Wave-Shaped Tire Groove Flanks to Prevent Groove Base Cracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pneumatic vehicle tires, particularly commercial vehicle tires, suffer from cracking in the transition areas between groove flanks and the groove base due to high loads, which reduces their durability and service life.
Innovation Solution
The groove flanks of circumferential grooves are designed with a wave-like geometry, featuring sections that extend in the radial direction over specific lengths and radii, allowing them to compress and deform under load, thereby absorbing stress and minimizing energy transfer to the groove base.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If groove flanks are designed with straight geometry extending at an acute angle to the radial direction, then manufacturing is simplified and structure is straightforward, but the transition areas between groove flanks and groove base are susceptible to cracking under high loads
Solution Approach 1:
The groove flanks are designed with continuously wave-shaped geometry featuring outwardly rounded sections (wave crests) and inwardly rounded sections (wave troughs) that merge tangentially. This curved, wave-like structure replaces the straight geometry, distributing stress more effectively and eliminating the acute angle transitions that cause cracking, while maintaining manufacturability through continuous surface profiles.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove flank geometry is transformed from straight lines at acute angles to continuously varying curved surfaces with specific radii of curvature. The wave-shaped profile with tangentially merging sections changes the stress distribution parameters, reducing peak stresses at the groove base transition areas and preventing crack initiation under high loads.
2Reliability
If groove flanks are designed with wave-shaped sections to absorb deformation energy, then crack susceptibility is reduced, but the groove flank geometry becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The wave-shaped groove flanks with continuously rounded sections provide a systematic curved geometry that, while more complex than straight lines, follows a regular wave pattern. This structured curvature absorbs deformation energy effectively and prevents cracking, with the complexity being manageable through consistent wave profile design throughout the groove system.
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
This design significantly reduces the susceptibility to cracking in the groove base area, enhancing tire durability by effectively distributing and absorbing deformation energy.
Implementation Method 1
the groove flanks are continuously wave-shaped with at least one outwardly rounded section forming a wave crest and with at least one inwardly rounded section forming a wave trough, whereby these sections merge tangentially into one another and whereby the radially innermost sections of the groove flanks merge tangentially, i.e. without kinks, into the groove base
Implementation Method 2
The groove flanks are designed with a wave-like geometry, featuring sections that extend in the radial direction over specific lengths and radii, allowing them to compress and deform under load, thereby absorbing stress and minimizing energy transfer to the groove base
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4
AI summary
Vehicle pneumatic tires with a tread (1) with profile positives, such as profile ribs (4), which have outer surfaces (4a) that come into contact with the ground when the tire rolls, and with at least one circumferential groove (2, 2' 3) designed to the intended tread depth (TP), which, viewed in cross-section, has two opposing groove flanks (5, 5', 6) and a groove base (7) connecting the groove flanks (5, 5', 6) and a width that increases from the groove base (7) to the outer surfaces (4a). The groove flanks (5, 5', 6) are, in cross-section, continuously wavy and provided with at least one outwardly rounded section forming a wave crest (5a, 5'a, 5c) and with at least one inwardly rounded section forming a wave trough (5b, 5'b), these sections (5a, 5'a, 5b, 5'b, 5c) tangentially transitioning into one another.