Alexander O'Neill

Alex O'Neill completed a master's degree in astrophysics before taking on a PhD in engineering. That was sponsored by Jaguar Land Rover and involved developing a methodology to translate tire forces from sandpaper to asphalt. The work was well received, winning multiple awards including TireTech's Young Scientist of the Year. O'Neill then joined Siemens as the product manager for Siemens Simcenter Tire, overseeing the development of the MF-Tool and MF-Tyre/MF-Swift software. Since August 2024, O'Neill has worked for GCAPS as the global client engagement manager, where he works with customers to find technical solutions for their tire and vehicle simulation needs.

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Presentation

Flat-Trac testing with a realistic surface

As virtual engineering accelerates in the automotive industry, engineers generally have to decide between testing indoors on sandpaper, or outdoors on real asphalt. Both methods have distinct advantages and disadvantages. To utilize the advantages of indoor testing, GCAPS has been developing and refining an asphalt-like surface which can be mounted to the LTRe Flat-Trac: Asphaltant. The presentation will show data from various tire test methods and constructions plus recent improvements that make this technology a long-term solution that maximizes the repeatability that indoor testing doubtless brings, but on a truly representative surface – thereby enabling realistic tire and vehicle simulations.