Commercial Vehicle Tire Tread Groove Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Commercial vehicle tires with transverse grooves exhibit high transverse stiffness, leading to unfavorable steering characteristics and uneven abrasive wear.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of circumferential grooves running at an angle of 10° to 30° to the circumferential direction, with shallower sections than the profile depth, dividing the tread into profile blocks and offsetting pairs of grooves to achieve balanced stiffness and even wear, while the shallower sections of the circumferential grooves reduce noticeable impact on vehicle handling as they wear down.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If transverse grooves are formed very wide and deep to improve water evacuation and traction, then water channeling capability is improved, but transverse stiffness becomes too high causing unfavorable steering characteristics
Solution Approach 1:
The tread is segmented into multiple profile blocks by introducing circumferential grooves that run parallel to the circumferential direction. These grooves divide the tread width into several sections, creating a block structure that balances water evacuation capability with steering responsiveness. The segmentation allows deep transverse grooves to maintain water channeling while the circumferential grooves provide additional stiffness control.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the tread are given different groove depths and configurations. The transverse grooves are formed very wide and deep in certain sections to maximize water evacuation, while circumferential grooves with varying depths are introduced in other regions to control transverse stiffness. This local differentiation allows optimization of both water channeling and steering characteristics in different tread zones.
2Reliability
If transverse grooves are formed very wide and deep to improve water evacuation, then water channeling capability is improved, but abrasive wear becomes uneven across the tread
Solution Approach 1:
The circumferential grooves segment the tread into multiple profile blocks, distributing the wear across different sections. This segmentation prevents concentrated wear in single areas and promotes more uniform abrasive wear patterns across the entire tread width, while the deep transverse grooves maintain their water evacuation function.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove configuration is designed to dynamically adapt to wear. As the tire wears, the profile blocks maintain their structural integrity and water channeling capability while the circumferential grooves help distribute wear more evenly over time, extending the service life and maintaining performance consistency.
3Device complexity
If circumferential grooves are formed with constant depth to maintain structural integrity, then stiffness distribution is simplified, but vehicle handling characteristics change abruptly as grooves wear down
Solution Approach 1:
The circumferential grooves are designed with varying depths at different locations and orientations. Some grooves are shallower while others are deeper, creating a graduated stiffness distribution. This variation ensures that as grooves wear down, the change in handling characteristics is gradual and progressive rather than abrupt, maintaining vehicle stability throughout the tire's service life.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove depth parameter is deliberately varied across different circumferential grooves and along their lengths. This parameter variation creates a progressive stiffness reduction as wear occurs, allowing the tire to maintain predictable handling characteristics throughout its service life rather than experiencing sudden changes when grooves wear down to a critical depth.
Data Source
AI summary
A pneumatic vehicle tire, in particular a commercial vehicle tire, having a tread with transverse grooves (3, 3′), which are continuous over the tread width and which, at least in sections, are formed to the profile depth and are the main grooves of the tread.Circumferential grooves (4) that run adjacent to one another in pairs and parallel to one another, at an angle (α) with respect to the circumferential direction of 10° to 30° and have a smaller depth than the profile depth divide the tread, with two sections (4a) in each case between three transverse grooves (3, 3′) following one another in the circumferential direction, into profile blocks (1, 2), wherein pairs of circumferential grooves following one another in the circumferential direction are offset with respect to one another in the axial direction, such that the circumferential grooves (4) of the pairs of circumferential grooves begin and end at substantially the same axial positions, wherein each circumferential groove (4) reaches, with a section (4b) running beyond a transverse groove (3), into a middle profile block (2) present between the circumferential grooves (4), and wherein each circumferential groove (4) is formed shallower in at least one section (4a, 4b) than in its other sections or its other section.