Adaptive Tyre Tread Structure for Traction and Water Expulsion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tires face limitations in traction, wear, and puncture resistance, especially in electric vehicles due to increased torque and weight, leading to reduced tire life and environmental concerns from frequent replacements.
Innovation Solution
A tire design featuring a tread with radially extending protrusions that can change its pattern without deformation, combined with a super elastic linking layer and a compressible gas-filled cushion, to enhance traction, adaptability, and puncture resistance, while allowing for easier assembly and maintenance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If grooves of fixed tread pattern are provided to expel water, then water expulsion capability is improved, but contact area between tyre and ground surface is reduced, leading to reduced traction
Solution Approach 1:
The tread pattern is made dynamic through protrusions that can change their configuration between extended and retracted positions. When water needs to be expelled, the protrusions extend to create grooves; when maximum traction is needed, the protrusions retract to increase contact area. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between water expulsion and traction.
Solution Approach 2:
The tread surface is segmented into multiple protrusions that can independently change position. Each protrusion can extend or retract based on local conditions, allowing the tread to create grooves where needed while maintaining contact area in other regions, thus balancing water expulsion and traction requirements.
2Adaptability or versatility
If rubber surface is made thin and soft to conform to ground surface, then adaptability is improved, but puncture resistance is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The solution adds a radial dimension to the tread structure by incorporating protrusions that extend radially outward from the tyre body. This dimensional addition allows the tread to maintain softness and conformity while the protruding structure provides enhanced puncture resistance, as objects must penetrate through the protrusion length rather than the full tread thickness.
Solution Approach 2:
The tread combines materials with different properties: a soft, compliant base material for conformity and a harder, more resistant material for the protrusions. This composite structure allows the tread to conform to ground surface while the protrusion tips provide puncture resistance, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and reliability.
3Reliability
If protrusions are made long to increase puncture resistance, then puncture resistance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protrusion length is optimized to a specific parameter range that provides adequate puncture resistance without excessive length. By carefully selecting the protrusion length parameter, the design achieves sufficient protection against punctures while avoiding the complexity and weight penalties of overly long protrusions.
Solution Approach 2:
The protrusions are strategically positioned and sized based on local requirements for puncture resistance. Not all regions of the tread require the same level of protection, so the protrusion dimensions and distribution are tailored to high-risk areas, reducing overall complexity while maintaining necessary reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The tire design improves traction, reduces wear, and increases adaptability to different conditions, while providing enhanced puncture resistance and safety features, such as reduced risk of sudden tire failure and easier maintenance.
Implementation Method 1
By providing the surface sections as the ends of protrusions, relative motion is enabled passively without deforming the surface section by instead deforming the protrusion along its radial length
Implementation Method 2
a super elastic linking layer and a compressible gas-filled cushion, to enhance traction, adaptability, and puncture resistance
Implementation Method 3
a compressible gas-filled cushion, to enhance traction, adaptability, and puncture resistance, while allowing for easier assembly and maintenance
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B~1C
Figure 1D~1E
AI summary
A tyre comprising an adaptive tread, the adaptive tread comprising a plurality of surface sections, wherein each surface section can move without deformation relative to the other surface sections to form a tread pattern.