Asymmetric Tire Tread Sipe Configuration for Noise and Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing tires face challenges in achieving high levels of steering stability, ride comfort, noise performance, and fuel economy simultaneously, as increasing tread rubber thickness affects fuel economy and reducing belt layer rigidity impacts steering stability.
Innovation Solution
The tire design features an asymmetric tread pattern with specific groove and sipe configurations, including first and second middle land regions with varying sipe numbers and orientations, and shoulder land regions with deep and shallow sipes, to balance rigidity and impact absorption without increasing tread rubber thickness or reducing belt layer rigidity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the thickness of the tread rubber is increased to improve noise performance and ride comfort, then the noise performance and ride comfort are improved, but the weight of the tyre is increased and rolling resistance is increased, therefore the fuel economy performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The tread pattern is designed with different sipe configurations in different regions (outer middle land region versus inner middle land region). The outer middle land region has more sipes (number of second middle sipes > number of first middle sipes) to enhance impact absorption and noise reduction, while the inner middle land region has fewer sipes to maintain structural integrity and minimize rolling resistance. This localized differentiation allows the tyre to achieve noise performance improvement without uniformly increasing overall tread rubber thickness that would harm fuel economy.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the rigidity of the belt layer is suppressed to improve noise performance and ride comfort, then the noise performance and ride comfort are improved, but the steering stability performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sipe configuration creates local variations in rigidity distribution. The outer middle land region with more sipes provides enhanced flexibility for impact absorption, while the inner middle land region with fewer sipes maintains higher rigidity for steering stability. This asymmetric design allows the belt layer to exhibit region-specific mechanical properties that simultaneously improve noise performance and maintain steering stability without requiring overall rigidity suppression.
Solution Approach 2:
The tread pattern employs asymmetric sipe arrangement where the number of sipes in the outer middle land region differs from the inner middle land region. This asymmetry creates different mechanical characteristics in different circumferential positions, allowing the tyre to optimize both noise performance (through flexible outer region) and steering stability (through rigid inner region) without compromising either performance aspect.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the number of sipes is increased to improve impact absorption and noise performance, then the ride comfort and noise performance are improved, but the rigidity of the tread pattern is reduced, therefore the steering stability performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Different numbers of sipes are arranged in different land regions based on their functional requirements. The outer middle land region, which experiences more impact from road irregularities, is equipped with a larger number of sipes for enhanced impact absorption and noise reduction. The inner middle land region, which is more critical for steering stability, maintains fewer sipes to preserve rigidity. This localized optimization resolves the contradiction between impact absorption and steering stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A tyre includes a tread portion having an outer shoulder main groove, a crown main groove, and an outer middle land region defined between the outer shoulder main groove and the crown main groove. The outer middle land region is provided with first middle sipes each extending inwardly in a tyre axial direction from the outer shoulder main groove to have an inner end in the outer middle land region and second middle sipes each extending outwardly in the tyre axial direction from the crown main groove to have an outer end in the outer middle land region. The number of the second middle sipes is larger than the number of the first middle sipes.