Winter Tire Tread Microgrooves for Water Drainage and Snow Grip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pneumatic vehicle tires face challenges in effectively draining water films on snowy or icy roads, leading to worsened wet braking and snow-ice properties due to microgrooves that do not close under rolling forces and cause turbulence.
Innovation Solution
The tire design incorporates funnel-like extensions at the ends of microgrooves, which widen and deepen towards transverse grooves, enhancing water absorption and drainage, and maintaining contact surface area and rigidity, while also improving snow adhesion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If microgrooves are provided on tread blocks to drain water film, then water drainage capability is improved, but turbulence occurs and wet braking performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The microgrooves are designed with varying depths along their length, creating different local characteristics. The groove depth increases from the block interior toward the transverse groove, allowing shallow portions to minimize turbulence while deeper portions enhance water drainage capability at critical locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The microgrooves are oriented at specific angles (0° to 15° with circumferential direction) rather than purely axial or circumferential directions. This angular orientation creates a three-dimensional water flow path that reduces turbulence while maintaining drainage effectiveness.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If microgrooves are provided on tread blocks to improve water drainage, then water film absorption is improved, but contact surface area is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The microgrooves are positioned specifically in the shoulder blocks and oriented at shallow angles, concentrating drainage functionality in areas where water accumulation is most problematic while preserving contact surface area in the central tread blocks that require maximum ground contact for power transmission.
Solution Approach 2:
The microgrooves are designed with limited depth (0.2 mm to 0.7 mm) and specific width (0.2 mm to 0.7 mm), providing sufficient water drainage capability without excessively removing tread material. The grooves are also selectively placed rather than covering the entire tread surface.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If microgrooves are provided on tread blocks to drain water, then wet braking is improved, but snow-ice properties worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The microgrooves are specifically implemented in the shoulder blocks rather than uniformly across all tread blocks. This localized approach improves wet braking where water drainage is most critical while preserving snow-ice gripping capability in the central tread blocks that maintain larger contact area with the road surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The microgrooves are designed with moderate dimensions (width 0.2 mm to 0.7 mm, depth 0.2 mm to 0.7 mm) that provide adequate water drainage for wet braking improvement without creating excessive surface disruption that would harm snow and ice adhesion. The shallow angle orientation (0° to 15°) also helps maintain a relatively smooth surface for snow-ice contact.
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 improves wet braking and snow-ice properties by reducing turbulence and increasing snow-snow friction without significantly reducing the tire's stiffness or contact surface area.
Implementation Method 1
The surface structure formed by the microgrooves in new tires, especially so-called 'soft compound' winter tires, helps absorb the water film that forms during braking and acceleration on snow- and/or ice-covered roads, draining it from the surface of the blocks and thus dewatering the tread.
Implementation Method 2
which at the same time ensuring that the contact area of the tread blocks on new tires is sufficiently large to ensure effective power transmission from the tire to the ground
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
The invention relates to a pneumatic vehicle tire comprising a tread with shoulder-side blocks (7) and central blocks (7). At least the shoulder-side blocks are mutually spaced by lateral grooves (6), and the shoulder-side blocks (7) have inlet and outlet edges (8), wherein each of the blocks (7) is provided with at least two substantially parallel recesses (10) in plan view, said recesses extending at an angle of up to 45° relative to the axial direction and having a width of 0.4 mm to 0.8 mm and a depth of at least 50% of the profile depth at the deepest point of the recesses. The blocks (7) additionally have micro grooves (11) which are arranged substantially parallel to the recesses (10) and/or laterally to the recesses (10), and the micro grooves (11) have a width of 0.2 mm to 0.7 mm and a depth of 0.2 mm to 0.7 mm. At least one of the shoulder-side blocks is equipped with at least one micro groove (11), the extension of which forms an angle ɑ of 0° to 15° relative to the circumferential direction (uR), and a funnel-shaped extension (12) is formed at both ends of said micro groove (11) in the region of the inlet and outlet edge (8), said extension opening into the respective lateral grooves (6) delimiting said block (7).