Pneumatic Tire Sipe Chamfering for Dry Wet Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pneumatic tire designs face challenges in maintaining steering stability on both dry and wet road surfaces due to the trade-off between sipe arrangement for drainage and rib rigidity, where numerous sipes for wet surface stability compromise dry surface stability and wear resistance.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates chamfered portions on the leading and trailing edges of sipes, with non-chamfered regions in between, where the chamfered portions are shorter than the sipe length, and both sipe ends are terminated inside the rib, optimizing drainage and edge effects for improved stability on wet surfaces while minimizing chamfered area for enhanced dry surface stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a large number of sipes are arranged in the tread portion to improve drainage properties, then steering stability on wet road surfaces is improved, but rib rigidity decreases resulting in deterioration of steering stability on dry road surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The sipe configuration applies local quality by creating chamfered portions at specific locations (leading-side edge and trailing-side edge) while maintaining non-chamfered regions in between. This localized chamfering provides drainage functionality where needed while preserving rib rigidity in other areas, resolving the contradiction between wet surface stability and dry surface stability.
2Reliability
If chamfered portions are made longer to enhance drainage effect, then steering stability on wet road surfaces is improved, but rib rigidity decreases and dry road surface performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies partial action by performing chamfering only at specific portions (leading-side edge and trailing-side edge) rather than across the entire sipe length. The chamfered portions are designed to be shorter than the sipe length, providing sufficient drainage effect while minimizing the impact on edge effect and dry road performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention optimizes the parameter of chamfered portion length by defining it as shorter than the sipe length. This parameter change ensures that the drainage effect is sufficient for wet road stability while the rib rigidity is preserved for dry road performance, resolving the contradiction between these two requirements.
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 configuration significantly improves steering stability on both dry and wet surfaces by maintaining rib rigidity and optimizing drainage and edge effects, achieving better performance compared to conventional sipe designs.
Implementation Method 1
a drainage effect can be improved due to the chamfered portions
Implementation Method 2
a water membrane can be effectively removed in the non-chamfered regions due to an edge effect
Data Source
AI summary
A pneumatic tire is provided in which each of sipes has a leading-side edge and a trailing-side edge. A chamfered portion that is shorter than a sipe length of the sipe is formed on each of the leading-side edge and the trailing-side edge. The sipe includes, at sections facing the chamfered portions, non-chamfered regions in which other chamfered portions are not present. Both end portions of the sipe are terminated inside a rib. A maximum depth x (mm) of the sipe 11 and a maximum depth y (mm) of the chamfered portion 12 satisfy a relationship x×0.1≤y≤x×0.3+1.0. A sipe width of the sipe is constant in a region between an end portion of the chamfered portion positioned on an inner side in the tire radial direction and a groove bottom of the sipe.