Zigzag Groove Winter Tire Tread for Ice and Dry Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Winter tires face a challenge in balancing on-ice performance, steering stability, and wear resistance, as tires with enhanced sipes for icy roads often deteriorate in dry conditions due to low tread rigidity.
Innovation Solution
A pneumatic tire design featuring circumferentially extending central main grooves, zigzag central narrow grooves, and axially inwardly extending central lug grooves with specific inclination and width ratios, which enhance edge effect and rigidity, maintaining a land ratio within a certain range to improve traction and stability on both icy and dry roads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a winter tire is provided with a lot of sipes to improve on-ice performance, then on-ice performance is improved, but steering stability and wear resistance deteriorate due to low rigidity of the tread portion
Solution Approach 1:
The tread portion is segmented into multiple functional zones: central portion with sipes for ice traction, intermediate portions with specific groove patterns for water evacuation, and shoulder portions for dry road stability. This segmentation allows each zone to optimize for its specific function while maintaining overall tread rigidity through the land ratio control
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the tread are given different properties: the central portion has high sipe density for ice performance, while the shoulder portions maintain higher rubber continuity for stability. The land ratio is locally controlled in each radial section to balance flexibility where needed and rigidity where required
2Reliability
If a winter tire is provided with a lot of sipes to improve on-ice performance, then on-ice performance is improved, but wear resistance deteriorates due to low rigidity of the tread portion
Solution Approach 1:
The land ratio parameter is precisely controlled within 60-75% to optimize the balance between sipe density for ice performance and rubber continuity for wear resistance. This parameter optimization ensures sufficient edge effect from sipes while maintaining adequate structural integrity for durability
3Stability of the object's composition
If the land ratio of the tread portion is increased to improve steering stability and wear resistance, then steering stability and wear resistance are improved, but on-ice performance deteriorates due to reduced edge effect
Solution Approach 1:
The land ratio is optimized within 60-75% to achieve the optimal balance: high enough to maintain steering stability and wear resistance, but low enough to allow sufficient sipe density for effective edge effect on ice. This precise parameter control resolves the contradiction between stability and ice performance
4Duration of action of stationary object
If the land ratio of the tread portion is increased to improve wear resistance, then wear resistance is improved, but on-ice performance deteriorates due to reduced edge effect
Solution Approach 1:
The land ratio parameter is set within 60-75% to simultaneously achieve adequate wear resistance and sufficient sipe density for ice traction. This parameter optimization ensures that the tread portion has enough rubber continuity for durability while maintaining enough flexibility to accommodate the sipe network for edge effect
Data Source
AI summary
This pneumatic tire is provided with a center land section demarcated between a pair of center primary grooves extending in a zig-zag shape at a tread section. The center land section is provided with: one center narrow groove extending contiguously in a zig-zag manner in the peripheral direction of the tire at the tire equator; and a plurality of center lug grooves that traverse the center narrow groove from the center primary groove and have a terminus positioned within the center land section. The center lug grooves have: a primary groove section extending from the center primary groove to an apex of the zig-zag of the center narrow groove, and is inclined to one side with respect to the axial direction of the tire; and a sub-groove section extending from an apex of the zig-zag to the terminus and inclined in the reverse direction from the primary groove section.