Dual Layer Tread Extensions for Tire Wear and Traction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pneumatic tire designs lack optimal tread layer configurations that balance wear resistance, traction, and silica content, leading to uneven wear and performance inconsistencies across different road conditions.
Innovation Solution
A pneumatic tire design featuring a tread with a radially outer first tread layer and a radially inner second tread layer, where the second tread layer extends outward to the tread running surface with varying widths and arrangements of extensions, utilizing different silica and carbon black content in each layer to optimize wear resistance and traction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single-layer tread with uniform silica content is used, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the wear resistance and traction are inconsistent across different road conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The tread is divided into multiple layers (first tread layer and second tread layer) with different silica contents and rubber compounds. The second tread layer is further segmented into extensions that protrude through the first layer, creating zones with varying material properties to optimize both wear resistance and traction for different road conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the tread are assigned different material compositions. The first tread layer contains a first silica content optimized for wear resistance, while the second tread layer contains a second silica content optimized for traction. The extensions of the second layer create localized zones with enhanced grip properties where needed.
2Reliability
If silica-free rubber composition is used for conducting strips, then electrical conductivity is improved, but wear resistance deteriorates due to lack of silica reinforcement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite rubber compounds containing both silica and carbon black in the tread layers. This composite formulation provides both the wear resistance from silica reinforcement and the electrical conductivity from carbon black, eliminating the need for silica-free conducting strips while maintaining both properties simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
A pneumatic tire comprising a carcass and a tread located radially outward of the carcass and extending between the tire sidewalls is disclosed. The tread provides a tread running surface and comprises a first, radially outer tread layer comprising a first rubber compound and a second, radially inner tread layer comprising a second rubber compound, wherein the second tread layer is located radially adjacent to the first tread layer, and wherein the first rubber compound is different from the second rubber compound. The second tread layer comprises a plurality of integrally formed extensions of the second tread layer extending from the second tread layer radially outwardly to the tread running surface. The first rubber compound and the second rubber compound each comprise at least at least 30 parts per hundred parts of rubber (phr) of silica. Each of the extensions has a width as measured in the axial direction of the tire in a range of from 1 to 15 mm.