Propylene-Diene Tire Tread Additives for Wet Traction Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current tire tread compounds face a challenge in achieving excellent traction and low rolling resistance while maintaining good tread wear, as increasing glass transition temperature for better wet traction also increases rolling resistance and tread wear.
Innovation Solution
The development of a propylene-ethylene-diene terpolymer that enhances hysteresis in the wet traction region without affecting rolling resistance, combined with a specific composition of polybutadiene, filler, and curative agents to form a tire tread, which balances wet traction and rolling resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the glass transition temperature is raised to improve wet traction, then wet traction is improved, but rolling resistance and tread wear increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters of the polymer by incorporating specific comonomers (ethylidene norbornene and/or vinyl norbornene at 0.2-20 wt%, and ethylene and/or C4-C20 α-olefins at 10-30 wt%) into the propylene polymer structure. This modifies the polymer's glass transition temperature and hysteresis characteristics to achieve improved wet traction without increasing rolling resistance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite polymer material by combining propylene with diene monomers (ethylidene norbornene and/or vinyl norbornene) and α-olefin comonomers (ethylene and/or C4-C20). This composite structure provides both the traction enhancement from increased hysteresis and the rolling resistance control from appropriate glass transition temperature
2Reliability
If the glass transition temperature is raised to improve wet traction, then wet traction is improved, but tread wear increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the polymer's molecular structure parameters by incorporating diene comonomers that increase hysteresis in the wet traction temperature region while controlling the overall glass transition temperature to prevent excessive tread wear
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates local variations in polymer chain structure through the incorporation of diene and α-olefin comonomers at specific concentrations. This provides enhanced hysteresis locally in the wet traction region while maintaining overall durability characteristics
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 solution effectively improves wet traction without increasing rolling resistance and tread wear, addressing the trade-off between these performance metrics.
Implementation Method 1
The propylene-ethylene-diene terpolymers are useful as modifiers for tire treads... enhances hysteresis in the wet traction region
Implementation Method 2
an elastomeric composition comprising... polybutadiene... propylene-ethylene-diene terpolymer
Data Source
AI summary
An elastomeric composition is disclosed. The elastomeric composition includes, per 100 parts by weight of rubber (phr): about 70 to about 90 phr of polybutadiene having a cis-1,4 linkage content of at least 95%; about 5 to 20 phr of a processing oil; about 5 to about 20 of sunflower oil; about 50 to about 75 phr of a filler; a curative agent; an antioxidant; and about 5 to about 30 phr of a propylene-ethylene-diene terpolymer containing from about 0.2 wt % to about 20 wt % ethylidene norbornene and/or vinyl norbornene and about 10 wt % to about 30 wt % of ethylene and/or C4-C20 α-olefins derived units.