Tire Tread Groove Layout for Wet Grip and Cornering Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pneumatic tires designed for sports performance on circuit courses require improved steering stability during high-speed cornering while maintaining sufficient wet performance for public road driving.
Innovation Solution
A pneumatic tire design featuring a tread portion with a main groove and inclined grooves that intersect with tread edges, providing a shoulder region with varying groove depths and angles to enhance drainage and rigidity, thereby improving steering stability and wet performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the tread portion is designed with deep grooves for wet performance, then drainage capability is improved, but steering stability during high-speed cornering deteriorates due to reduced rigidity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different groove depths at different radial positions of the tread portion. Specifically, the groove depth increases from the first radial position (outermost) to the third radial position (innermost), creating local variations in drainage capability while maintaining overall structural rigidity. This local quality differentiation allows the tire to achieve both wet performance and steering stability simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The tread portion is segmented into multiple radial positions with distinct groove depth characteristics. The groove pattern is divided into at least three radial zones, each with optimized groove depth to fulfill different functional requirements - outer zones for steering stability and inner zones for drainage efficiency.
2Reliability
If the groove depth is increased to improve drainage, then wet performance is improved, but the rigidity of the tread portion decreases leading to poor steering stability
Solution Approach 1:
Different groove depths are implemented at different radial positions to balance drainage and rigidity requirements. The groove depth is locally optimized - shallower at outer positions to maintain rigidity and deeper at inner positions to enhance drainage, resolving the contradiction between these two opposing requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
A pneumatic tire comprises a tread portion which has, on each side of the tire equator, a first tread edge, a second tread edge and a third tread edge which are occurred under tire loads of 100%, 75% and 50% of a regular tire load, respectively. Between the third tread edge and the tire equator, a circumferentially continuously extending main groove is disposed. A shoulder region between the main groove and the first tread edge is provided with a first inclined groove which extends so as to intersect with the first tread edge, the second tread edge and the third tread edge. The depth of the first inclined groove at the first tread edge is smaller than the depth at the second tread edge and the depth at the third tread edge.