Tread Rubber Composition for Hot Tire Peak Grip
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
High-performance tires, such as racing tires, face challenges in maintaining excellent grip performance when heated after prolonged use, as existing rubber compositions do not adequately balance mobility, rigidity, and heat generation.
Innovation Solution
A tire design with a tread part composed of a rubber composition containing greater than 100 parts by mass of filler based on 100 parts by mass of rubber, a glass transition temperature (Tg2) after acetone extraction lower than -45°C, and a land ratio (R) that satisfies the inequality 10 - 1.25 Tg2 / R > 1.00, enhancing mobility, rigidity, and heat generation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the filler content in the rubber composition is increased to improve grip performance, then the mobility and heat generation of the tire are enhanced, but the rubber composition becomes excessively rigid and loses followability to the road surface
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the chemical composition parameters of the rubber component by specifying precise proportions of polybutadiene rubber (40-70 parts), styrene-butadiene rubber (20-50 parts), and epoxidized polybutadiene rubber (10-30 parts). This multi-component rubber system with controlled glass transition temperatures creates a balanced composition that provides both the mobility needed for followability and the rigidity required for grip performance when combined with high filler content
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a composite rubber composition combining multiple rubber types with different properties (polybutadiene for low-temperature flexibility, styrene-butadiene for overall performance, epoxidized polybutadiene for adhesion) along with specific filler materials (carbon black and/or silica). This composite approach allows the tread to exhibit both softness for conforming to road surfaces and stiffness for maintaining structural integrity during operation
2Adaptability or versatility
If the rubber composition is softened to improve followability and grounding area, then the mobility increases, but the rigidity decreases and peak grip performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention optimizes the glass transition temperature parameters of the rubber composition by selecting rubbers with specific Tg ranges: polybutadiene rubber (-90 to -50°C), styrene-butadiene rubber (-80 to -40°C), and epoxidized polybutadiene rubber (-80 to -40°C). This parameter control ensures the composition remains flexible at operating temperatures while maintaining adequate rigidity for grip
Solution Approach 2:
The composite rubber system leverages the complementary properties of different rubber components: polybutadiene provides low-temperature flexibility and high elasticity, styrene-butadiene offers balanced mechanical properties, and epoxidized polybutadiene enhances adhesion. Together with the filler reinforcement, this composite structure achieves both followability and rigidity
3Adaptability or versatility
If the glass transition temperature is lowered to enhance mobility and grounding area, then the followability improves, but the structural stability and heat resistance of the tire are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention sets the glass transition temperature of the rubber composition after acetone extraction (Tg2) within the range of -60 to -30°C, which is higher than the individual rubber components. This parameter adjustment is achieved through the synergistic effect of multiple rubber types and the presence of fillers, providing both low-temperature flexibility and high-temperature structural stability
Solution Approach 2:
The composite material system uses the filler network (carbon black and/or silica at 100-300 parts per 100 parts rubber) to provide structural reinforcement that maintains stability at elevated temperatures, while the multi-component rubber matrix ensures mobility and grounding area through its controlled glass transition behavior
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The tire design improves peak grip performance by increasing the grounding area and followability to the road surface, even under varying temperature conditions, by optimizing the filler content and glass transition temperature relationship.
Implementation Method 1
a glass transition temperature Tg2 °C of the rubber composition after acetone extraction is lower than -45°C
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
It is an object of the present invention to provide a tire with improved peak grip performance. Provided is a tire comprising a tread part, wherein the tread part is composed of a rubber composition comprising a rubber component and fillers, wherein a total content of the fillers in the rubber composition based on 100 parts by mass of the rubber component is greater than 100 parts by mass, wherein a glass transition temperature Tg2°C of the rubber composition after acetone extraction is lower than -45°C, and wherein, when a land ratio in a grounding surface of the tread part is defined as R%, Tg2 and R satisfy an inequality, (10 - 1.25 Tg2)/R > 1.00.