained from the measured friction loops to within 10.8% on average. The strong correlation between hysteretic energy dissipation and a representative COF indicates that hysteretic losses remain closely associated with friction even when adhesion is strongly suppressed, addressing a gap not covered by earlier numerical or experimental studies. The combined experimental–numerical methodology establishes a foundation for future friction modelling, with potential relevance to safety‐critical applications such as autonomous vehicle control.