Re: Does a rolling wheel deform due to a zero velocity contact point?

Since the wheel does not have any edges and thus all parts of the wheel touch the ground/road/whatever similarly, all parts of the wheel suffer the same amount of "deformities" as the rest of the wheel. Also keep in mind that speed is relative. If you base speed from the center of the wheel, no point on the wheel travels at all. Since the deformaties happen at the zero velocity contact point and all points on the circumfrence of the wheel suffer the same strength of deformities, the wheel does not change shape. However, it the wheel does not travel a a constant speed, some parts of the wheel suffer a longer point of contact, and thus deform more because of the pull of gravity. Simple answer: No the wheel does not deform as long as it is kept at a constant speed and surface shape. If you have any questions on this, send them to me.