Heavy-Duty Tire Tread Structure for Drainage and Stiffness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tires with multiple grooves that open onto the tread surface suffer from reduced stiffness, leading to uneven wear, increased rolling resistance, and higher fuel consumption due to the gradual reduction in drainage performance as the tread wears down.
Innovation Solution
A tread design featuring evolving cuts with hidden parts and sipes that extend to the tread surface, accompanied by protuberances in the connecting regions to maintain fluid flow and mechanical reinforcement, ensuring even wear and increased stiffness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple grooves are created to improve water drainage performance, then drainage ability is improved, but tread stiffness is reduced leading to uneven wear and increased rolling resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The groove is segmented into two parts: an open groove portion that provides water drainage and a hidden groove portion embedded in the tread that maintains structural integrity. This segmentation allows the tread to have effective drainage channels while preserving overall stiffness through the embedded portion.
Solution Approach 2:
The hidden groove is nested within the tread structure, with the groove portion embedded in the tread body. This nesting allows the drainage function to be integrated without compromising the outer tread structure's stiffness, as the hidden groove is contained within the larger tread component.
2Reliability
If grooves are made deeper to maintain drainage performance as tread wears, then drainage ability is maintained, but tread material is reduced accelerating wear
Solution Approach 1:
The hidden groove is pre-positioned at a depth that allows it to become exposed as the tread wears. This preliminary positioning ensures that when the tread material is worn away, the hidden groove automatically becomes an active drainage channel, maintaining drainage performance without requiring additional material removal.
Solution Approach 2:
As the tread wears, the outer material is discarded and the previously hidden groove is recovered as a functional drainage element. This transformation allows the same structural feature to serve different functions at different stages of tire life, maintaining drainage capability while utilizing the worn-away space.
3Reliability
If tread material is reduced to create grooves, then drainage channels are formed, but tread stiffness and wear resistance are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The groove design transitions from a surface-level feature to a three-dimensional structure embedded within the tread. By moving the groove portion into the depth dimension of the tread, the design creates drainage channels without significantly reducing the surface material that provides stiffness and wear resistance.
Data Source
AI summary
Tread (1) for a heavy-duty vehicle tire having, when new, a tread surface (10), with at least one evolving cut (2) comprising a part (22) hidden inside the tread which is delimited by opposing walls (221, 222) distant from one another by a maximum width Lc. The part (22) being extended towards the tread surface (10) by a sipe (21), opening into the hidden part (22) to be offset from one of the walls (221, 222) delimiting the hidden part to form a bridge situated radially over said hidden part (22). The tread having a plurality of grooves (4) open when new onto the tread surface (10), these grooves (4) opening into an evolving cut (2) to form a connecting region (41), the tread (1) further comprising, in at least 50% of the connecting regions (41, 42), a protuberance (5) extending over the entire height Hc of the hidden part (22) and over a maximum thickness Ep so as to act as a support for the bridge (211) situated radially over the hidden part (22) in the connecting region (41).