Heavy-Duty Tire Tread Serration for Wear and Wet Grip Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heavy duty tires face a challenge in balancing wear resistance with wet performance, as reducing the number of grooves to enhance stiffness leads to decreased drainage and uneven ground-contact pressure distribution.
Innovation Solution
The tire design incorporates a tread with land portions separated by circumferential main and sub grooves, featuring serrations with irregularities and narrow shallow grooves between ridges to create a uniform ground-contact pressure distribution, enhancing wear resistance while maintaining wet performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the number of grooves is reduced to enhance land portion stiffness, then wear resistance is improved, but wet performance and drainage capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the circumferential groove into two separate grooves: a circumferential main groove and a circumferential sub groove. This segmentation allows the tread to have sufficient grooves for wet performance while maintaining land portion stiffness for wear resistance. The sub groove is positioned between the main groove and the shoulder, creating multiple narrow land portions that balance both requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different groove depths at different circumferential positions. The circumferential main groove has a greater depth than the circumferential sub groove. This local differentiation optimizes water drainage at the main groove while maintaining land portion stiffness near the shoulder through the shallower sub groove, thereby balancing wet performance and wear resistance.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If sipes and narrow grooves are engraved on land portions to improve wet performance, then drainage capability is enhanced, but land portion stiffness decreases causing reduced wear resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the circumferential groove structure into a main groove and a sub groove, creating multiple narrow land portions. This segmentation provides adequate drainage paths while keeping each land portion sufficiently narrow to maintain stiffness, thereby resolving the contradiction between drainage capability and wear resistance.
3Strength
If crown lateral groove is added to improve uneven wear resistance, then wear uniformity is enhanced, but wet performance may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of adding a crown lateral groove that could compromise wet performance, the patent segments the circumferential groove into a main groove and a sub groove. This segmentation approach improves wear uniformity by creating multiple narrow land portions with more uniform ground-contact pressure distribution, while simultaneously maintaining adequate drainage capability through the groove configuration.
Data Source
AI summary
A tire 2 includes a tread 4. The tread 4 includes a plurality of land portions 16 separated by a circumferential main groove 10. At least one of the land portions 16 includes a first narrow land portion 28a and a second narrow land portion 28b separated by a circumferential sub groove 26. A top 32 of the first narrow land portion 28a includes a serration 46 having irregularities and a land 48 having no irregularities. The serration 46 is located between a width center of the first narrow land portion 28a and a first edge 30a of the first narrow land portion 28a. The serration 46 includes a plurality of ridges 50. A narrow shallow groove 56 is located between the two adjacent ridges 50 of the plurality of ridges 50.