Tire Tread Composition and Groove Depth for Wet Grip Durability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Tires with lateral grooves that do not open into circumferential grooves face challenges with chipping resistance, especially at low temperatures, due to heat generation and brittleness, while maintaining wet grip performance on irregular surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A tire design incorporating a rubber composition with isoprene-based and styrene-butadiene rubbers, silica filler, and a silane coupling agent, optimized with specific brittleness temperature and groove depth ratios to enhance chipping resistance and wet grip performance across a wide temperature range.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a lateral groove with deep groove depth is used to improve wet grip performance, then wet grip performance is improved, but heat generation increases causing chip cutting and block chipping to occur easily
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the groove depth ratio (groove depth at deepest part / tread thickness) to be 0.70 or more but less than 0.95, and controls the brittleness temperature to be -50°C or higher. These parameter changes allow the tire to achieve excellent wet grip performance while preventing chip cutting and block chipping by balancing heat generation and rubber toughness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite rubber composition containing isoprene-based rubber (5-40 parts), styrene-butadiene rubber (55-85 parts), and silane-modified polysiloxane (0.5-5 parts) based on 100 parts of rubber component. This composite material structure provides both the necessary grip performance and resistance to chipping at low temperatures.
2Strength
If natural rubber and styrene-butadiene rubber with higher rigidity are mixed to improve chipping resistance at normal temperature, then chipping resistance at normal temperature is improved, but brittleness temperature increases making the tire prone to chipping at low temperature
Solution Approach 1:
The patent carefully controls the brittleness temperature to be -50°C or higher through selective use of rubber components and additives. This parameter control ensures that the tire maintains flexibility and resistance to chipping at low temperatures while still providing adequate chipping resistance at normal temperatures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a specific composite rubber formulation combining isoprene-based rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, and silane-modified polysiloxane in controlled proportions. This composite material achieves a balance between normal temperature chipping resistance and low temperature flexibility, preventing brittleness while maintaining strength.
3Reliability
If a deep lateral groove is used to enhance drainage and wet grip, then wet grip performance is improved, but stone accumulation in the groove increases heat generation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the groove depth ratio to be 0.70 or more but less than 0.95, which provides sufficient drainage capability for wet grip while limiting excessive depth that would cause stone accumulation and heat generation. This parameter optimization balances water evacuation with heat management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite rubber composition with silane-modified polysiloxane that provides both wet grip performance and thermal management properties, reducing heat generation from stone accumulation while maintaining effective drainage.
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 achieves an excellent balance of chipping resistance and wet grip performance at low temperatures, improving durability and traction on various road conditions.
Implementation Method 1
compounding a predetermined rubber component, a predetermined filler, and a predetermined silane coupling agent with a rubber layer of a tread surface
Implementation Method 2
a stone or the like is caught in the lateral groove and becomes hard to be removed, and heat is generated therefrom, thereby causing chip cutting and block chipping to easily occur
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
It is an object to provide a tire having an excellent balance of wet grip performance and chipping resistance. The tire is a tire comprising a tread, wherein the tread has a lateral groove (5, 6) neither of both ends of which opens into circumferential grooves (4), wherein a predetermined rubber component, a predetermined filler, and a silane coupling agent are compounded in a rubber layer of a tread surface, wherein a brittleness temperature of the rubber component and a ratio of a groove depth at the deepest part of the groove bottom of the lateral groove neither of both ends of which opens into the circumferential grooves to a thickness of the entire tread are made to lie in predetermined ranges.