Variable-Depth Tire Sipes for Wet Grip Without Stiffness Loss
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pneumatic tire designs with sipes and lamellas do not efficiently maintain tread block stiffness while effectively absorbing water for improved grip and stability, particularly under adverse conditions.
Innovation Solution
A tread block arrangement with sipes featuring deep and shallow parts, where the deep parts are defined by non-parallel end walls with inclined sections, allowing for increased water absorption without significantly affecting stiffness, and utilizing lamella plates to form these sipes during the manufacturing process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If deep sipes are introduced to increase water absorption capacity, then grip and stability in wet conditions improve, but tread block stiffness decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The sipe is segmented into multiple sections with different depths along its length. The sipe includes a first section with a first depth and a second section with a second depth that is greater than the first depth. This segmentation allows different portions of the sipe to serve different functions: shallower sections maintain structural integrity while deeper sections provide enhanced water evacuation channels, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining stiffness and improving water absorption.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the sipe are given different local qualities in terms of depth. The sipe transitions from a first section with limited depth to a second section with increased depth. This local variation in quality allows the sipe to optimize water absorption in specific areas where it is most needed, while other sections maintain the overall structural stiffness of the tread block.
2Reliability
If sipe depth is increased to improve water absorption, then traction in wet conditions improves, but tread block structural integrity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The sipe structure is divided into multiple segments with progressively increasing depth. The first section has a shallower depth that preserves structural integrity, while the second section extends deeper to improve water absorption and traction. This segmented approach ensures that the tread block maintains its structural integrity while still achieving enhanced traction performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The sipe design incorporates dimensional variation by changing the depth dimension along the length of the sipe. Rather than a uniform depth, the sipe transitions from a first depth in the first section to a greater second depth in the second section. This dimensional change allows the sipe to achieve deeper water evacuation capability without compromising the overall structural integrity of the tread block.
Data Source
AI summary
A tread block arrangement is suitable for a tire or for a tread band for a tire. The tread block arrangement includes a tread block having a first sipe delimited by a first sipe wall, a second sipe wall and a bottom of the sipe. The first sipe wall and the second sipe wall are arranged parallel to each other and define a width of the sipe. At least the first sipe wall has an indentation to increase an empty volume of the sipe at the location of the indentation. The first sipe wall has an inclined section to form the indentation, wherein a distance between the first sipe wall and the second sipe wall increases towards the bottom of the sipe at the location of the inclined section. A tire has the tread block arrangement and a lamella plate for forming sipes of the tread block arrangement.