Carl Becker

Vehicle Dynamics Group | University of Pretoria

The presentation will cover the work Carl did for his Ph.D. thesis, investigating the change in tyre characteristics with tyre wear, terrain interaction and terrain characteristics of large lug tyres. His work shows the importance of using artificial terrain in a laboratory environment that is representative of in-field terrains to characterise tyres and the effect of tyre wear.

Carl Becker is a Researcher at the Vehicle Dynamics Group of the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Pretoria. After finishing the practical work on his Master’s degree, Carl started working full-time in 2008 in the defence industry as a Test Engineer at a company designing and manufacturing Landmine Protected Vehicles. There he was managing the Test Department for two years. Highlights included the full spectrum of land mine tests on vehicles as well as ballistic testing in South Africa and Germany and applied research on the products the company supplied to the industry. In 2010 Carl joined the Vehicle Dynamics Group as a research officer. At the Vehicle Dynamics Group, his research includes vehicle dynamics, conceptualising, design, manufacturing and commission measuring equipment and tyre test rigs, in the form of terrain profilometers, wheel force transducers, static, dynamic and damping tyre test rigs.