Crossed Sipe Tire Tread Design for Wear Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tire tread stiffness variations due to wear affect conflicting tire performance characteristics, such as dry braking and wet road performance, as sipes tend to close and change shape, impacting traction and handling.
Innovation Solution
A tire tread with a crossed sipe configuration featuring radially outer three-dimensional elements and linear inner portions, along with secondary locking features, is designed to maintain consistent performance by preventing shear movement and adapting to wear, using blades with non-linear and constant profiles to create sipes that transform from narrow grooves to wider grooves as the tire wears.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional straight or slightly curved sipes are used, then manufacturing is simple, but tread stiffness is reduced and performance consistency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The three-dimensional sipe structure is pre-formed during tire manufacturing using molded-in sipes or pre-formed inserts. This preliminary action creates the complex three-dimensional geometry with varying depths and cross-sectional shapes before the tire enters service, ensuring consistent performance characteristics throughout the tire's life without requiring complex post-manufacturing operations.
Data Source
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AI summary
A tire (10) has a tread (12) with a plurality of ground engaging tread elements (24). In at least one of the tread elements (24) is a sipe (26) having a depth (Db) in the radial direction of the tire. The sipe (26) has a crossed or branched configuration comprising two sipes (28, 30). At least one of the sipes (28, 30) has a radially outer portion having a three dimensional configuration and a radially inner portion having a substantially linear configuration. A blade (32) to manufacture such a sipe (26) is also disclosed.