The Annual Review of Tire Materials and Tire Manufacturing Technology

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1
10 Improving key tire performance
Dr Joachim Neubauer, Michelin, France
14 Tire pressure maintenance: a statistical investigation
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, USA
22 Partial replacement of silica with microcrystalline cellulose in rubber composites
Wen Bai & Kaichang Li, Department of Wood Science and Engineering,
Oregon State University, USA
32 Uniformity: a crucial attribute of tire/wheel assemblies
Marion Pottinger, MEngineering, USA
40 Comparison of tire models and their application for vehicle system dynamics
P. Lugner & M. Plchl, University of Technology, Austria
48 Exceeding aircraft tire speed during take-off
Ingrid Wakefield, flight operations engineer & Chris Dubuque, service engineer,
landing gear systems, The Boeing Company, USA
52 Estimating tire-road friction for chassis-control and driver-assistance systems
Marco Pesce, vehicle systems, vehicle dynamics and fuel economy,
Centro Ricerche Fiat SCpA, Italy
54 Viscoelastic analysis of rolling tires using the finite element method
Mir Hamid Reza Ghoreishy, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Iran
59 Noise and rolling resistance: is there a conflict?
Jerzy Ejsmont & Grzegorz Ronowski, Technical University of Gdansk, Poland
62 Misuse load cases and MBS simulation
Prof Dr-Ing Ch Oertel, FH Brandenburg (Brandenburg University of Applied
Sciences), Germany
66 Tire-road contact information for driver assistance systems: an optical sensor
approach
Ari J. Tuononen, Helsinki University of Technology (TKK), Finland
70 Tire-sand interaction research for lunar applications
Jaifeng Jeff Ma & Professor Joshua Summers, Clemson University, USA
76 Europes new regulatory framework: requiring and inspiring new technology
and innovation
Fazilet Cinaralp, secretary general, European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers
Association (ETRMA), Belgium
78 A universal flexometer and dynamic mechanical thermal spectrometer
Horst Deckmann, Gabo Qualimeter Testanlagen GmbH, Germany
82 From golf balls to rolling resistance
Dr Heike Kloppenburg & David Hardy, Performance Butadiene Rubbers,
Lanxess Deutschland GmbH, Germany
88 Fatigue test machine for crack growth testing
Hugues Baurier, 01dB-Metravib, France
92 Final-finish tire testing: what is the true cost?
Shaun M. Immel, Micro-Poise, USA
98 Getting a grip on future tires
Marika Rangstedt, Nynas, Sweden
100 Cutting-edge adhesion promoters for the tire industry
Marcus Bayer & Elke Gebauer, EMS-Griltech, Switzerland
105 Engineered solutions for niche applications
Dr Berrin Yilmaz, Kordsa Global, Turkey
SECTION 1: DESIGN, MATERIALS, TESTING, AND FUTURE POSSIBILITIES
SECTION 2: PRODUCTION, QUALITY, AND RECYCLING
110 Curing rubber compounds efficiently and cost-effectively
Ali Ansarifar, Department of Materials, Loughborough University, UK;
Co-authors: Li Wang, Saeed Ostad Movahed and Farhan Saeed, Department of
Materials, Loughborough University, UK; and K. Ansar Yasin, Department of
Chemistry, The University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Azad,
Kashmir, Pakistan and S. Hameed, Department of Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam
University, Islamabad, Pakistan
116 Increased production rate through improved bladder compound
Maryam Mokhtarimehr & A.G. Moteshareie, laboratory manager
and compounding manager respectively of Dena Tire, Iran
118 Rubber devulcanization: a successful project
Andrew James, Smithers Rapra Technology, UK
120 Tire industry innovations including co-extrusion heads and Ethernet line control
Dr Tim Pohl, Troester GmbH & Co KG, Germany
124 Automatic bead apex stacking and loading into a tire building machine
J.K. Grashuis, VMI-Group, the Netherlands
128 Web width measuring systems
Andreas Flter & Sabine Sladky, BST International GmbH, Germany
130 Tire molding: the final step in the tire production chain
Rainer Hilke, A-Z Formen- und Maschinenbau GmbH, Germany
132 The importance of checking the length, width, weight and profile of cut tread
Dr Hartwig Suhr, Dr Noll GmbH, Germany
Member of the Audit
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Editor Adam Gavine
Deputy editor Jon Lawson
Associate editor Roger Williams
Editorial assistant Bunny Richards
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Sub-editor William Baker
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Art director Craig Marshall
Art editor Andy Bass
Design and production team
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Translation Feng Peng (f.peng@yahoo.com)
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CEO Tony Robinson
Tire Technology International is
published quarterly together with
an Annual Technology Review. The
views expressed in the articles and
technical papers are those of the
authors and are not necessarily
endorsed by the publisher. While
every care has been taken during
production, the publisher does not
accept any liability for errors that
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Tire Technology International
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2009
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G
lobal tire production has exceeded one billion units
annually for the past several years (excluding retreads
and bicycle tires), despite the serious economic impact
on the tire and auto industries over the last 12 months.
In 2008, the market value of worldwide production was
about US$130 billion, with the center of gravity of production
increasingly migrating east for business reasons in recent years.
Production is equalled by the number of worn-out tires discarded
each year, of which more than 85% in the developed economies
are recovered for their energy content or geoengineering uses.
China recently emerged as the dominant country for
manufacturing tires, and by 2006 produced more units than the
traditional national leaders the USA and Japan. As a region,
Asia now produces a greater number of tires than North America
and Europe combined, although the bulk of the units are entry-
level products. Production of the petrochemical feedstocks
required for synthetic rubber, mainly styrene and butadiene,
is also shifting eastward, where natural rubber has always been
readily available. These patterns will continue to persist as the
majority of planned capacity increases for tires and their raw
materials are scheduled for the developing markets. However,
Bridgestone, Michelin, and Goodyear will most likely continue
to supply 50% or more of global demand due to their
geographically dispersed manufacturing, sales, and
technical operations.
Stifling regulatory activity has steadily increased and remains
firmly planted in Brussels and Washington despite the trend
of shifting tire production to lower-cost countries and the
semi-moribund state of the automotive sector. Tokyo, in
contrast, has not been particularly pro-active with tire regulations
at the governmental level, and seems to be taking a wait and
see approach.
The forthcoming EU environmental and safety directives
mandate will have wide-ranging resonance. S-mark legislation
limiting the sound levels emitted by tires is scheduled by the
end of the 2009, followed by clean oil legislation starting in
2010, with REACH chemical regulations ensuing later that
year, and ultimately, rolling resistance, wet braking, and labeling
requirements coming in 2012 all with impact beyond the EU.
As early as 2005, before the recent proliferation of pending
regulations, ETRTO tabulated 21 different global test methods
required to obtain worldwide approval for the few procedures
originally mandated in the now defunct FMVSS 109 (high speed,
endurance, etc). Even countries with small markets have been
issuing tire rules and regulations that seem to be an attempt
to limit imports to protect domestic producers.
Pirelli Tyres CEO, Francesco Gori, stated that the worlds tire
makers need to find ways to harmonize the growing number
of national standards that threaten to swamp the tire industry
in paperwork and added costs and, I might add, in some
cases with marginal benefits. Since Goris comments two years
ago, the regulatory climate has only intensified.
In response to environmental concerns, the CEOs of the
eight major tire manufacturers have initiated a multiyear research
study to determine the impact of their products on human
health. Reputable international risk-assessment organizations
have received multimillion-dollar grants to determine the
potential ecological hazards, if any, of tire wear particles. For
example, each year about 2,000,000 tons of worn tread debris
are released throughout the world, and questions have been
raised for decades about the presence of such debris in the
air we breathe and in roadside sediment that might leach into
water supplies. Forthcoming reports should prove enlightening
to all interested parties.
The pending EU clean oil requirement affects extender
oils rich in PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) used for
decades in tread compounds to facilitate processing, improve
traction, and reduce cost. The tire industry has been addressing
this issue since 1994 when the Swedish National Chemicals
Inspectorate first publicized the toxicity of these materials. Such
oils have already been phased out of winter and truck/bus tires.
The ban covers oils containing more than 10 parts per million
of listed PAHs. Non-listed replacements, such as naphthenic
oils, are lighter and more highly refined. This means they are
more expensive for tire producers and consumers, but should
hopefully deliver comparable performance characteristics on
the road.
REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and
Restriction of Chemicals) represents what is perhaps the most
expansive and complex chemical regulation in the history of the
tire industry and its many suppliers. It addresses the production
and use of chemical substances, and their potential impact on
human health and the environment. Tire raw materials are
covered, with some exceptions.
Two important tire constituents are polymers and carbon
black. Polymers per se are exempt, but their monomers are not.
The seven major producers of carbon black reinforcing filler have
recently formed a consortium and successfully submitted an
appropriate REACH technical dossier and chemical safety report
to ECHA (European Chemicals Agency). It now appears that all
consortium companies will be fully registered well ahead of the
November 2010 deadline. It would be interesting to unearth the
cost of REACH compliance for just this one important segment
of the tire manufacturing supply industry.
On labeling for tire performance, environmental concerns and
highway safety, many non-harmonized national and international
agendas are in play. The industry will have to contend with
a hodgepodge of new regulatory schemes that frequently
differ from one jurisdiction to another. Even similar measures
often have varying implementation dates. In June 2009, the
US NHTSA issued its 148-page NPRM (Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking) for a national tire fuel efficiency rating system and
consumer education program. In particular, a removable paper
label must be affixed to every replacement passenger car tire at
Foreword
The regulatory climate intensifies
5
the point of sale, and information made available online,
containing performance ratings for rolling resistance, tread
wear, and wet traction. However, wear and traction are part
of the existing UTQG system.
Once the new standard is implemented, NHTSA recommends
retiring the current UTQG system long overdue in my opinion.
The defunct temperature grade (which is a surrogate for speed
potential) would be replaced by a rolling resistance index, and
the present tread wear and traction ratings would be retained.
NHTSA estimates that it would take up to nine years to test
every single passenger tire SKU for rolling resistance, at a cost
to tire makers of US$18-50 million annually. It would enable
manufacturers to self-certify one tire within a family (make/line/
size range) and use that rating for the entire family. Winter and
spare tires are excluded from the proposal. The California Energy
Commission, with its perceived wisdom, has issued a competing,
but different, proposal for tire fuel efficiency. Presumably,
a federal mandate would pre-empt any state initiative.
On the other hand, the pending EU labeling regulation
targets both tire performance and environmental measures:
fuel efficiency, wet grip, and noise emissions. The EU legislation
covers all passenger car, light truck and heavy truck/bus tires,
and specifies maximum values for rolling resistance and noise,
as well as a minimum value for the wet grip of passenger car
tires. NHTSA prescribes the use of rolling resistance coefficients
for rating tire efficiency, using a scale of 1-100, and the EU
requires that the measured force of rolling friction be reported.
The EU force value will vary directly with tire load, but the
NHTSA coefficient is relatively load insensitive.
It is incongruous to expect that future production tires will
have to be labeled with two different rolling resistance schemes.
Somewhat fortuitously, the EU and NHTSA procedures are
both based on the same pending ISO 28580 test method. The
EU regulation also includes winter tire labeling excluded by
NHTSA. Other than highway noise generated by truck tires
at elevated speeds, tire noise is not presently of much concern
in the USA, and is unlikely to be further regulated by the EPA.
Heat, in the presence of oxygen, is the Achilles heel of all
tires as it causes thermo-oxidative degradation of material
properties that promotes tire aging. Over time, elevated operating
temperatures support conditions that can cause tire failures that
are exacerbated by underinflation, overload, and excessive speed.
NHTSA has recently estimated that as many as 600 highway
fatalities in the USA may be attributable to tires with a high
number due to low pressure a statistic leading to a previously
issued TPMS safety standard for all new US cars and light trucks.
It is well known that flats and air loss caused by foreign object
penetration are more likely to occur as tires wear over time
because of reduced tread depth. However, the number of
highway fatalities and crashes caused principally by tire aging,
independent of wear, remains undetermined. Not surprisingly,
field research shows that tires age and wear faster in regions
with higher ambient temperatures. Several accelerated laboratory
tire aging methods have been evaluated to determine their
effectiveness in replicating natural aging characteristics. To
date, the most encouraging results have been achieved with
new tires inflated with oxygen-enriched gas exposed to elevated
oven temperatures followed by dynamometer testing of the
tires. California, on the other hand, has been pursuing legislative
mandates based solely on the chronological age of a tire,
as several automobile and tire
manufacturers recommend not
using PC tires past a certain limit,
usually 6-10 years from the date
of manufacture.
Some evidence seems to suggest
that US trial lawyers are promoting
passenger tire age limits to engender potentially lucrative
litigation. Interestingly, medium truck tires in many markets
are designed to run one million miles or more using retreaded
rubber on the original casing, and are often in service for over
a decade. Even so, its doubtful that any legislator would have
the temerity or political will to propose banning truck tires based
solely on age retreaded or not. Hopefully, logic would dictate
that any federal tire aging standard based on controlled
laboratory test procedures would trump any recommendations
or regulations based on an artificially imposed chronological
age limit.
Proliferating governmental policies seem to be todays
norm regarding tire regulations, even in a dour business climate.
In economic terms, these actions raise barriers to new entrants
into our mature industry. The large manufacturers, even with
their present unremarkable financial results, will no doubt
survive, perhaps prosper, and possibly absorb smaller
competitors. However, as tire companies struggle with these
additional non-productive administrative costs, I trust that
important R&D programs are not compromised. tire
It is incongruous to expect that future
production tires will have to be labeled with
two different rolling resistance schemes
Dr Joseph D. Walter
Adjunct professor, The University of Akron
6
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Section 1
Design, materials, testing, and future possibilities
9
P
redictions on future traffic policy
suggest that the number of cars
will double worldwide to 1.5
billion in the 30 years from 2000.
A corresponding increase in mileage is
also expected.
As a consequence, innovative and
sustainable solutions will have to be
developed in the area of transport in
particular to meet the economic and
ecological challenges of the future.
The European Commission has
developed harmonized regulations
contained in COM2009/661,
1
which
have already been passed by the European
Council and Parliament, and which
guarantee a higher level of safety, while
effectively protecting the environment
from further emissions.
Starting on November 1, 2012, but
depending on tire types, this regulation
will define minimum requirements for
wet adherence, maximum values for
rolling resistance, and specified limits
for noise emissions.
In a second step, the European
Commission has proposed a
supplementary regulation COM2009/348
of the European Parliament and of the
European Council on labeling of tires
with respect to fuel efficiency and other
essential parameters, aimed at providing
the customer with information about the
performance of selected tire criteria in
the form of pictograms.
In addition to driver safety, the current,
focus is on measures to reduce CO
2
emissions. As 25% of all CO
2
emissions
are generated by road traffic and
approximately 20-30% of a vehicles
energy consumption can be attributed to
tires, it is clear that every endeavor must
be made to reduce rolling resistance (RR).
This represents a challenge for tire
manufacturers in particular. They have the
task of creating a high-tech product that
will combine the various criteria of the
tire in an optimized way, despite existing
interactions among the parameters.
Michelins tire development takes
into account the fact that improving tire
quality is part of an integrated concept.
This is to ensure the optimization of
the performance criteria mentioned
above does not lead to a reduction in
performance characteristics elsewhere.
Given these conditions, the use
of innovative technologies and the
development and availability of new kinds
of materials mean that the following tire
performance criteria take on a key role in
tire development: wear life, fuel economy,
external noise, and grip (Figure 1).
Managing these kinds of complex
relationships means granting sustainable
mobility while providing protection to
life and the environment. This results in
improved road traffic safety and reduced
noise and CO
2
emissions. It is telling that
in this context Michelin also mentions life
mileage as an additional key criterion.
This is not simply because increased
durability contributes considerably
toward sustainable mobility it also
saves resources. The economic benefits
are clear: the customer is given added
value by the combination of fuel economy
and wear life as a result of a reduction in
the total cost of ownership (Figure 2).
Based on assumed driving conditions,
the Energy Saver saves more than one-
third in costs over other products (Figure
3). (The tire uses a rubber compound
based on a new generation of silica and
undergoes a specially developed mixing
process that almost completely eliminates
the need for carbon black. The design
Technological breakthroughs in the areas of wet adherence, rolling resistance and
noise emissions will lead to improved safety and energy efficiency, and mileage
by Dr Joachim Neubauer, Michelin, France
Improving key tire
performance
Figure 1: Tire performance criteria with a key role in tire development
Figure 2: Reduction in the total cost of ownership, i.e. tire price, fuel, and distance
10
helps to create a low RR of 20%,
generating considerable fuel savings,
resulting in a reduction in CO
2
emissions of nearly 4g/km.)
As a result, the tire and car industries
are working together in this area, to
maximize the cost-benefit effect from
reduced fuel consumption and emissions
on the one hand, and increased tire
mileage on the other.
Let us put this statement into context:
when a vehicle moves forward, the tires
determined by RR account for up to
30% of the overall fuel consumption.
What are the reasons for this?
Deformation appearing on tires, along
with external affective parameters (such
as stress, temperature, and pressure), have
the greatest influence on RR (Figure 4).
The value of RR is determined in
accordance with stipulation ISO 28580,
which uses a specified procedure
to guarantee a sufficiently precise
reproduction of results. This is also a
prerequisite for grading, which means that
the determined RR levels can be divided
into classes, and the result is made clear
by labeling for all tire types according to
COM2009/348. A calculator would finally
provide customers with information about
the degree to which the tire reduces fuel
consumption and cuts CO
2
emissions.
Michelin has, since as far back as 1992,
advocated the development of the green
tire and taken the reduction of RR very
seriously, implementing it on the market.
This has created economic as well as
ecological savings: economic, by reducing
fuel consumption and costs; and
ecological, by reducing CO
2
emissions.
The improved RR achieved by Michelin
can be seen by the example of the
Energy Saver, as shown in Figure 5.
Reference should be made in this
context to the noticeable saving potential
of tires RR, especially for electrically
propelled vehicles. This effect is mainly
seen in urban traffic, which accounts
for approximately 33% of the overall
energy consumption required to drive
a vehicle forward.
What is common to both tire RR
and the mileage of a tire is that resistance
to wear is influenced essentially by the
materials used, tire structure and
manufacture, and tire design (Figure 6),
and grip and noise characteristics are
mainly dependent on the road structure
and its surface structure, which again
have a big influence on handling, both
in longitudinal and in transversal effective
direction (Figure 7).
Longitudinal and transversal grip are
essentially determined by two different
driving situations: a change in driving
speed (longitudinal grip), and a change
in driving direction (transversal grip).
When in direct contact with the
roadway, the characteristics of the
tread compound and the profile design
of the tire are crucial for the adhesive
mechanisms, such as interlocking and
molecular grip.
Elastomers, such as those in the tread
compound, have proved to be dependent
on stress frequency and temperature with
regard to module, and power loss
(=hysteresis). With low excitation
frequencies, the hysteresis is weak and the
material shows more elastic qualities,
whereas viscosity falls with increased
frequency and the material can then
hardly be shaped at all. This is the ideal
area for tire grip, where hysteresis is at its
greatest, equivalent to greater energy loss,
which in turn results in increased tire RR.
Because the tire grip is also influenced
by the structure of the road surface,
changing friction coefficients on wet,
damp, and dry road surfaces have to
be considered.
The friction coefficient is smaller on
damp layers than on dry surfaces and
there is strong variance with the surface
quality. A water film on the tread rubber
inhibits the molecular grip, for instance,
until the water film is broken. Under these
conditions, only the interlocking remains
in effect, which is why micro-rough road
surfaces offer the best grip on damp roads.
In this context, macro-roughness is of
secondary importance.
As a consequence, tires with
appropriate profile design, shape,
and formation of the contact patch,
siping, and the visco-elastic material
characteristics of the profile blocks, have
massive effects on grip and handling.
Schematically, the design parameters and
interaction parameters to be considered
here are summarized in Figure 8.
This also explains why the results
gained for the noise or wet-grip potential
for a tire in outdoor tests are subject to
considerable variation. This also applies
to the tests to determine noise levels.
The tests conducted on different
roads show that differences in noise
levels can occur due to different surface
compositions up to 10dB(A). In contrast,
notable improvements to the tire, even
on different road surfaces, are only
registered up to 3dB(A) (see Figure 9).
As a consequence, and given the
various consistency and surface
composition of different road surfaces
across the world, it is therefore very
difficult to provide the end user with
even approximately constant performance
data for noise and braking distance.
Figure 3: Total cost of ownership: cost-benefit effect Figure 4: Deformation on tires and the effect on RR Figure 5: Improved RR achieved in the Energy Saver
Figure 7: Grip and noise are dependent on surface
Figure 6: Wear resistance is influenced by materials
11
Conversely, this also means that
spatially limited problem zones can
most certainly be solved by optimization
measures, for instance where anti-
skidding road surfaces assume a key
role in eradicating accident black spots
(wet safety), or noise-optimized surfaces
become important in solving local noise
problems, e.g. in residential areas.
As mentioned earlier, the development
and implementation of new technology
are a necessary precondition for
considerable improvement in the
performance of a tire, with the stipulation
that different performance characteristics
can be improved simultaneously and
in the same direction.
With this in mind, the environmental
benefit of longer-lasting tires quickly
becomes clear: what is the point of a tire
that is perfectly designed with regard to
RR and wet braking, if it has to be
replaced much earlier because of much
lower mileage capacity? (Figure 10.)
And if this means that the energy and
raw materials needed to produce the tire
also have to be used far sooner? Economic
aspects will also come to the fore here.
The added value aspect gained by
increasing mileage goes largely unreported
in the media which is all the more
incredible considering the great interest in
the conflict between tire RR and
adherence.
In order to achieve low tire RR while
maintaining the shortest possible braking
distance in the wet and a high mileage,
a fundamental understanding of tires
rolling condition is absolutely necessary
in order to influence the behavior of
the individual parameters in a targeted
fashion.
Wet grip and RR are affected by
hysteresis/energy loss, guided by
completely different tire characteristics,
as the phenomena also occurs in different
frequency areas.
Deformations of the tire surface that
generate the grip potential occur in
excitation frequencies between 10
3
Hz
and 10**10Hz. Deformations in the tire
structure, on the other hand, depend
on every tire revolution: for a car tire,
this is about 15 revolutions per second
at a speed of 62mph (100km/h).
With the previously used materials
of a standard black tire, the frequency
of energy absorption (=hysteresis) leads
to a loss of grip when roll resistance
is reduced, and vice versa.
For instance, the tires that Michelin
first marketed in 1992 with a reference
to Green X-Technology already show
a small energy loss in the low-frequency
area relevant to RR, and a high grip
potential for higher frequencies.
So, when using intelligent materials,
the absorption curve (hysteresis) is
characterized by combining a low RR with
high grip potential; in the example shown,
the crossing of the absorption curve takes
place at 100-10,000Hz.
It becomes obvious that using
innovative technologies in the area of
development, design, and manufacture
is the only way to optimize the key
characteristics at the same time. A further
example is provided by the optimization
measures of wet-grip and wear, which
will be explained below in light of the
interaction mechanisms.
This is how Michelin implements
innovations and combines safety with
energy efficiency, simultaneously realizing
an improved mileage. This benefits the
end user in the form of added value.
Other tire characteristics can also be
improved and so there is a considerable
expansion of the application and portfolio
of the tire as a whole.
In this context, the fundamental
realization is that any remaining problems
can only be properly solved by
cooperation with the vehicle and tire
manufacturers, road building authorities,
and companies all coordinating their
optimization measures with one another.
By marketing the Energy Saver,
Michelin has shown that it is possible to
use a newly developed tire compound
and matching process technology, to
greatly improve fundamental performance
characteristics, and to optimize them
in the same direction.
And the optimization of these key
indicators already mentioned will also
serve as a spur to further innovation.
This is an essential prerequisite for
responding to the objectives of the
European Commissions initiatives with
regard to the tire limits set in the vehicle
safety regulation and the tire labeling on
integrated performances, which aim to
accelerate transformation toward even
more efficient and safer tires. tire
1) Regulation of the European Parliament and of the
Council concerning type-approval requirements
for the general safety of motor vehicles
Figure 8: The design and interaction parameters to be considered to create a tire with good grip and handling
Figure 9: Improvements are registered up to 3dB(A)
Figure 10: Environmental benefit of long-lasting tires
12
Continental AG
Conti Machinery
Jdekamp 30
30419 Hannover Germany
Phone: +49 (0)511 976-6780
Fax: +49 (0)511 976-6086
e-mail: cm@conti.de
Web: www.conti-cm.com
Excellent Technology
To Meet Customers Targets
Conti Machinery is offering products along the entire
production chain for passenger, light truck and truck tires.
14
F
or a vehicle to handle safely and
use fuel economically, proper tire
inflation, as recommended by the
vehicle manufacturer, needs to
be maintained. Underinflation can cause
high heat generation that in turn can
cause rapid tire wear, tire blowout, and
loss of vehicle control that may cause
a crash. Tire pressure monitoring systems
(TPMS) are believed to be an effective
means to monitor the tire pressure
a claim that is statistically tested in this
study. A comparison of vehicles equipped
with TPMS and vehicles without TPMS
can throw light on the effectiveness of
this device.
Further, there are two types of TPMS:
direct and indirect. Direct systems operate
with a tire pressure sensor in each tire
cavity, while indirect systems monitor
tire pressure by comparing characteristics
of tires, such as wheel speeds using the
anti-lock braking system. Indirect systems
do not distinguish between overinflation
and underinflation. Therefore it is also
of interest to assess whether direct TPMS
is more effective than indirect TPMS.
In support of rule-making activities
mandated by Section 13 of the TREAD
Act, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administrations National Center for
Statistics and Analysis conducted the
Tire Pressure Special Study (TPSS) and
the Tire Pressure Monitoring System
Study (TPMSS). The TPSS was designed
to assess to what extent passenger vehicle
operators are aware of the recommended
tire pressures for their vehicles, the
frequency and the means they use to
measure their tire pressure, and how
much the actual measured tire pressure
deviated from the manufacturers
recommended pressure. This study
is focused on the last aspect of tire
pressure maintenance.
The TPMSS was designed to gather
tire-pressure-related information on
vehicles equipped with different kinds
of tire pressure monitoring systems, so
that their respective effectiveness could
be evaluated. The main objective was
to assess the effectiveness of TPMS in
general, and investigate if direct TPMS
is more effective than indirect TPMS. The
present study conducts statistical analysis
to estimate some tire-pressure-related
statistics, as well as make inferences
about the effectiveness of TPMS devices.
Data collection methodology
The objective of TPMSS was to assess
real-world tire pressure maintenance of
vehicles in the United States. Accordingly,
the data collection was planned to obtain
a nationally representative sample of
passenger vehicles, including passenger
cars, light trucks, pickups, and sport
utility vehicles. The target population
for the survey consisted of two categories
of vehicles: those equipped with the
tire pressure monitoring system, to be
referred to as the TPMS group, and the
ones that were not equipped with TPMS,
to be referred to as the peer group. As
mentioned earlier, there are two types of
tire pressure monitoring systems: direct
and indirect. Therefore care was taken to
include both types of TPMS systems in the
sampling frame. Finally, the vehicle age
was also taken into account by including
vehicles from model years 1997 through
2003 in the two groups.
The survey was conducted through the
infrastructure of the National Automotive
Sampling System (NASS) Crashworthiness
Data System (CDS). As in the NASS-CDS
data collection system, the TPMSS data
were collected from 24 primary sampling
units (PSU). The sample was selected
from the state registration les and was
comprised of vehicles from the TPMS
group as well as from the peer group
as determined with the assistance of the
Alliance for Automobile Manufacturers.
The peer group was formed by
including vehicles that were not
equipped with TPMS, but were of the
same model years and of similar body
styles and price ranges as the vehicles
selected in the TPMS group. A computer
program randomly selected study vehicles
(TPMS and peer) from the list of those
that were eligible.
Case weights can be used to obtain nationally representative estimates
of under and overinflated vehicles, with and without TPMS
by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, USA
Tire pressure maintenance:
a statistical investigation
Table 1: Sample segmentation by vehicle groups and their subcategories
Planned sample size (Actual sample size)*
Total subject vehicles 12,001 (2,316)*
TPMS-equipped (TPMS) 5,977 (1,259)*
Direct TPMS 1,261 (213)*
Indirect TPMS 4,716 (1,046)*
Without TPMS (Peer) 6,024 (1,057)*
Direct Peer 1211 (243)*
Indirect Peer 4,813 (814)*
15
Target information
Information on several tire-pressure-
related variables, such as actual pressure
in all the tires, the recommended tire
pressure levels for the vehicle, ambient
temperature, age of the vehicle, and age
and sex of the vehicle owner/operator
was collected in this survey. To assess the
effectiveness of monitoring devices, the
information on the categorical variables:
TPMS (presence or absence), TPMS type
(direct or indirect) was documented as
well. This study is focused on assessing
the effectiveness of TPMS and uses the
tire-pressure-related variables only.
Sample size
Originally the data were planned to be
collected on a sample of 12,001 vehicles.
Anticipating the response rate of the
survey to be 60%, the data on 7,000
vehicles was the actual target. However,
the survey was not completed and data
was collected on 2,316 vehicles only. The
allocation of the originally planned sample
of 12,001 vehicles over peer and TPMS
groups, as well as their subcategories,
direct and indirect, is shown in Table 1.
This table also shows (within parentheses)
similar allocation of the nal sample of
2,316 vehicles.
Given the reduced sample size, it was
of interest in this study to assess how
well the actual sample could represent the
population. This is done by comparing
the ratio R
planned
of planned sample size
to the corresponding PSU size with the
ratio R
actual
of actual sample size to the
corresponding PSU size. Figure 1 presents
proles of these two ratios over PSUs in
which data were collected. The patterns of
the two ratios in this gure show that the
number of vehicles actually documented
in the sample is consistently proportional
to the planned PSU sample sizes.
However, this does not completely make
the sample nationally representative
in certain other aspects of the sample
design. Therefore, an adjustment needs
to be made through case weights to
achieve a reasonable level of national
representation. The following section
is devoted to developing these weights.
Sample design and case
weights
A two-stage stratified sampling scheme
was used to select the study vehicles.
The first stage of sampling consisted
of selecting geographic areas, such
as counties, groups of counties, or
cities forming PSUs. These PSUs are
a probability sample selected from a frame
of all geographic areas in the continental
United States. Twenty-four PSUs were
selected for this survey from among the
1,195 determined by the NASS system.
The selection is based on the number
of motor vehicle traffic crashes occurring
within these regions.
At the second stage, stratification
was done with respect to the vehicles
age (model year) and vehicle category
(in terms of the presence or absence
of TPMS) in each selected PSU.
Finally, from the selected PSU as
in the first stage, a simple random
sample of vehicles was selected from
each stratum formed at the second stage.
The objective of the TPMSS was to
collect a sample of vehicles with and
without TPMS that is representative
of the US fleet. A survey conducted
according to a designed sample and the
use of appropriate case weights would
help achieve this objective. Although the
sample actually selected in this survey
has some affinity with the population as
discussed earlier, due to early termination
the probabilities of selection at different
stages of the design are no longer valid.
Consequently the case weights based on
these probabilities would fail to make the
sample representative of the population.
This study proposes the methodology to
compute case weights for the terminated
survey that can be used for estimating
the tire-pressure-related parameters
of the target population.
Typically the case weights in a sample
survey are based on the scheme used for
the case selection: in the two-stage sample
design used in this survey, it would be the
inverse of the product of the probability
of PSU selection and the probability
of vehicle selection from a stratum.
Originally the weight for the ith case
selected randomly from the jth stratum
of the kth selected PSU was defined as:
where P
k
= Prob {k
th
PSU is selected}, Figure 1: Comparison between actual sample sizes and planned sample sizes for the 24 selected PSUs
16
P
ij/k
= Prob {i
th
vehicle is selected from
j
th
stratum, given that k
th
PSU has been
selected}.
Although the survey was terminated
prior to completion of data collection
based on the laid-down sample design,
the PSU selection had already been made.
This preserves the probability P
k
of PSU
selection.
However, due to early termination
the selection of vehicles in the strata
was disturbed: fewer than planned
vehicles could be selected in the strata.
This questions the validity of the
corresponding selection probability P
ij/k
.
To introduce a reasonable amount of
national representation, revision of these
probabilities is imperative. What is
needed is to account for what was actually
selected in a stratum as against what was
supposed to be selected. This suggests
that the posterior rather than the prior
distribution should be used for computing
the vehicle selection probability P
ij/k
to
be used in computing weights as in (1).
Based on this rationale, this study
proposes a Bayesian methodology to
compute case selection probabilities
P
ij/k
, and hence the case weights W
ij/k
.
Consider the sampling design layout
for an exemplar PSU as shown in Table 2,
where n
ij
is the sample size originally
planned to be collected from the stratum
(ij) of the PSU and m
ij
is the sample size
actually collected from the ij
th
stratum.
The case selection at each stage is
basically a Bernoulli process with
probability of selection (success)
determined by the ratio of the number
to be selected to the number from which
to be selected. Thus if in a stratum of N
ij
vehicles, n
ij
are to be selected, then the
probability of selection (success, speaking
in terms of Bernoulli trials) is the ratio
(/ = n
ij
/N
ij
). However, instead of n
ij
vehicles, only m
ij
(m
ij
) n
ij
) could be
selected by the time the survey was
terminated. Speaking in terms of the
Bernoulli trials, this amounts to having
mij successes in n
ij
trials with probability
of success given by /. It is this probability
that needs to be revised using the prior
information about the sample size.
Bayesian approach is used for this
purpose as outlined in the appendix. The
probability that maximizes the selection
of ith vehicle from the jth stratum of the
kth PSU, that is the mode of the posterior
distribution [1], is given by:
Finally, in the two-stage selection process
used in the survey, the probability of
selection of a vehicle is the product of the
probability of selection P
k
of the k
th
PSU
and the posterior probability given by (2),
that is:
However, some adjustments are needed
before this posterior probability of case
selection could be used in calculating
case weights. It should be noted that the
strata in which the number of vehicles
actually selected is equal to the number
that was originally planed for a stratum
do not require the Bayesian treatment.
Thus the case weights are calculated using
the formula (1) or (3), depending on
whether the number of vehicles actually
selected is equal to or less than the
number of vehicles planned to be
selected. Non-response in a survey is
not uncommon. To account for this
contingency, the weights need to be
adjusted by using the response rates
in the selected strata. Finally, the case
selection probabilities and hence the
case weights are calculated by:
Table 2: Stratification in an exemplar PSU
Vehicle Age Vehicle group
With TPMS
(Study group)
Without TPMS
(Peer group)
Less than three years n
11
n
12
(New vehicles) m
11
m
12
Three years or older n
21
n
22
(Old vehicles) m
21
m
22
Figure 2: Percent frequency distributions of underinflated and overinflated vehicles
Table 3: Allocation of sampled vehicles and their estimates over vehicle groups
(Actual sample size)* [Weighted estimate]
Sampled number of vehicles
and their weighted estimates
(2,316)* [654,817]
TPMS-equipped (TPMS) (1,259)* [332,046]
Direct TPMS (213)* [74,595]
Indirect TPMS (1,046)* [257,451]
Without TPMS (Peer) (1,057)* [322,771]
Direct Peer (243)* [71,693]
Indirect Peer (814)* [251,078]
17
where r
j
100 (r
j
) 1)% is the response
rate in the j
th
stratum.
Using these weights, the number of
vehicles in the peer and TPMS categories
and their subcategories direct and indirect
are estimated as shown in Table 3. The
statistics presented in Table 3 show that
in an estimated total number 654,817
of vehicles, 332,046 are estimated to be
TPMS-equipped and 322,771 without
TPMS. Of the TPMS-equipped, 74,595
vehicles are estimated to be equipped with
direct TPMS, while an estimated 257,451
vehicles are equipped with indirect TPMS.
Analysis
The measured tire pressure being below
or above the recommended pressure
level is all that matters.
There are two ways an improper
tire inflation could be hazardous:
overinflation and underinflation.
While overinflation can be dangerous
for vehicle handling, underinflation can
become a safety hazard not only due to
blow-outs and tire destruction, but also
due to the development of dangerous
driving scenarios, such as directional loss
of control. This brings out the importance
of some means by which vehicle operators
can determine if the tires need to be
inflated or deflated. One of the devices
that can be used for this purpose is
TPMS. This study is focused on assessing
the effectiveness of TPMS as a means
to maintain tire inflation at the
recommended levels, as well as studying
the comparative effectiveness of direct and
indirect TPMS. One of the ways this can
be done is to compare the TPMS group
of vehicles with the peer group and
TPMS direct subgroup with TPMS indirect
subgroup. This study makes these
comparisons in terms of the frequencies
of underinflated and overinflated vehicles
for the two groups, as well as their average
underinflation and overinflation.
Statistical analysis is conducted to
estimate some tire-inflation-related
parameters using the proposed weights
and to test certain hypotheses to compare
groups of vehicles with and without
TPMS, as well as their respective
subgroups, direct and indirect.
The tire-pressure-related parameters
that can be used to determine
underinflation and over-inflation are the
manufacturers recommended tire inflation
pressure and the one actually measured
in the survey for each tire of a vehicle.
The difference between the two is used
to determine the extent of underinflation
and overinflation of a tire:
Underinflation = Recommended
pressure - Measured pressure
(* 0, recommended exceeds measured)
Overinflation = Measured pressure -
Recommended pressure (* 0, measured
exceeds recommended)
For analysis purposes, these are
converted into percentages (percentage
of the corresponding recommended
pressure of the subject tire) for each
tire of the vehicle.
With regard to the tire pressure status
of a vehicle on the whole, an
underinflated vehicle in this study refers
to a vehicle that has at least one tire
underinflated. The same criterion is used
in the case of overinflation. It should be
noted that one vehicle can have
underinflated and overinflated tires.
While the variables underinflation
and overinflation are computed for all the
tires of a vehicle, the minimum of all tire
pressures in the case of underinflation and
maximum of all tire pressures in the case
of overinflation are used as measures of
vehicle underinflation and overinflation,
respectively.
Preliminary analysis
The profiles of two groups over
underinflation and overinflation with
threshold values 0, 5, 10, 15, 25, 35, 45,
75, and 100% (expressed as % of the
recommended pressure) are presented
in an Ogive. An Ogive is a line graph that
depicts the percentage of cases (vehicles)
that have values of the variable
(underinflation or overinflation) less
than or equal to a certain threshold value.
In this study, to assess the effectiveness
in terms of reduction in underinflation
or overinflation, the percentage of cases
greater than a certain threshold value is
used. Hence, instead of Ogive, its image,
to be referred to as reverse Ogive, is used.
Obviously a reverse Ogive is a line graph
depicting the number of vehicles greater
than the threshold value. Figure 2(a) and
Figure 3: Percent vehicles with underinflation and overinflation exceeding threshold values, 0, 5, 10, 25, 35, 45%
To assess the effectiveness in terms of reduction
in underinflation or overinflation, the percentage of
cases greater than a certain threshold value is used
18
Figure 2(b), respectively, show
underinflation and overinflation profiles
of the two groups. Figure 2(a) shows
that about 61% of the peer vehicles were
found underinflated (Underinflation=0),
while a much smaller percentage (48.2)
of TPMS vehicles had one or more
underinflated tires. For other levels of
underinflation (5, 10, 15, 25, 35%), too,
the TPMS-equipped vehicles demonstrate
lower frequencies of underinflated
vehicles than the peer vehicles. The
overinflation profiles of the two groups
over the threshold values 0, 5, 10, 15, 25,
35, 45, 75, and 100 presented in Figure
2(b) indicate lower percentages of peer
overinflated vehicles as compared with
the TPMS-equipped vehicles that were
overinflated.
The performance of the TPMS group
is compared with the peer group also
over different ranges of underinflation.
The results of this comparison are
presented respectively in Figure 3(a)
and Figure 3(b). Figure 3(a) shows that
while the percentage of vehicles with
zero underinflation is higher for the
TPMS group, it is lower for other
ranges of underinflation. In the case of
overinflation, the frequency distributions
in Figure 3(b) show that more of the peer
vehicles had no overinflation as compared
with the TPMS-equipped vehicles.
Comparison of vehicle groups
and subcategories
The efficacy of a tire pressure monitoring
device is reflected primarily in the level
of underinflation it allows before
illuminating the low pressure warning
lamp. The following analysis is focused
on three aspects of tire inflation correct
tire inflation, underinflation, and
overinflation and compares the TPMS
and peer group of vehicles for each of
these three tire conditions. Specifically,
the TPMS and peer group of vehicles
are compared with respect to Figure 3.
Correct pressure
One of the indicators of effectiveness
of TPMS would be its contribution in
aiding the operator of a vehicle to keep
inflation of its tire at the correct level,
which means none of its tires is under-
inflated or overinflated with reference
to the recommended tire inflations.
The estimates based on the TPMSS
data show that among vehicles with
correct pressure (in the above sense)
about 57% are TPMS-equipped, which
is much higher than 43% for the peer
vehicles. However, correct pressure on a
vehicle is an ideal scenario. The following
analysis determines how effective TPMS
could be in warning the vehicle operator
against underinflation or overinflation
of a vehicles tires.
Underinflation
With regard to TPMS function in warning
against underinflation, the pressure
characteristics considered in this
analysis include: 0 (no underinflation),
underinflation more than 25%, and
underinflation more than 30%. The
percentage frequency distribution of
vehicles is presented in Table 4.
The statistics in this table show
that 57% of TPMS vehicles have no
underinflation as compared with 43%
peer vehicles without an underinflated
tire. Further, among vehicles with no
underinflation, there are 7.6% peer
(direct) and 12.8% TPMS (direct)
vehicles. Similarly, only 35% of the
vehicles are without an underinflated tire
in the peer (indirect) group and about
45% in the TPMS (indirect) group. These
statistics show that whether the TPMS
device is direct or indirect type, it does
aid in preventing vehicle underinflation
to a large extent.
The estimates presented in Table 4 also
project how the two groups compare in
terms of underinflation (i.e. underinflation
> 0). Among such vehicles, the percentage
44.9 of TPMS vehicles (9.5% direct and
35.4% indirect) is well below the
percentage 55.1 of the peer vehicles that
consists of 13.7% direct and 41.5%
indirect type. These percentage differences
between the underinflated TPMS and peer
vehicles further support the claim, TPMS
is effective in preventing underinflation.
The two groups are also compared for
underinflation above threshold levels of
25 and 30%. Among vehicles with more
than 25% underinflation, the percentage
(46.2%) for the TPMS vehicles is much
smaller than the percentage (53.8%) for
the peer vehicles. Similarly, among
vehicles with more than 30%
underinflation, the percentage (43.8) of
TPMS vehicles is much smaller than the
percentage (56.2%) of the peer vehicles.
Statistical tests performed on these
differences show (with 95% confidence
level) that the data provide sufficient
evidence in favor of the TPMS in
tire pressure maintenance in terms of
underinflation. However, no significant
difference was observed between the two
groups for underinflation greater than
35%. This is obvious, as underinflation
to that extent cannot go unnoticed,
whether or not the vehicle is equipped
with the TPMS.
Additionally, another parameter of tire
inflation has been looked at in this study:
namely the average underinflation; the
two groups are compared in terms of the
average underinflation. As a word of
caution, an average presented in this table
Table 4: Underinflation status by vehicle group and device type
VEHICLE GROUP DEVICE TYPE UNDERINFLATION
No Yes More than 25% More than 30%
Peer Direct 7.6 13.7 9.7 11.2
Indirect 35.0 41.5 44.1 45.0
Sub-total 42.6 55.2 53.8 56.2
TPMS Direct 12.8 9.5 8.0 10.9
Indirect 44.6 35.4 38.2 32.8
Sub-total 57.4 44.9 46.2 43.7
Table 5: Average underinflation (percent) by vehicle group and device type
VEHICLE GROUP DEVICE TYPE UNDERINFLATION
Average 95% Conf. Interval
Peer Direct 15.77 [14.02, 17.51]
Indirect 16.10 [14.34, 17.87]
Overall 16.01 [14.52, 17.50]
TPMS Direct 12.61 [10.16, 15.06]
Indirect 14.70 [13.15, 16.24]
Overall 14.30 [12.85, 15.75]
19
is an average over the vehicle group
rather than the average over the vehicle.
The estimates of averages presented in
Table 5 are used for this purpose. These
results show that on average, TPMS
vehicles have only 14.3% underinflation
as compared with 16% for the peer
vehicles. The difference between 15.8%
for the peer (direct) group and 12.6%
for the TPMS (direct) group further
shows that on average, direct type
of TPMS contributes to a significant
reduction in underinflation.
Overinflation
The statistics showing comparison
between the two vehicle groups in terms
of overinflation are presented in Table 6.
These results show that, in general, the
TPMS-equipped vehicles tend to be
overinflated. For example, there are
55.2% peer vehicles and 44.8% TPMS
vehicles among vehicles that have no
overinflation (Overinflation=0). Similarly,
among the over-inflated (Overinflation=0)
vehicles, 46.5% are peer vehicles in con-
trast with 53.5% TPMS vehicles.
Also, among vehicles with more than
25% overinflation, TPMS vehicles
have larger representation, 54% as
compared with 46% for the peer
vehicles. Similarly, among vehicles
with more than 30% overinflation,
TPMS vehicles have larger representation:
51.8% as compared with 48.2% for the
peer vehicles.
In terms of the vehicle group averages,
there is insignificant difference between
the averages: 15.4% for the peer vehicles
and 15.5% for the TPMS vehicles (Table
7). However, the comparison between
the averages 12.3 and 13.9%, respectively,
of the TPMS (direct) and peer (direct)
groups shows that on average, direct
type of TPMS aids in keeping the level
of underinflation low. Thus, although
a higher percentage of overinflated
vehicles belong to TPMS, on average,
the overinflation is lower for direct
TPMS vehicles as compared with direct
peer vehicles.
TPMS effectiveness analysis
In this section, the overall effectiveness
of TPMS is studied by considering
ranges of underinflation/overinflation,
simultaneously. A simultaneous
test is performed to test if TPMS
retains its effectiveness as under/
overinflation increases from 0% through
100%. Descriptive analysis of the data
shows that estimates of the skewness
coefficients (2.9 for the peer and 5.2 for
the TPMS group) differ significantly from
0, which is the skewness of a normal
distribution. This suggests using multi-
category-based non-parametric analysis
to compare the two groups with respect to
TPMS effectiveness. Specifically, the non-
parametric Wilcoxon Rank-Sum Test [2]
is used to test the significance of the effect
of TPMS, i.e. to test the hypothesis:
H
0
: m
tpms
= m
peer
against the
alternative H
A
: m
tpms
< m
peer
where m stands for the average
underinflation or overinflation, with
subscript indicating the group. This
test assumes that the models associated
with the two samples differ in terms of
location, the difference being attributable
to the effect of TPMS.
Assuming that the distributions of
U
peer
and U
tpms
have the same shape and
spread, the testing is done only in terms
of shift 6 in location. The test basically
concerns testing the hypothesis H
0
: 6 = 0
against the alternative H
A
: 6 < 0. Due to
large sample size, normal approximation
of the rank sum statistic is used,
i.e. the statistic:
where ntpms and npeer are the numbers
of TPMS and peer vehicles, respectively,
in the samples. The statistic W
*
has an
asymptotic N(0, 1) distribution.
Controlling underinflation
To conduct the above analysis for
underinflation, all subject vehicles
are categorized depending on the
level of underinflation. The
analysis is conducted using the
variable Effectiveness, defined in:
The Wilcoxon two-sample test statistic
W
*
equals 9.817*10
10
which is the sum
of the Wilcoxon scores for the smaller
group (peer). This sum is greater than
the expected value 1.050*10
11
under
the null hypothesis of no difference
between the two groups.
This difference, with Z-value=
-95.3894 and one-sided p-value < 0.0001
shows that TPMSis significantly effective
in keeping the underinflation low for
all ranges of underinflation.
Effectiveness controlling
overinflation
To conduct similar analysis for
overinflation, all subject vehicles
are categorized depending on
the level of overinflation.
The analysis is conducted
using the variable Effectiveness,
defined in:
Table 6: Overinflation status by vehicle group and device type
VEHICLE GROUP DEVICE TYPE OVERINFLATION
No Yes More than 25% More than 30%
Peer Direct 13.6 9.6 8.1 11.3
Indirect 41.6 37.0 37.9 37.0
Sub-total 55.2 46.6 46.0 48.2
TPMS Direct 8.5 12.3 8.1 2.0
Indirect 36.3 41.2 45.9 49.7
Sub-total 44.8 53.5 54.0 51.8
Table 7: Average overinflation (percent) by vehicle group and device type
VEHICLE GROUP DEVICE TYPE OVERINFLATION
Average 95% Conf. Interval
Peer Direct 13.93 [11.08, 16.79]
Indirect 15.80 [14.26, 17.33]
Overall 15.37 [13.91, 16.83]
TPMS Direct 12.26 [10.54, 13.97]
Indirect 16.39 [14.81, 17.96]
Overall 15.52 [14.19, 16.85]
20
The Wilcoxon two-sample test statistic
W
*
equals 1.108 * 10
11
, which is the
sum of the Wilcoxon scores for the
smaller group, peer. This sum is greater
than the expected value 1.049* 10
11
under the null hypothesis of no difference
between the two groups. This difference,
with positive Z-value = 80.6136 and the
one sided p-value < 0.0001 shows that
vehicles equipped with TPMS tend
to be more overinflated as compared
with those that are not.
Results and discussion
Although the TPMS survey collected data
only on a portion of the original sample
size, the tire-pressure-related information
is available for over 2,000 vehicles. This
study found that when this sample was
distributed over all PSUs, it resulted
in almost the same proportions as the
originally planned sample.
The actual sample consists of about
200 vehicles equipped with the direct
TPMS and about 1,000 vehicles equipped
with the indirect TPMS. Similar categories
of peer vehicles are proportional to those
in the TPMS group. However, the actual
sample in hand at the time of termination
could not conform to the second stage
sample design, thereby lacking national
representation the case weights based
on the original sample design could no
longer be used for estimation purpose.
Using a Bayesian approach, this study
develops case weights that take into
account the PSU size, strata sizes, planned
sample sizes, as well as the actual sample
sizes. The proposed weights are useful in
making the best of the information that
would otherwise be considered merely
anecdotal. The data is analyzed by
comparing the recommended pressures
of each vehicle with its measured tire
pressures, thus arriving at vehicle
underinflation and overinflation. The
proposed weights are used to obtain
several estimates, such as percentages of
underinflated and overinflated vehicles
for TPMS and peer groups, as well as their
subcategories, direct and indirect. The
significance of the differences in these
percentages is statistically tested.
The analysis results show that the
percentage of vehicles with correct
pressure are much higher (57%) for the
TPMS group as compared with 43% for
the peer group. Regarding underinflation,
while about 45% of the underinflated
vehicles belong to TPMS group, a much
higher percentage (55%) is attributed to
the peer group. The analysis conducted
for more than 25 and 30% underinflation
shows similar differences. The differences
between percentages are even more
prominent when direct types of the two
groups are compared with respect to no
underinflation, and underinflation greater
than 0% and 25%. In terms of the average
underinflation, the TPMS-equipped
vehicles have significantly lower average
(14%) as compared with 16% for the peer
vehicles. The difference between averages
is more significant when direct type of
TPMS and peer vehicles are compared,
while the difference in the case of indirect
types is insignificant.
Analysis conducted for overinflation
shows that more TPMS-equipped vehicles
are overinflated (53%) as compared with
47% peer vehicles that have at least one
tire overinflated. The difference between
percentages of the direct type TPMS and
peer vehicles with overinflation more than
25% is not significant. The difference
between 11% for the direct peer subgroup
and 2% for the direct TPMS is highly
significant. Comparison of averages for
the two groups shows that while the
overall difference is insignificant, the
average overinflation 12% for the
direct TPMS is significantly lower
than 14% for the direct peer vehicles.
Analysis conducted to assess the
effectiveness of TPMS shows that while
this monitoring device is effective in
aiding the operator to prevent significant
underinflation, it is likely to result in
overinflation, though within the safe
limits supported by the above analyses.
Statistical analysis performed on the
survey data provides evidence in favor
of the TPMS, especially in the favor
of direct TPMS. NHTSA recommends
that vehicle operators check their tire
pressures at least once a month and
before long trips. The vehicle
manufacturers recommended tire
pressure can be referenced for this
purpose.
TPMS should be used as a supplement
to regular tire maintenance. It should be
noted that TPMS studied here may not
be representative of the current designs.
Appendix
This appendix provides analytical details
of the methodology used in revising case
weights based on the rationale discussed
previously. Speaking in terms of the
Bernoulli trials, obtaining m
ij
vehicles
instead of planned number n
ij
amounts
to having m
ij
successes in n
ij
trials. This
in turn means that the probability of
selection of m
ij
vehicles from n
ij
vehicles
in the j
th
stratum of the k
th
PSU is given
by the Binomial distribution:
To use a Bayesian approach, a nearly
non-informative prior for / is used and
is proportional to:
This further results into the posterior
distribution which is proportional to:
After substitution of the appropriate
normalizing constant, the corresponding
posterior distribution for / assumes the
form of Beta distribution, i.e.:
p(//m
ij
) in (8) is maximized at:
/
*
given by (9) is the mode of the
posterior probability distribution
associated with the selection of i
th
vehicle from the j
th
stratum in the k
th
PSU. This is the probability that
maximizes the selection of the ij
th
case and can be used as the revised
probability of selection of a vehicle. tire
References
1) Box, G.E.P. Bayesian Statistical Analysis
(John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1980)
2) Hollander, M. and Wolfe, D. A. Nonparametric
Statistical Methods (John Wiley & Sons,
New York, 1972)
22
A
lthough silica is not a
petrochemical-based product,
it consumes a lot of energy
for its production. Along with
carbon black, the other filler mainly used
in rubber tire applications, silica has high
density, which has negative impacts on the
fuel efficiency of vehicles. Therefore tire
manufacturers are seeking new reinforcing
fillers that are inexpensive, readily
available, light in weight, and renewable.
Cellulose is the most abundant natural
polymer; it makes up 40-44% of wood.
1
Commercial cellulose fibers are mainly
made from cotton and wood.
Short cellulose fibers have been studied
as reinforcing fillers in rubber composites
in the past 25 years.
2-5
Cellulose fiber-
reinforced rubber composites are mainly
used for making ropes, hose, belt, mats,
and insulation, and have yet to be used
in tire applications.
4, 6
Cellulose contains both amorphous
and crystalline regions. Crystalline
cellulose is much stronger and stiffer than
amorphous cellulose and cellulose itself,
and is supposed to be a better reinforcing
filler than cellulose. Microcrystalline
cellulose (MCC) is crystalline cellulose
and is typically derived from the acid
hydrolysis of cellulose.
7
This is a low-cost process for
production of MCC. The acid hydrolysis
preferentially removes the amorphous
regions of cellulose. When compared
with glass fibers, silica and carbon black,
MCC as a reinforcing filler in composites
has many advantages: low cost, low
density, ease of processing, low abrasion
to equipment, renewability, and
biodegradability.
8
There have been some
studies on MCC as a reinforcing filler in
plastic composites in recent years.
9-11
However, very little has been reported
about using MCC as a reinforcing filler
in rubber composites.
In this study, MCC was used as
a third filler to partially replace silica
in styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) and
polybutadiene rubber (BR) composites.
The effects of MCC loadings in rubber
composites on energy consumption
during compounding, rheological
properties, mechanical properties, heat
resistance, and dynamic mechanical
properties were studied in detail.
Experiments
Table 1 shows the materials used in
this study, including code, trade name,
manufacturer, and location of the
manufacturer. The following two types
of rubbers were used: styrene butadiene
rubber (SBR) and polybutadiene rubber
(PB). Three different fillers were carbon
The partial replacement of silica with microcrystalline cellulose reduces
considerably the energy required for dispersion of fillers in a rubber
matrix, and lowers the internal temperature during compounding
by Wen Bai & Kaichang Li, Department of Wood Science and Engineering, Oregon State University, USA
Partial replacement of silica
with microcrystalline cellulose in rubber composites
An OSU doctoral student develops rubber composites using a new technology that incorporates microcrystalline
cellulose an approach that may lead to tires that cost less, perform better and produce improved mileage
23
Table 1: Materials in this study
Code Trade name Manufacturer Location
Rubber SBR Duradene 751 Firestone Polymers LLC Akron, Ohio
PB Taktene 220 Lanxess Corp Orange, Texas
Filler CB N220 Side Richardson Carbon Company Akron, Ohio
Silica Ultrasil at GR7000 Degussa Corp Akron, Ohio
MCC Avicel PH 101 FMC Inc Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coupling agent Silane SCA985
a
Struktol Company of America Stow, Ohio
Process aid PA JB46F Struktol Company of America Stow, Ohio
Activator ZnO Zinc oxide Horsehead Corp Monaca, Pennsylvania
StAc Stearic acid Textile Rubber & Chemical Co Nurnberg, Germany
Antiozonant 6ppd 6PPDb Western reserve chemical Corp Stow, Ohio
Processing oil Sun Sundex 790 Sun Oil Company Aartselaar, Belgium
Accelerator DPG Perkacit DPGc Flexsys America LP Akron, Ohio
CBS Santocure CBSd Flexsys America LP Akron, Ohio
Vulcanizer S Rubbermakers sulfur R.E. Carroll Inc Akron, Ohio
a Bis(3-triethoxysilyipropyl)disulfide
b N-(1,3-dimethyl)N-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine
c Diphenylguanidine
d N-cyclohexyl-2-benzothiazolesulfenamide
Table 2: Composition of rubber composites and compounding procedure
Ingredient Percent Batch 1 0MCC (phr) Batch 2 5.6MCC (phr) Batch 3 11.8MCC (phr) Batch 4 17.6MCC (phr) Batch 5 23.5MCC (phr)
1st pass
a
SBR 80.45 80.45 80.45 80.45 80.45
PB 19.45 19.45 19.45 19.45 19.45
CB 7.78 7.78 7.78 7.78 7.78
Silica 58.3 54.41 50.7 46.7 42.7
Silane 3.89 3.89 3.89 3.89 3.89
PA 2.33 2.33 2.33 2.33 2.33
ZnO 1.94 1.94 1.94 1.94 1.94
StAc 1.56 1.56 1.56 1.56 1.56
6ppd 1.56 1.56 1.56 1.56 1.56
Sun 3.89 3.89 3.89 3.89 3.89
MCC 0 3.89 7.70 11.6 15.6
2nd pass
b
DPG 1.07 1.07 1.07 1.07 1.07
CBS 1.30 1.30 1.30 1.30 1.30
S 0.92 0.92 0.92 0.92 0.92
Total 184.44 184.44 184.54 184.44 184.44
a Compounding procedure of 1st pass (master batch 1/MB1): 100rpm and 0.207 MPa (30 psi). (1) Added rubber and mixed it for 30 sec. (2) Added
half silica, half MCC and silane, and then mixed them for 45 sec. (3) Added the left silica, the left MCC and Sun, and then mixed them for 50 sec. (4)
Added CB, PA, ZnO, StAc, 6 ppd, and then mixed them for 25 sec. (5) Swept, auto ram lifted, and mixed for another 350 sec. 6. Discharged at 55rpm
and 0.207 MPa (30 psi).
b Compounding procedure of 2nd pass (master batch 2/MB2): 77rpm and 0.207 MPa (30 psi). (1) Loaded 1/2 MB1, curatives, and MB1. (2) Mixed for
30 sec and sweep. (3) Discharged either at 120 sec or 100C.
24
black (CB), silica, and microcrystalline
cellulose (MCC). The coupling agent was
bis(3-triethyoxysilylpropyl)disulfide. Two
types of activators were zinc oxide and
stearic acid. The antiozonant was N-(1,3-
dimethyl)-N-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine
(6PPD). The processing oil was a product
with a trade name of Sundex790.
There were two kinds of accelerators:
diphenylguanidine (DPG) and N-
cyclohexyl-2-benzothiazolesulfonamide
(CBS). The vulcanizer was sulfur (S). The
curing agents included DPG, CBS, and S.
Compounding recipe and
procedure
A Banbury 1600 internal mixer (Farrel
Corp, Ansonia, Connecticut) was used for
compounding a rubber mixture, which
was called master batch. The temperature
of the mixer was set and maintained
at 65C. There were five batches
compounded according to the recipes and
procedures in Table 2. The weights of all
ingredients in the recipes were in units of
per hundred rubber (phr). Batch 1 was
the control, which did not contain MCC.
The percentages of silica replaced by MCC
were 5.6%, 11.8%, 17.6%, and 23.5%,
corresponding to Batch 2, Batch 3, Batch
4, and Batch 5. There were two passes to
complete the compounding. After each
pass, the master batches were made into
sheets with the thickness of 2-4mm by
an open rubber mill (Stewart Bolling Co,
Cleveland, Ohio).
Evaluation of viscoelastic
properties of unvulcanized
rubber composites
Mooney viscosity and scorch tests
were both carried out with Monsanto
Mooney Viscometer 2000 (TechPro Inc,
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio). Mooney viscosities
were measured with a large rotor at an
oscillating rate of 0.2rad/s. Initial viscosity
was recorded immediately after preheating
a rubber composite specimen for one
minute at 100C. Mooney viscosity at
100C was recorded after preheating
the specimen for one minute and the
total testing time was four minutes
according to ASTM D1646. The initial
viscosities and Mooney viscosities of aged
rubber composites were obtained after
unvulcanized rubber composites were
stored at room temperature for one
week and two weeks, respectively.
The scorch test was carried out in
accordance with ASTM D1646 as well.
The testing temperature was 125C and
the total testing time was 60 minutes.
The temperature was set at 125C because
the processing temperature in rubber
manufacturing could ascend by incident.
The times required for increasing Mooney
viscosity above its minimum viscosity by
5, 10, and 35 units were designated as t
5
,
t
10
, and t
35
. The total volume of two pieces
of specimens for each test was around
253 cm
3
. Two pieces of specimens were
Table 3: Initial viscosity and Mooney viscosity (MV) for unaged and aged rubber composites at 100C
Batch Unaged One-week aged Two-week aged
Initial
viscosity
a
MV
b
6
c
Initial
viscosity
MV 6 6
IV1
c
6
MV1
c
Initial
viscosity
MV 6 6
IV2
c
6
MV
2
1 99.3 76.4 -22.9 119.6 80.9 -38.7 20.3 4.5 127.6 83.3 -44.3 28.3 6.9
2 97.7 72.5 -25.2 116.8 76.6 -40.2 19.1 4.1 119.7 78.1 -41.6 22.0 5.6
3 98.8 68.4 -30.4 105.7 70.8 -34.9 6.9 2.4 112.1 71.9 -40.2 13.3 3.5
4 93.8 63.5 -30.3 98.5 65.9 -32.6 4.7 2.4 100.7 66.6 -34.1 6.9 3.1
5 89.6 62.3 -27.3 93.4 63.2 -30.2 3.8 0.9 94.9 64 -30.9 5.3 1.7
a Initial viscosity: the immediate reading of viscosity after one minute preheating.
b MV: Mooney viscosity after one minute preheating and four minute testing time.
c 6=MV initial viscosity, 6
IV1
= initial viscosity(one-week aged) initial viscosity(unaged), DIV2 = initial viscosity(two-week aged) initial viscosity(unaged),
6
MV1
= MV(one-week aged) MV(unaged), 6
MV2
= MV(two-week aged) MV(unaged).
Figure 1: Energy consumptions of Batch 1 (
. . .
), Batch 2 (-
.
-
.
-), Batch 3 (), Batch 4 (- - -), and Batch 5 (-
..
-
..
)
during internal rubber mill processing
Figure 2: Temperature profiles of Batch 1 (
. . .
), Batch 2 (-
.
-
.
-), Batch 3 (), Batch 4 (- - -), and Batch 5 (-
..
-
..
)
during internal rubber mill processing
25
used since they filled up the cavity of the
test chamber better than a single piece
of specimen.
Evaluation of apparent shear
stress and apparent shear
viscosity
Apparent shear stress and apparent shear
viscosity of the rubber composites were
obtained with a capillary rheometer,
Rheo-testing 1000 (Goettfert, Germany)
in accordance with ASTM D5099. The
diameter of the die was 1.5mm and
the length/diameter ratio of the die
was 15. The entrance angle was 90.
The instrument was warmed up for 30
minutes at 100C. The cycle of apparent
extrusion speed was from 1,000 s
-1
, 500
s
-1
, 230 s
-1
, 115 s
-1
, 57.5 s
-1
, 23.0 s
-1
, to
11.5 s
-1
. The apparent shear stresses and
apparent shear viscosities at all apparent
shear velocities were obtained after three
minutes preheating and the total testing
time was 30 minutes.
Determination of curing
characteristics
The vulcanizing characteristics of each
rubber composite were determined
with an oscillating disk cure meter,
Rheo-tech (TechPro Inc, Cuyahoga Falls,
Ohio) in accordance with ASTM D2084.
The curing temperature for SBR and
PB rubber was 160C. The oscillating
frequency was 1.70.1Hz with amplitude
of 3.0. The volume of a test specimen
was between 3-5cm
3
. Total testing time
was 30 minutes. Scorch time (T
s
-2)
and cure time (T
c
-90) were measured.
Evaluation of tensile strength
of unaged and heat-aged
rubber composites
The tensile stresses of rubber composites
were measured with an Instron 5500
R, model 4201 (Instron, Canton,
Massachusetts) in accordance with
ASTM D624. The crosshead speed was
50cm/min and the original gauge of the
extensometer was 25mm. The thickness
and width of dumbbell specimens were
about 2mm and 6.25mm, respectively.
Tensile strength and the modulus at
100%, 200%, and 300% elongation were
calculated from the following equations:
The heat aging of dumbbell specimens
was carried out in accordance with ASTM
D573. The specimens were placed in
a 100C oven for 70 hours. The hardness
(type A) of test specimens was measured
by a Durometer type A (Instrument &
MFG Co Inc, New York) in accordance
with ASTM D2240. The thickness of
test specimens for hardness test was
about 6mm.
Evaluation of tear strength
of rubber composites
The tear strength was measured in
accordance with ASTM D412. The die
cutter for preparing tear-test specimens
was Die C. The thickness of tear-test
specimens was around 2mm. The tear
strength of hot rubber composites was
obtained after tear-test specimens were
boiled in hot water for one hour.
The specimens were tested when
they were still hot.
Evaluation of heat resistance
and heat blowout time
Heat build-up and heat blowout tests
were performed with a Firestone
Flexometer (Firestone Tire & Rubber Co,
Akron, Ohio) in accordance with ASTM
D623. The specimen was placed between
two plates. One of the plates had an
oscillating speed of 13.3Hz. For the heat
build-up test, the pressure was fixed at
0.8MPa and the test time was 45 minutes.
The inside temperature of the rubber
composites was recorded after 45 minutes
and used as an indicator for the heat-
generating rate of rubber composites.
For the heat blowout test, the pressure
was fixed at 1.7MPa and the moving
amplitude of the oscillating plate was
8.2mm. The time was recorded when
the deformation reached 8.2mm. The
dimensions of Firestone specimen were:
base 54.0 x 28.6mm, top 50.8 x 25.4mm,
and altitude 38.1mm. The cure time for
Firestone specimens was four times that
for tensile specimens.
Determination of dynamic
mechanical properties
Dynamic mechanical properties were
determined with a mechanical energy
resolver (MER) MER-1100B (Imass,
Accord, Massachusetts) in compression
and tension on a cylindrical specimen. The
frequency of the MER test was 1Hz with
a constant dynamic force of 0.7kg-RMS
(RMS: root mean square). The MER test
was done at two different temperatures of
23C and 100C. The diameter and length
of MER specimens were about 17.8mm
and 25mm, respectively. The cure time
for MER specimens was double that
of tensile specimens.
Statistical analysis of
experimental data
All experimental data with replicates
were analyzed with a standard two-sample
t-test using S-PLUS statistical software
(Version 8.0, Insightful Corp, Seattle,
Washington). All comparisons were
based on a 95% confidence interval.
Compositions of rubber
composites and compounding
procedures
Table 2 shows the compositions of
rubber composites from Batch 1 to Batch
5 and the compounding procedures
for all batches. Batch 1 was the control
rubber composites that did not contain
any MCC filler. The percentages of silica
filler that were replaced by the MCC
filler were as follows: 5.6% in Batch 2,
11.8% (almost double Batch 2) in Batch
3, 17.65 (almost triple Batch 2) in Batch
4, and 23.5% (close to quadruple Batch
2) in Batch 5. The weight percentages of
other components in rubber composites
were the same for all batches. The
compounding procedures included two
passes. In the first pass, all the materials
except the curatives of the rubber
composites were included. The total
mixing time in the first pass was 500
seconds. A high shear and a long mixing
time were used in the first pass to allow
the even dispersion of all fillers and other
additives in the rubber matrix. The rubber
composites obtained from the first pass
were defined as Master Batch 1 (MB1).
The curatives (DPG, CBS and S) could
not be added in the first pass because
the internal temperature could be high
enough to cause the pre-cure of rubber
composites. As a result, a second pass
was used where the curatives were added
to the rubber composites. The rubber
composites obtained from the second pass
A high shear and a long mixing time
were used in the first pass to allow
the even dispersion of all fillers
26
were defined as Master Batch 2 (MB2).
For preventing the pre-cure of rubber
composites, MB2 was discharged either
at 120 seconds of the mixing time or at
100C, whichever came first.
Compounding of the rubber
composites in an internal
rubber mill
Figure 1 shows the power required for the
thorough mixing of the rubber composites
in an internal rubber mill. Because all the
components in the first pass were added
into the mill during the first 240 seconds,
the power required for thorough mixing
was determined after 240 seconds (Figure
1). When the amount of silica replaced
by MCC increased, the power required
for compounding the rubber composites
decreased. These results appeared to
indicate that it took less energy to evenly
disperse MCC into the rubber matrix than
to evenly disperse the same amount of
silica. The densities of MCC, silica, and
carbon black are around 1.42
12
, 2.20
13
,
and 1.81
14
g/cm
3
, respectively.
MCC is lighter, i.e. bulkier, than silica.
MCC particles had less tendency of
aggregation among themselves than silica
particles and carbon black particles. A
part of energy required for the thorough
mixing was used to break down the silica
or carbon black aggregates. During the
compounding, some MCC particles might
be inserted between silica particles, which
would reduce the re-aggregation of silica
particles and facilitate the dispersion of
silica particles into the rubber matrix, thus
reducing the energy required for evenly
dispersing the fillers into rubber matrix.
Figure 2 shows the temperature
profiles of five batches during the
compounding in the first pass. The
temperature in all five batches linearly
decreased as the mixing proceeded.
The temperature was an indicator of the
heat generated during the compounding.
Friction among fillers generated heat.
When the compounding proceeded,
more fillers were dispersed into the
rubber matrix and less friction among
fillers would occur, which might explain
why the temperature linearly decreased
along the mixing time (Figure 2). As the
compounding proceeded, some filler
particles would collide with each other
to form aggregates again. When the
aggregates were broken down, friction
occurred and heat was generated. The
higher aggregation tendency of silica and
carbon black particles might explain why
the temperature in Batch 1 decreased at
a slower rate than that in other batches.
From Batch 2 to Batch 5, the amount
of silica replaced by MCC increased, and
the temperature profile was also down-
shifted in an almost parallel fashion. The
reduction of filler-filler interactions by
MCC might account for this temperature
down-shift. Heat dissipation could be one
of the reasons why temperature dropped
down during the process, because the
temperature of the mixer was maintained
at 65C and was lower than that of the
rubber mixture.
The previous study has shown that
the reaction of silane coupling agent
with silica occurs at a temperature above
150C.
15
The mixing temperature for
each batch in this study was above 150C
(Figure 2), which indicated that the
coupling reaction between the silane
coupling agent and silica would occur.
Mooney viscosity of the
rubber composites
Table 3 shows the initial viscosities and
Mooney viscosities of unaged and aged
rubber composites from each batch. The
test temperature was set at 100C because
most industry processes such as milling,
extrusion, and calendaring occur around
this temperature. The numbers in the first
three columns were the results of unaged
rubber composites from each batch.
The initial viscosities of the unaged
rubber composites decreased from Batch
1 to Batch 2, increased from Batch 2 to
Batch 3, and then decreased again from
Batch 3 to Batch 5. Low initial viscosity
resulted from less filler-filler interaction
and better dispersion of fillers in the
rubber matrix.
The Mooney viscosity for unaged
rubber composites decreased with
increase in MCC content from Batch 1
to Batch 5. The viscosity difference (6)
between the Mooney viscosity and the
initial viscosity is indicative of how easily
the rubber composite is processed to
form different products. The smaller
the difference, the easier the process.
The viscosity difference for unaged
rubber composites slightly increased
from Batch 1 to Batch 3. The viscosity
differences for Batch 3 and Batch 4
were the same. The viscosity difference
slightly decreased from Batch 4 to Batch
5. The range of the viscosity differences
for all batches was small. There will be
little problem processing the rubber
composites from all batches.
Table 4: Pre-vulcanization characteristics at 125C
Batch t
5
(min)
a
t
10
(min)
b
t
35
(min)
c
1 57.1
d

2 54.6
3 52.0 58.8
4 43.5 48.2 55.4
5 45.2 49.7 56.2
a t
5
: The time required for increasing the viscosity above the minimum viscosity by 5 units
b t
10
: The time required for increasing the viscosity above the minimum viscosity by 10 units
c t
35
: The time required for increasing the viscosity above the minimum viscosity by 35 units
d (): Data were not available because the viscosity did not increase by 10 units or 35 units
when the test was done at 60 min.
Figure 3: The apparent shear stresses in each
batch at two different apparent shear velocities
500 s
-1
(Q) and 1,000 s
-1
(V)
Figure 4: The apparent shear viscosities in each
batch at two different apparent shear velocities
of 500 s
-1
(Q) and 1,000 s
-1
(V).
27
The next three columns show the
initial viscosity, the Mooney viscosity,
and the viscosity differences (6) for those
rubber composites that have been aged
for one week (Table 3). The one-week
aging significantly increased the initial
viscosity and the Mooney viscosity for
all batches (Table 3). Both the initial
viscosity and the Mooney viscosity for
one-week-aged rubber composites
gradually decreased from Batch 1 to Batch
5. In other words, the initial viscosity
and the Mooney viscosity both decreased
along with increasing the MCC content
in the rubber composites.
The viscosity difference between the
Mooney viscosity and the initial viscosity
slightly increased from Batch 1 to Batch 2
and then gradually decreased from Batch
2 to Batch 5, which implied that addition
of MCC facilitated the process of aged
rubber composites into different products.
For those rubber composites that had
been aged for two weeks, the initial
viscosity, the Mooney viscosity, and the
viscosity difference between the Mooney
viscosity and the initial viscosity all
decreased when the MCC content
increased from Batch 1 to Batch 5 (Table
3). These results demonstrated that the
replacement of silica by MCC facilitated
the processes of aged rubber composites.
For the rubber composites from each
batch, the initial viscosity and the Mooney
viscosity both increased when the aging
time was increased (Table 3). During
storage, i.e. aging, fillers tend to migrate
and aggregate, which results in the
viscosity increase. After the rubber
composites were aged for either one week
or two weeks, the net gain of the initial
viscosity and the net gain of the Mooney
viscosity for each batch decreased along
with the increase in the MCC content
from Batch 1 to Batch 5. We speculate
that the following reasons may contribute
the decrease in the net gains of the
viscosities: 1) MCC has lower tendency
to aggregate than silica and carbon black.
The net gains of the viscosities would be
smaller for the rubber composites with
a higher MCC content even if all fillers
have the same migration rates; 2) MCC
slows down the migration of the other
two fillers, silica and carbon black; 3)
MCC interferes with the aggregation
of silica and carbon black.
Pre-vulcanization
characteristics
Table 4 shows the t
5
, t
10
and t
35
of
all rubber composites. The t
5
gradually
decreased when the MCC content
increased from Batch 1 to Batch 4, and
then slightly increased from Batch 4
to Batch 5. The t
10
was longer than 60
minutes because the viscosity did not
increase by 10 units when the test was
done at 60 minutes. The t
10
decreased
from Batch 3 to Batch 4 and then
remained roughly the same from Batch
4 to Batch 5. The t
35
for the Batches 1-3
was longer than 60 minutes because the
viscosity did not increase by 35 units
when the test was done at 60 minutes.
The t
35
for Batch 4 and Batch 5 was not
significantly different.
Generally speaking, the t
5
, t
10
and t
35
indicate the pre-vulcanization
characteristics during processing. If the
t
5
, t
10
and t
35
are too low, the rubber
composites are vulcanized too fast, which
means that the viscosity increases too fast
to allow the rubber composites to take a
shape of the resulting products. Therefore
the t
5
, t
10
and t
35
have to be sufficiently
high. Batch 1 is a typical recipe for rubber
tire application. The pre-vulcanization
characteristics of a new rubber composite
are considered desirable if its t
5
, t
10
and t
35
are close to those of Batch 1. The results
from Table 4 suggested that MCC
decreased the t
5
, t
10
and t
35
to some extent.
As shown in Table 3, MCC decreased the
initial viscosity and the Mooney viscosity
of unaged and aged rubber composites.
In other words, the rubber composites
containing MCC have a lower viscosity
than Batch 1 before any process. When
compared with Batch 1, the lower initial
viscosity will offset the faster increase in
the viscosity (i.e. the lower t
5
, t
10
and t
35
)
during a vulcanization process. Therefore
the lower t
5
, t
10
and t
35
of the rubber
composites containing MCC would not
negatively affect their vulcanization
processes.
Rheological properties
of the rubber composites
The rheological properties of the rubber
composites were obtained with the
capillary rheometer at two apparent shear
velocities of 500 s
-1
and 1,000 s
-1
because
milling, extrusion and calendaring of
rubber composites are usually carried
out at 500 s
-1
and the injection molding
at 1,000 s
-1
. The apparent shear stress
of each batch at 1,000 s
-1
was higher than
that at 500 s
-1
, which is consistent with
the fact that a high force had to be applied
to the rubber composites to achieve a high
flow rate (Figure 3). The apparent shear
stress decreased from Batch 1 to Batch
Figure 5: The scorch time (T
s
-2) and cure time
(T
c
-90) of each batch at 160C. T
s
-2 (Q): the time
required for increasing the torque above its minimum
by 2 units. T
c
-90 (V): the time required for reaching
90% of the maximum torque
Figure 6: The tensile strength of unaged (Q) and aged
rubber composites (Q). Each data point is the mean
of three replicates, and the error bar represents one
standard deviation
Figure 7: The modulus at 100% (), 200% (l ), and
300% (// ) elongation of unaged rubber composites
and the modulus at 100% (Q), 200% (\\ ), and 300%
() elongation of aged rubber composites. Each data
point was the mean of three replicates, and the error
bar represents one standard deviation
28
4, and then maintained almost the same
from Batch 4 to Batch 5. These results
revealed that MCC reduced the force
required for achieving the same flow rate.
With the increase in the MCC
replacement from Batch 1 to Batch 4,
the apparent dynamic shear viscosity
decreased at both apparent shear
velocities (Figure 4). These results
indicated that the MCC facilitated the
process of the rubber composites and
reduced the energy consumption for the
process. The apparent dynamic shear
viscosity for Batch 4 was almost the same
as that for Batch 5, which the MCC effect
on the reduction of the energy reduction
flattened out when the MCC replacement
was 17.6% or higher (Figure 4).
Cure characteristics of
the rubber composites
The scorch time (T
s
-2) for all five batches
was about six minutes. This implied that
the addition of MCC in rubber composites
did not have significant influence on
the time of initiating curing reactions
(Figure 5). T
c
-90 is usually used as the
cure time, i.e. the time required for full
cure of the rubber composites. The cure
time decreased from Batch 1 to Batch 2,
remained the same from Batch 2 to
Batch 3, decreased again from Batch 3
to Batch 4, and then kept almost the same
from Batch 4 to Batch 5 (Figure 5). As
discussed previously, MCC might facilitate
the dispersion of silica. A good dispersion
of silica (i.e. low aggregation of silica)
means that more silane coupling agent-
coated silica surfaces are available for
vulcanization, thereby reducing the cure
time. It is still poorly understood that the
cure time did not linearly decrease along
with increasing the MCC content. Because
the T
c
-90 was lower than 14 minutes
for all batches, the cure time of making
tensile specimens for all the batches was
set to be 14 minutes.
Tensile properties of unaged
and heat-aged rubber
composites
The tensile strength significantly increased
from Batch 1 to Batch 2 (Figure 6). The
tensile strengths of rubber composites
from Batch 3, Batch 4, and Batch 5 were
comparable to that of control rubber
composites from Batch 1 (Figure 6). For
those heat-aged rubber composites, the
tensile strength gradually decreased from
Batch 1 to Batch 3 and then remained the
same from Batch 3 to Batch 5 (Figure 6).
There are two opposite effects that can
affect the tensile strengths. First, a good
dispersion of fillers can improve the
interactions between fillers and rubber
matrix, thus improving the tensile
strength.
4, 16
Second, MCC has a lower
Youngs modulus than silica.
17
MCC-
rubber composites are inherently not as
strong as silica-rubber composites, which
means that silica cannot be completely
replaced by MCC. Results from Figure 6
demonstrate that tensile strengths of the
rubber composites containing MCC were
stronger than or comparable to the rubber
composites without MCC (Batch 1) when
the MCC content was below 23.5%. It is
still poorly understood that the treatment
of the rubber composites at 100C for 70
hours slightly reduced the tensile strength
of the rubber composites with MCC.
Figure 7 shows the effects of MCC
replacement in rubber composites on
modulus at 100%, 200%, and 300%
elongations. The modulus at 100%
elongation of unaged rubber composites
from Batch 2, Batch 3, Batch 4, and Batch
5 were higher than that of unaged control
rubber composites from Batch 1. The
modulus at 100% elongation of unaged
rubber composites gradually increased
as the amount of MCC replacement
increased from Batch 2 to Batch 5. The
modulus at 200% elongation of unaged
rubber composites from Batch 2, Batch 3,
Batch 4, and Batch 5 was higher than that
of unaged control rubber composites from
Batch 1. The modulus at 200% elongation
of unaged rubber composites slightly
increased as the percentage of MCC
replacement was increased from 0% to
11.8% (i.e. from Batch 1 to Batch 3), and
then remained statistically the same from
11.8% to 23.5% of MCC replacement, i.e.
from Batch 3 to Batch 5 (Figure 7). The
modulus at 300% elongation of unaged
rubber composites from Batch 2, Batch 3,
Batch 4, and Batch 5 was higher than that
of unaged control rubber composites from
Batch 1. The modulus at 300% elongation
of unaged rubber composites slightly
increased as the percentage of MCC
replacement was increased from 0%
to 11.8%, i.e. from Batch 1 to Batch 3,
remained statistically the same from
11.8% to 17.6% of MCC replacement,
i.e. from Batch 3 to Batch 4, and then
decreased from 17.6% to 23.5% of MCC
replacement, i.e. from Batch 4 to Batch 5.
The modulus at 100%, 200%, and
300% elongation for all aged specimens
increased when compared with the
corresponding modulus at 100%, 200%
and 300% elongation for all unaged ones.
The modulus of aged specimens at
100% elongation with MCC was larger
than that without MCC. The modulus of
aged specimens at 200% elongation for
Batch 1 had no difference from those for
Batch 2 and Batch 4. The modulus of aged
specimens at 200% elongation for Batch 1
Figure 10. The tear strength of rubber composites (Q)
and hot rubber composites (Q). Each data point is the
mean of three replicates, and the error bar represents
one standard deviation
Figure 9. Hardness (type A) of unaged (Q) and aged
(V) rubber composites. The data point is the median
values of five measurements
Figure 8: The elongation at break of unaged (Q)
and aged rubber composites (\\ ). Each data point
is the mean of three replicates, and the error bar
represents one standard deviation
29
was larger than those for Batch 3 and
Batch 5. Moreover, the modulus at 300%
elongation of aged specimens from
Batch 2 was comparable to Batch 1.
However, the modulus at 300%
elongation of aged specimens from Batch
3, Batch 4, and Batch 5 were lower than
Batch 1. The following mechanisms may
explain why the modulus changed after
aging. After vulcanization, the crosslinks
in rubber composites were mostly
polysulfide bonds. Polysulfide bonds
were more flexible, i.e. less stiff than
monosulfide bonds. As heat aging
proceeded, some polysulfide bonds
were broken down to monosulfide
bonds, which resulted in the increase
in the modulus.
4
Figure 8 shows the effects of MCC
replacement in rubber composites on
elongation at break. The elongation at
break of unaged rubber composites from
Batch 2 was not significantly different
from that of unaged control rubber
composites from Batch 1. The elongation
at break of unaged rubber composites
from Batch 3, Batch 4, and Batch 5 were
slightly shorter than that of unaged
control rubber composites from Batch 1
(Figure 8). The elongation at break of
unaged rubber composites from Batch 3
was almost the same as that from Batch 4
and Batch 5. The elongation at break for
each aged specimen was shorter than the
elongation at break for each unaged one.
Polysulfide bonds are more stretchable
than monosulfide bonds. Because some
polysulfide bonds were transformed into
monosulfide bonds as the heat aging
proceeded, the elongation at break of
the heat-aged composites became shorter
than that of the unaged ones.
4
The hardness of aged rubber
composites was higher than that of
corresponding unaged composites from
the same batch (Figure 9). The hardness
of unaged rubber composites from Batch
1 to Batch 3 was almost the same, and
then increased from Batch 3 to Batch 5.
The hardness of aged rubber composites
from Batches 1-4 was about the same
and was higher than that from Batch 5.
Tear strengths of the rubber
composites and hot rubber
composites
The tear strength of rubber composites
from Batch 2, Batch 3, Batch 4, and
Batch 5 was lower than that from Batch
1, respectively (Figure 10). The tear
strengths of rubber composites were
about the same from Batch 2 and Batch
3, decreased from Batch 3 to Batch 4, and
remained the same from Batch 4 to Batch
5. Rubber composites without MCC filler
had a higher homogeneity than those
containing MCC, thus MCC-filled rubber
composites had low tear strength. The
tear strength of hot rubber composites
remained the same from Batch 1 to
Batch 3. The tear strength of hot rubber
composites decreased from Batch 3 to
Batch 4 and then remained the same
from Batch 4 to Batch 5 (Figure 10).
Heat build-up and heat
blowout time of the
rubber composites
When rubber composites underwent
a long-term dynamic distortion, the
heat built up inside the composites (i.e.
the temperature increased). The inside
temperature after 45 minutes dynamic
distortion and the time after the rubber
composites deformed to 8.2mm were
recorded and are shown in Figure 11.
The temperature significantly decreased
when the MCC content was increased
from Batch 1 to Batch 5 (Figure 11).
However, the blowout time slowly
increased from Batch 1 to Batch 3 and
then rapidly increased from Batch 3 to
Batch 5. The heat capacity of cellulose
(1.3 kJ*kg
-1
*K
-1
) is larger than that of
silica (0.7 kJ*kg
-1
*K
-1
).
18
MCC could
serve as heat sink and significantly
delayed the blowout of the rubber
composites, which were very desirable
features for tire application.
There was smoke coming out of
blown-out test specimens, which
suggested that MCC was degraded to
some extent. This is consistent with the
fact that MCC is less heat resistant than
silica and carbon black. The previous
study on MCC with thermogravity
analysis (TGA) revealed that there was
little weight loss when the temperature
was below 200C.
19
The temperature
in some pocket areas of the rubber
composites might exceed the degradation
temperature (200C) during the Firestone
heat blowout test, which resulted in
the smoke. The degradation of MCC
requires energy, thus dissipating heat.
A combination of the high heat capacity
and a partial degradation of MCC may
account for the low inside temperature
and long blowout time. How the partial
degradation may affect the actual usable
life of rubber tires warrants further
investigation.
Dynamic mechanical
properties of the rubber
composites
The tanb was obtained from each rubber
composite at a low temperature (23C)
and a high temperature (100C). For test
specimens from the same batch, the tanb
at the low temperature was higher than
that at the high temperature (Figure 12).
At the low temperature, the tanb values
of Batch 2 and Batch 3 were statistically
the same as that of Batch 1. At the low
temperature, the tanb decreased from
Batch 3 to Batch 4 and then remained
the same from Batch 4 to Batch 5. At the
high temperature, the tanb decreased from
Batch 1 to Batch 2, remained the same
from Batch 2 to Batch 3 and then rapidly
decreased from Batch 3 to Batch 5 (Figure
12). A high tanb of rubber composite
means low friction between rubber tires
and road, i.e. a high rolling resistance
and low gas mileage. The tanb from the
low temperature has implications on the
rubber tire application in the rainy season,
when the temperature is low and the road
is wet. In the rainy season the high rolling
resistance between tires and the road is
desirable.
Figure 12: Viscoelastic property (tanb) of each
batch at 23C (Q) and 100C (V). Each data point
is the mean of three replicates, and the error bar
represents one standard deviation
Figure 11: Inside temperature of rubber composites
from the heat buildup test (Q) and the blowout time
of rubber composites from heat blowout test (V)
30
Therefore the higher the tanb obtained
from the low temperature, the better.
Rubber composites with up to 11.8% of
MCC replacement had the tanb, i.e. the
traction, comparable to control rubber
composites at low temperature. Further
increase in the MCC content in rubber
composites decreased the tanb, i.e. the
wet traction at low temperature. The
tanb from the high temperature has
implications on the rubber tire application
in summer: when the temperature is
high, the road is less slippery than in
the rainy season, and the fuel efficiency
of automobiles becomes an important
consideration. In summer the low tanb
of rubber tires, i.e. the low rolling
resistance between rubber tires and
road, is preferred for obtaining a high
fuel efficiency and good mileage for
automobiles. The tanb decreased from
Batch 1 to Batch 2, flattened out from
Batch 2 to Batch 3, and then rapidly
decreased from Batch 3 to Batch 5, which
implies that the partial replacement
of silica by MCC in rubber composites
would decrease the rolling resistance and
increase the fuel efficiency of automobiles
if the rubber tires are made with the
rubber composites containing MCC.
Summary and conclusions
The partial replacement of silica with
MCC significantly reduced the energy
required for thorough mixing of rubber,
fillers, and other additives. MCC
significantly reduced the initial viscosity
and the Mooney viscosity of unvulcanized
rubber composites, thus facilitating the
formation of rubber composites with
different shapes prior to vulcanization.
Moreover, the addition of MCC reduced
the difference in viscosities between
unaged and aged rubber composites,
thus facilitating the handling and
processing of the rubber composites.
The rubber composites with MCC
replacement had a higher pre-
vulcanization rate than those without
MCC. The low initial viscosity and low
Mooney viscosity of rubber composites
containing MCC would offset the negative
impacts of a higher pre-vulcanization rate
on the process. MCC decreased the shear
stress and shear viscosities, which further
demonstrated that MCC facilitated the
processes such as milling, calendaring,
extrusion, and injection molding of
rubber composites. The tensile strengths
and the modulus at 100%, 200%, 300%
elongation of rubber composites
containing up to 17.6% of MCC were
higher than those without MCC.
MCC increased the heat resistance
of rubber composites. The partial
replacement of silica with MCC slightly
decreased the tear strength of the rubber
composites and hot rubber composites.
The partial replacement of silica with
MCC did not decrease the tanb at the
MCC replacement of up to 11.8% at
low temperature such as in the rainy
season, and decreased the tanb at high
temperature such as in summer. The
automobile tires made from rubber
composites containing up to 11.8%
MCC would have the same traction on
the road in the winter as those without
MCC, and would give the automobiles
a higher fuel efficiency in summer than
those without MCC. tire
Acknowledgements
Financial support for this research was
provided by Schill+Seilacher Struktol
AG, Hamburg, Germany and Struktol
Company of America, Stow, Ohio.
The authors greatly appreciated the
experimental support from P. Danilowicz,
Z. Brdarski, B. Eikelberry, and K. Tracy
at Struktol Company of America.
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T
he tire/wheel assembly (referred
to here as assembly) is a critical
component in providing good
ride, a requirement for all road
vehicles, particularly automobiles and
light trucks. The assembly effect is
usually thought of in two ways. The first
is in terms of transmission of vibration
produced by the interaction of the tire
with road surface irregularities i.e.
harshness. The second is in terms of
tire structural irregularity generated,
and energy generated and transmitted
during operation on a smooth road i.e.
uniformity. Both types of energy share the
dynamic properties of the tire structure,
although they differ in source.
An assembly rolling on an absolutely
smooth surface inputs rotationally keyed
cyclical forces and moments to the spindle
to which it is attached. There are three
forces and three moments to consider
(Figure 1).
1
In a practical sense the
variation of two forces (radial and fore-
aft) and one moment (aligning moment)
are responsible for most of the ride
disturbances attributable to balance
or non-uniformity. Each of the non-
uniformity inputs is a complex time-
varying waveform keyed to the angular
position of the assembly.
It is common engineering practice
to use Fourier Analysis to decompose
uniformity waveforms into a series of pure
sine waves, either sine or cosine, whose
frequency depends on the frequency of
rotation of the assembly. Figure 2
2
is an
example of a uniformity waveform and its
decomposition into a series of sine waves.
The decomposition simplifies analysis.
The basic sine wave, first harmonic,
has a frequency equivalent to the
frequency of rotation of the assembly.
For example, if the assembly were
rotating 10 times per second, the
frequency of the first harmonic would
be 10Hz (cycles per second) or 20/
radians per second. The second harmonic
would have a frequency twice that of the
first harmonic, 40/ radians per second.
The third would have a frequency three
times that of the first harmonic, 60/
radians per second, and so on.
Each waveform varies with speed
due to variation of the excitation and
because tires, wheels, and assemblies,
like all physical objects, have
characteristics called natural frequencies.
Physical objects like to vibrate at these
frequencies. Thus, if a harmonic reaches
the natural frequency of a mode, the
harmonic will grow very large (Figure 3).
3
As a harmonic passes through the
frequency range, the vehicle speeds up
and slows down, and the system response
is delayed with respect to the harmonic
excitation as well as varying in amplitude.
This delay is called phase and is
illustrated in Figure 4, where we see a
shift between the start of excitation and
the systems response. Phase is usually
expressed as an angle, as in:
Equation 1
Tuning forks are a good modal example.
A tapped tuning fork emits a single note
associated with its principle mode of
vibration.
Complex objects such as a tire,
a wheel, an assembly, a car, and humans
This review of force uniformity mainly focuses on disturbances at the wheel rotation
rate, and also covers balance, which affects uniformity in well-balanced assemblies
by Marion Pottinger, MEngineering, USA
Uniformity: a crucial attribute
of tire/wheel assemblies
Figure 2: The waveform for each component is complex Figure 1: The uniformity axis system, specified in SAE J2047, is a 180 rotation of the ISO wheel axis system
Vector
Summation
1-2-3-4-5-6
Harmonics
1st
Harmonic
2nd
Harmonic
3rd
Harmonic
4th
Harmonic
5th
Harmonic
6th
Harmonic
Road plane
Contact center
Wheel plane
Wheel center
Reference
radius
R
RF
RM
Projection of reference
point on wheel plane
LM
LF
L
FM
FF
F
F
o
rw
a
rd
32
have multiple natural frequencies, each
of which has an associated mode shape.
Figure 5 shows the most important
modes for a radial tire with respect
to ride vibration.
As noted in the equation above, the
actual output from a rotating assembly
into the vehicle spindle is composed of
a first harmonic and higher harmonics.
This is true for all the forces and moments
shown in Figure 1, but most critically
for the fore-aft and radial forces, plus,
to a lesser extent, the aligning moment.
5
Figure 6 illustrates which harmonics are
associated with which types of smooth
road ride problems.
All service adjustments to assemblies
such as balancing and match mounting
are based on adjusting first harmonic
behavior. In a practical sense, the higher
harmonic excitations are the province
of the tire manufacturer and perhaps
the wheel manufacturer, although this
remains to be proved. The vehicle
structural response to all harmonics of
each of the forces and moments is subject
to modification by the vehicle
manufacturer.
It is common to begin a discussion
of smooth road-ride disturbances by
providing a laundry list of potential
sources of uniformity problems within
the tires and/or the wheels. In a practical
sense, from the standpoint of a company
that wants to correct problems after the
tires and wheel are manufactured, only
a limited number of sources are relevant.
A number of the sources that have been
listed classically are no longer relevant
because well-made tires manufactured
with state-of-the-art equipment by top
manufacturers either do not have these
problems, or they have been reduced
to a low level. Thus, problems such
as improperly made splices, lumpy
extrusions, poor belt-width control,
and snaked belts will be largely ignored
in what follows. Things that remain are
tire runout, rim runouts, rim-width
variations, tire-bead area placement
variations, and other bead-seating errors.
These will be viewed in the context
of radial tires.
Figure 7 is a wheel-plane schematic
view of a radial tire mounted on a perfect
wheel. The radial tire is basically a stiff
belt and tread area hoop supported on
a set of sidewall cords tensioned by
inflation. It can be described as an odd
relative of a bicycle wheel. The static
balance heavy point of the tire alone
is at the high point of the tires crown
radial runout.
5
Regardless of which radius is loaded
against the road, the mounted radial
tires radial stiffness is about the same.
However, for a constant loaded radius the
force exerted radially against the spindle
varies over a revolution because the
assemblys inherent out-of-roundness
causes the deflection of the carcass spring
to vary. The following equation expresses
Figure 3: Waveforms are very speed dependent
Figure 5: The crucial radial tire modes for ride vibration
Figure 4: Example of phase delay, showing a shift between the start of excitation and the systems response
Figure 6: Smooth road ride noise and vibration disturbances (reprinted with permission from STP 929 1986 ASTM
3
)
- Front suspension vertical
acceleration on 30 wheel
- BFG Hisum
X - Lab machine
M.G Pottinger, T.R. Wik
and K.D. Marshall,
BF Goodrich 1972
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1.0
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.7
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
R
a
d
i
a
l

f
o
r
c
e

(
p
e
a
k

t
o
-
p
e
a
k
-

L
B
)
U
n
s
p
r
u
n
g

m
a
s
s

v
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

a
c
c
e
l
e
r
a
t
i
o
n

(
g
s
)
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Speed (mph)
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
-1.0
-2.0
-3.0
Angle ()
0 90 180 270 360
Phase
lag
Output or
response
Radians
Input
12

312 2
Vertical Longitudinal
Rigid Body 18Hz Torsional 42Hz
Flexural 80Hz Flexural 88Hz
Frequency (Hz)
10
l
100
l
1,000
l
Not part of this discussion
Higher harmonics
Tire induced
Tire/pavement interaction noise
Roughness Shake
First harmonic
Rolling
boom
Spring/mass damper Shell modes
Local modes, Airpumping
organ pipes
Rigid body Structural modes
Acoustic transmissability
(Rigid) suspension elements
(local)
Chassis
beaming
Vehicle
response
Tire
response
Tire
induced
Road
induced
A
B
C
D
33
the radial force variation developed at the
footprint.
Equation 2
Figure 8 illustrates the well-known
correlation between the first harmonic
radial force variation, RFH1, and the
first harmonic geometrical runout, H1.
The slope of the linear fit represents
the tangent stiffness of the tire-wheel
assembly at the test load and inflation
pressure. The obvious linearity of the data
set is good experimental evidence that
low-speed radial force non-uniformities
are manifested as geometrical runout
of tires, at least for the first harmonic.
6
With the tire operating either against
a test surface or moving over a road
at a constant speed, the kinematics of
rotation force the tread band to undergo
angular acceleration and deceleration due
to the presence of the fixed loaded radius.
There is an associated cyclically varying
fore-aft force that acts at the spindle
because the tires rolling radius is variable.
This equation expresses the variable
rolling radius.
Equation 3
Substituting the rolling radius expressed
into this equation
Equation 4
and differentiating with respect
to time, Walker and Reeves
6
derived
an approximate expression for the
angular acceleration of the belt/tread,
which is:
Equation 5
Substitution of the angular acceleration
into the equation describing motion about
the spindle derived by drawing a free-
body diagram of assembly leads finally
to Equation 6, which explains the basic
behavior of fore-aft or longitudinal force
as a function of variation in the tires
rolling radius.
Equation 6
Figure 9 shows the variation of radial
force, fore-aft force, and lateral force
with speed for tires tested by Walker and
Reeves.
5
Walker and Reeves were well aware of
the interaction with the first longitudinal
(torsional) mode shown as having a
natural frequency of 42Hz for the tire
design shown in Figure 5. They discussed
this interaction primarily in terms of
phase. Richards
7
extended the work of
Walker and Reeves to explicitly include
the resonant effect using experiments
on a larger tire with a first longitudinal
(torsional) natural frequency of about
26Hz. Figures in Reeves work based on
hundreds of tests demonstrate that the
modal interaction conclusions are correct.
In a practical sense, Figures 10 and 11
approximate first harmonic force
examples for a P225/60R16 tire, and
demonstrate the effects. Note that the
reason the radial force seems relatively
speed independent in Figure 9 or 11 is
that its excitation source is not speed
dependent, and that the associated
frequencies dont get high enough to get
near the first vertical flexural mode, which
has a natural frequency of 80Hz in the
example in Figure 5 and is about 60Hz
for the P225/60R16 tire used to plot
Figure 11. Looking back at Figure 3, there
is an example of a higher harmonic of
Figure 7: Wheel plane schematic of mounted radial Figure 8: Correlation of first harmonics (runout & force) Figure 9: First harmonic variation vs speed for 40 tires
Figure 10: First harmonic force peak-to-peak fore-aft force for P225/60R16 tire assembly with 0.5mm amplitude
Spindle
Rim
Tire
Heavy point
R
a
d
i
a
l

r
u
n
o
u
t

(
m
m
)
Radial force variation, H1 (daN)
0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
-4 -2 0 2 4
Lateral
Longitudinal
Peak/Peak
Force (LB)
Radial
100
10
1
100
10
1
100
10
1
10 50 100
Speed (km/h)
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
x Neglecting 1st mode
resonance
With 1st mode
resonance
P
e
a
k
-
t
o
-
p
e
a
k

f
o
r
e
-
a
f
t

f
o
r
c
e

(
N
)
100
80
60
40
20
0
34
Speed (mph)
radial force that did pass through the
first vertical flexural mode. It had a sharp
response to frequency that would seem to
be a sharp-speed response to a driver or
on a uniformity machine where data was
reported as a function of speed.
The fore-aft force first harmonic,
FFH1, lags RFH1 by 90 (//2 radians)
at low frequencies. This is expected from
the fact that Equation 2 is a sine series
and Equation 6 is a cosine series.
As the frequency of the first harmonics
rises, the interaction with the first
longitudinal mode causes FFH1 to lag
further and further behind RFH1. Walker
and Reeves
5
observed this and Richards
7
verified this.
At this point it is worth making four
observations about radial force and fore-
aft force. Although these observations are
generalized, they apply very well to first
harmonic disturbances, which are of
interest in post-manufacturing tire
correction as done prior to mounting the
tires on vehicles.
First, the runout of the mounted tires
crown with respect to the spindle is the
major variable driving fore-aft and radial
force first harmonic variations.
Second, radial force variations arise
due to flexing of the tires carcass spring
due to crown runout. RF non-uniformity
does not show a major change with speed,
but does interact strongly with the first
vertical flexural mode at frequencies
above about one-half of the modes natural
frequencies. This interaction is not
relevant for RFH1 or RFH2, but can
become important for higher harmonics at
speeds driven in the USA. The interaction
with the first and second harmonics
would be considerable at autobahn
speeds.
Third, fore-aft force variations show an
increase with the square of driving speed.
This is a major increase with speed. The
FF variations arise from angular
acceleration of the assembly about the
spindle, due to the variation in rolling
radius arising from the runout of the
mounted tires crown with respect to the
spindle. Due to the lower frequency of
the first longitudinal (torsional) mode, all
harmonics including FFH1 are affected
by this mode at speeds driven in the USA.
For FFH1 the interaction is not really
relevant at speeds below 100km/h.
Next, fore-aft force variation lags the
radial force variation by 90 (//2 radians)
until the angular frequency approaches
one-half of the torsional natural frequency,
at which point the lag begins to increase
as frequency increases.
Additionally, the literature makes
an important point about the location
of the heavy point and apparent location
of the static unbalance.
Finally, the location of the heavy point
of the tire alone is at the high point of the
tires crown radial runout.
Correction of first harmonic non-
uniformity forces in the post-
manufacturing environment has taken
two forms: match-mounting of the tire
and wheel
5,6,9,11
and post-cure, uniformity,
grinding of tires.
12
Weights have been
considered as means of first harmonic
non-uniformity force correction in a
perturbation of balancing technology, but
they do not work for this purpose,
5
as
discussed below.
Observing that out of roundness is
the principle source of RFH1, Walker
and Reeves
5
explored the effect of match-
mounting, which they called selective
fitting on high-speed uniformity for
1970s vintage radial tires. In match-
mounting the wheel, first harmonic radial
runout low spot is matched with the tire
first harmonic radial force high spot,
Figure 11: First harmonic force peak-to-peak radial force for P225/60R16 tire assembly with 0.5mm amplitude Figure 12: Match-mounted assembly (selective fitting)
Figure 13: Assembly RFH1 randomly assembled
improved and conventional wheels and tires
Figure 14: Assembly RFH1 for randomly assembled
and match-mounted improved wheels and tires
Figure 15: Radial force first harmonic of 115 tires
and wheels matched in accordance with Equation 7
x Neglecting 1st mode
resonance
With 1st mode
resonance
P
e
a
k
-
t
o
-
p
e
a
k

f
o
r
e
-
a
f
t

f
o
r
c
e

(
N
)
100
80
60
40
20
0
Speed (km/h)
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Wheel radial runout 1st
harmonic low point
Tire radial force variation
1st harmonic high point
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
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n
t
C
u
m
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l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
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n
t
FRFV (LBS)
Conventional wheels
and unground tires
Improved wheels
and ground tires
8 12 16 20 24 28
100
80
60
40
20
0
FRFV (LBS)
8 12 16 20 24 28
100
80
60
40
20
0
Matched
Random
P
e
a
k
-
t
o
-
p
e
a
k

M
e
a
s
u
r
e
d

(
l
b
s
)
50
40
30
20
10
0
200
150
100
50
0
Assembly rad. force
1st harmonic
0 20 40 60 80 (N)
0 5 10 15 20
Peak-to-peak Predicted (lb)
35
as shown in Figure 12. The result, on
average, is a reduction in the overall first
harmonic runout of the assembly. Walker
and Reeves found that the technique
of selective fitting of tires to wheels to
reduce low-speed radial force variation
is, fortunately, fairly effective for limiting
high-speed longitudinal, fore-aft force
variations. Note that they observed that
things werent perfect, as represented
by the words fairly effective.
A short time before Walker and Reeves
published their work, Nedley and Gearig,
9
who had only low-speed uniformity
measurements and ride ratings for belted
bias tires as data, published a report on
the effect of improved component tires
and wheels on ride. In the process they
also covered match-mounting with
respect to low-speed RFH1 behavior. The
improved components were Tru-centric
wheels
10
well-piloted steel wheels
manufactured using a process invented
by Kelsey-Hayes, and uniformity ground
tires, a concept introduced by General
Tire.
12
The improved components were
reported to sharply reduce RFH1 for
assemblies, even when randomly
assembled (Figure 13). Match-mounting
of the improved components was even
better (Figure 14).
Nedley and Gearig believed that you
could take a set of RFH1 data for a group
of tires measured on true wheels, and
a set of H1 data from a group of wheels,
multiply it by the tire spring rate, and
then combine these data according
to Equation 7 to predict the RFH1A,
maximum amplitude data for the possible
combinations of wheels and tires.
Equation 7
Thus, it is possible to quickly get the
probable mounting results without
experimentation, and using full
assemblies. Many unfamiliar with the
literature still believe this to be a true
representation of match-mounting.
Walker and Reeves knew a bit later
that the simple Nedley and Gearig model
of match-mounting was not completely
correct. In the early 1990s, Schuring
11
showed explicitly that the simple
assumption for the match-mounting
was in error (Figure 15). Thus, the
conclusions by Nedley and Gearig
need to be viewed with caution.
Furthermore, Schuring showed that
the mounting uncertainty depended on
the quality of the wheels used, but he was
unable to provide an explanation for what
was being observed. However, he did
observe that the behavior of tires with
respect to RFH1 was much more
consistent on what he termed precision
wheels when mounted multiple times on
each wheel at different angular positions.
Rhyne, Gall, and Chang
6
modeled the
effect of rim precision on the location of
the beads in terms of the wheel width
variation and radius variation. The
inclusion of the wheel width variation
sharply improved the agreement between
the predicted match-mounting behavior
and the observed match-mounting
behavior (Figure 16), although the
results are still not perfect.
It is possible that had the effect of
thickness variations in the bead region
of the tire, due to factors such as splices,
been included, then most of the rest
of the deviation from the simple match-
mounting relationship (Equation 7)
Figure 16: Vector difference between the measured
and predicted wheel contributions to the RFH1A
Figure 17: Effect of uniformity grinding (reprinted
with permission from SAE 700089 1970
Figure 18: Ground tire image as of 1969. Just grinding
on the shoulder ribs is no longer enough for tires
Figure 19: The relationship between longitudinal (fore-aft) and radial force variations of static unbalance
Measured Rim RH1 (daN)
Radial and lateral model
+ radial only model
8 12 16 20 24 28
0 1 2 3 4
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
M
e
a
s
u
r
e
d

-

P
r
e
d
i
c
t
e
d

(
d
a
N
)
C
u
m
u
l
a
t
i
v
e

p
e
r
c
e
n
t
FRFV (LBS)
100
80
60
40
20
0 20 40 60 80
Ground
Unground
Radial
force
maximum
+ve Long
force
maximum
+ve
Maximum

Co-axial
circle
High spot
Tire
periphery
Tire out of balance
Fixed axle
Road wheel
1 2
3
4
Ground outer tread rows
It is possible to
quickly get the
probable mounting
results without
experimentation,
and using full
assemblies
36
would have been explained. Importantly,
Rhyne and his associates showed that the
response to wheel width variation is mean
rim width dependent for a particular
tire. Therefore, it is likely that every
different tire specification yields a different
response to wheel width variation.
From a users viewpoint, the ideal
wheel is one with constant bead radius
and rim flange to rim flange width as
a function of circumferential position.
With this, match-mounting would work
substantially well for RFH1 based on the
simple match-mounting relationship.
The situation with respect to match-
mounting can be summarized in three
observations.
Match-mounting using the classical
concept is a helpful procedure for
reducing RFH1A provided that: the
width between the wheel flanges is
essentially constant over the wheel
circumference; the wheel radial first
harmonic runout multiplied by tire
vertical spring rate and tire first
radial harmonic are such that matching
greatly reduces the assembly RH1;
successful match-mounting substantially
reduces FFH1A at highway speed;
and the best results would be obtained
if the tire first radial harmonic and
wheel radial first harmonic runout
multiplied by tire vertical spring rate
were identical so that assembly RH1
could be made equal to zero by match-
mounting.
It should not be forgotten that match-
mounting results will still be somewhat
imperfect even if all three observations
are scrupulously adhered to, due to
bead position lateral variation caused
by thickness variations within the
tire itself.
Earlier in this article, the process
of uniformity grinding was briefly
mentioned. This process, invented by
Hofelt,
12
involves selective alteration of
the tires tread surface profile so as to
reduce RFH1T. It was quite popular from
around 1970 because of its effectiveness
on tires of that era (Figure 17). But, its
popularity has waned as tires have
changed, so grinding on the shoulder
ribs, as in Figure 18, is no longer enough.
Indeed automotive OEMs often no longer
accept ground tires for reasons of poor
appearance and a tendency for the
grinding to trigger uneven wear. In any
case, other than some preliminary work
by Caulfield and Higgins,
13
uniformity
grinding has been a tire factory, not
a service, procedure.
Going back to Figure 7, if the assembly
is rotating, the static unbalance assumes
the positions indicated in Figure 19.
The magnitude of the static unbalance
force vector is given in the following
equation:
Equation 8
It is directed outward from the center of
the spindle along a line through the heavy
point; thus, its phase with respect to the
assembly never changes.
The RFH1A, exclusive of unbalance,
is a maximum at position 1 and
a minimum at position 3 (the solid
arrows). The FFH1A, exclusive of
unbalance, is a maximum at position 2
and a minimum at position 4 (the
dotted arrows). The unbalance force
tends to make RFH1A smaller and FFH1A
larger than they would be in its absence.
For the balanced assembly (Figure 20),
RFH1A is larger and FFH1A is smaller
than in the unbalanced state because
part of all of the static unbalance induced
force has been canceled.
Noting this effect leads to the thought
that maybe RFH1A and FFH1A can
be canceled by a unique use of balance
weights. Unfortunately, the phase for
the weight required for correction is
different for correcting fore-aft and
radial forces. In the case of FFH1A,
the phase of the uniformity component
changes while that of the weight-induced
balance component does not (Figure 21).
Furthermore, the magnitude for RFH1A
Figure 20: Unbalance and balancing force vectors Figure 21: Effect of balance weight on longitudinal (fore-aft) force variation (reprinted with Tire Society permission)
Balance
weight
Unbalance
force
Unbalance
Balancing
force
Phase lag
Locus of tire longitudinal vector
BALANCE WEIGHT EFFECT
ASSEMBLY REFERENCE
B
C
C
B
A
A
D
D
50 100
40
150
40
40
40
(LB)
|
100
100
100
It is very likely that
every different tire
specification yields
a different response
to wheel width
variation
Assembly reference
Balance weight effect
C
100
B
100
A
100
D
100
D
40
C
40
B
40
A
40
Unbalance
force
37
correction by use of a weight can only
be correct at one speed. This all leads
to an important observation first made
by Walker and Reeves: It is not possible
to balance tire and wheel uniformity
in a manner that satisfies radial and
longitudinal fore-aft, directions over
a wide speed range.
In terms of pure balance correction,
Ni
14
showed that, besides the wheels
own inherent imbalance and the effect
of RH1W on imbalance by moving
the wheel center of mass off the spindle
center, wheel lateral runout also
contributes to imbalance. By implication,
if a hub has a face that is not
perpendicular to the spindle it will
create imbalance that is not accounted
for in off-the-car balancing, because
a good true running wheel will be
forced to act in service as if it possesses
lateral runout.
Neill and Kondo
15
worked on balance
right at the time that Tru-centric wheels
appeared.
9,10
They did not have the new
properly piloted wheels and concluded
that on-the-car balancing was superior
to off-the-car balancing. This points out
the very major effect of having properly
piloted wheels and truly by implication
the value of properly centered hubs.
Recently, Ford discussed the possibility
of doing away with the static balance
specification on tires, and thereby
reducing the number of tires rejected
by their specifications.
16
The analytical
approach is rather unusual and also may
not be valid.
Of more practical interest, Hunter
Engineerings Scribner
17
pushed the
concept that if the dynamic imbalance
doesnt exceed certain ride test
determined levels, it is wasteful of
materials and time, and is perhaps
even counterproductive to do more
than static balance. This appears
to have validity.
There are three additional balance
observations worth making: wheels must
be well piloted for good balance results
to be obtained in service; wheel-mounted
lateral runout must be small to obtain
good balance with a minimum amount
of weight; and static imbalance is always
important, but dynamic imbalance needs
to reach a critical threshold before it is
a notable problem.
Based on the observations made in this
article, and the fact that service area ride
treatment of tire-wheel assemblies is
fundamentally confined to correcting
RFH1 and FFH1 whether from a
uniformity or balance source, there are
four basic conclusions that can be made.
Reduction of assembly first harmonic
radial runout is the most important thing
that can be done to simultaneously reduce
RFH1 and FFH1. Therefore, effective
match-mounting is important.
For match-mounting to work
effectively based on the standard
match-mounting relationship, the
wheel width between the rim flanges
must be essentially constant within
a few one-hundredths of a millimeter.
For good ride performance,
particularly in balance terms, wheels
must be well piloted and the wheel
plus hub must suppress lateral runout.
Finally, static imbalance is
predominantly important and dynamic
imbalance can be ignored unless it
is substantial.
In reality, neither tires nor wheels are
bolted to hubs assemblies are bolted
to hubs. So the important thing is good
assembly uniformity. Match-mounting
offers help, but often the combination
of wheel runout and tire uniformity in
the components of an assembly cannot
produce a nearly ideal situation in which
the assemblys first harmonic runout
defined in force terms is effectively zero.
But, there may be a way to resolve this
problem, first suggested by T. R. Wik
in the early 1970s when he was involved
in the tire industry. Suppose the wheel-
center hole was larger than needed to
pilot the assembly, and an element (ring)
was superimposed between the hub and
wheel, which was off-center just the right
amount to make the radial runout of the
assembly based on first harmonic radial
force zero.
Figure 22 is a sketch of such an
arrangement. Effectively perfect match-
mounting could be induced. As an
example, tap-in metal rings could be used
to generate the effect or a quick set ring
formed by an injectable polymer could
be used. Obviously, there are many detail
design considerations, from wheel bolting
and insuring that the tire cannot move
circumferentially with respect to the rim
during operation to force measuring
equipment to be considered. This idea
and a good balance job could make first
harmonic uniformity ride disturbances
a thing of the past. tire
2009 Tire Society, Inc. Used with permission
REFERENCES:
1) Warrendale, P.A. Tire Performance Terminology,
J2047, SAE, 1998.
2) Marshall, K. D. Tire Noise and Vibration,
Chapter 9, The Pneumatic Tire (edited by J. D.
Walter and A. N. Gent), National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, Washington DC,
2005.
3) Pottinger, M. G. Marshall, K. D. Lawther, J. M.
and Thrasher, D. B. A Review of Tire/Pavement
Interaction Induced Noise and Vibration, The
Tire Pavement Interface, ASTM STP 929,
M.G. Pottinger and T.J. Yager, Eds., American
Society for Testing Materials, Philadelphia, PA,
1986, pp. 183-287.
4) Marshall, K. D. Wik, T. R. Miller, R. F. and
Iden, R. W. Tire Roughness Which Tire
Nonuniformities are Responsible, SAE 740066,
Society of Automotive Engineers, Warrendale,
PA, 1974.
5) Walker, J. C. and Reeves, N. H. Uniformity of
Tires at Vehicle Operating Speeds, Tire Science
and Technology, TSTCA, Vol. 2, No. 3, Aug.
Figure 22: Example assembly incorporating the
ability to deliberately offset the wheel center
Center of
rotation
Ring
Offset
wheel
center
Wheel
disc
Hub
The phased wheel offset
from the center of rotation
produces the ideal match
mounting required
Reduction of assembly first harmonic
radial runout is the most important thing
that can reduce RFH1 and FFH1
38
1974, pp. 163-178.
6) Rhyne, T. B. Gall, R. and Chang L. Y. Influence
of Rim Run-Out on the Non-uniformity of Tire-
Wheel Assemblies, Tire Science and Technology,
TSTCA, Vol. 22, No. 2, April-June. 1994,
pp. 99-120.
7) Richards, T. L. The Relationship Between Angular
Velocity Variations and Fore and Aft Non-
uniformity Forces in Tires, SAE900761, Society
of Automotive Engineers, Warrendale,
PA, 1990.
8) Koutny, F. Analytical Comments on Radial Tire
Nonuniformity, Tire Science and Technology,
TSTCA, Vol. 24, No. 2, April-June, 1996,
pp. 132-152.
9) Nedley, A. L. & Gearig, D. M. Radical
Improvements in Tire and Wheel Manufacturing
Their Effects Upon Radial Force Variation of the
Assembly, SAE 700089, Society of Automotive
Engineers, Warrendale, PA, 1970.
10) MacIntyre, D. D. Advances in Wheel Uniformity,
SAE 710087, Society of Automotive Engineers,
Warrendale, PA, 1971.
11) Schuring, D. J. Uniformity of Tire-Wheel
Assemblies, Tire Science and Technology,
TSTCA, Vol. 19, No. 4, October December,
1991, pp. 213-236.
12) Hofelt, C. Jr. Uniformity Control of Cured Tires,
SAE 690076, Society of Automotive Engineers,
Warrendale, PA, 1969.
13) Caulfield, R. J. and Higgins, R. J. On-Car Tire
Grinder for Improved Tire Smoothness,
SAE720465, Society of Automotive Engineers,
Warrendale, PA, 1972.
14) Ni, E. J. A Mathematical Model for Tire/Wheel
Assembly Balance, Tire Science and Technology,
TSTCA, Vol. 21, No. 4, October December,
1993, pp. 220-231.
15) Neill, A. H. Jr. and Kondo, A. Correcting
Vehicle Shake, Tire Science and Technology,
TSTCA, Vol. 2, No. 3, August, 1974,
pp. 179-194.
16) Tananko, D. Krivtsov, V. and Rohweder, D.
Do We Really Need a Spec on Tire Static Balance?
SAE 2003-01-0151, Society of Automotive
Engineers, Warrendale, PA, 2003.
17) Scribner, D. New Dynamic Balancing
Method Based Upon Absolute Force
Reduction Algorithms, ITEC, Akron,
Ohio, September 2006.
NOMENCLATURE:
Symbol definition
An Amplitude of the nth member
of a Fourier series
F Fore-aft axis
F(t) A force varying with time
FF Fore-aft, longitudinal, force
FFH1 Fore-aft 1st harmonic force
FM Moment about the fore-aft axis,
overturning moment
H Wheel center height, loaded radius
H1 Wheel radial runout 1st harmonic
kR Global tire stiffness in the radial direction
L Lateral Axis, coincident with spindle center
line herein
LF Lateral, force
LM Moment about the lateral axis, torque
mUNBAL Static unbalance expressed as an equivalent
mass
n The index of the nth member of a Fourier
series
rW Radius to the effective imbalance mass
R Radial axis
R Mean rolling radius
RR Rolling radius
Rn Amplitude of the nth component or harmonic
of radial runout
RF Radial, force
RFH1 Radial Force 1st harmonic force
RFH1A Assembly radial force 1st harmonic force
RFH1T Tire radial force 1st harmonic force
RFH1W Wheel radial force 1st harmonic force
RFH2 Radial force 2nd harmonic force
RM Moment about the radial axis, aligning
moment
t Time
T Tire rotational period
UNBALFUnbalance force
V Forward velocity
q Reference angle
q
n
Phase angle of the nth member or harmonic
in a Fourier series
t assembly angular velocity
u
t assembly angular acceleration
EPLEXOR

DMTS/DMTA
The well-known Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analyser to ascertain
visco-elastic properties (Youngs Modulus, glass transition,
frequency and temperature behaviour)
GABOMETER

Flexometer/Fatigue Tester
The newly designed Goodrich Flexometer for heat build-up
and blow out tests
GABOTACK

Quality Control
The tackiness tester for Green Tires, epoxy resins
and much more
QUALIMETER

Quality Control
Provides online quality control during production processes
(static and dynamic spring rate, hardness and
visco-elastic properties)
The dynamic testing instruments of GABO QUALIMETER are used very successfully in the material development
and for quality control since several decades.
Testing Instruments from Testing Experts
I N T E L L I G E N T M A T E R I A L T E S T I N G
tire technology
Expo 2010
Booth C4, Foyer
Kln, Germany
9 - 11 February 2010
www.tiretechnology-expo.com
GABO QUALIMETER Testanlagen GmbH
Schulstr. 6
.
29693 Ahlden/Germany
Phone: +49 5164 8019-0
Fax: +49 5164 8019-30
e-mail: info@gabo.com
internet: www.gabo.com
39
40
F
or modern development of new or
improved cars or car components,
the dynamic simulation of the
behavior of the system is an
essential advantage that saves time and
money. Because the main force transfer
between the car and the environment
occurs via the tires, the description/
modeling of the tire characteristics is of
great importance for a useful and valid
simulation of the vehicle dynamics.
On the one hand the modeling of tire
behavior should not be too complicated
and should be properly geared toward
the goal of the investigation. On the
other hand it should satisfactorily map the
measurements of the tire characteristics.
To obtain reliable simulation results as
a substitute for tests and experiments,
it is especially important that the tire
behavior is correct.
In 2002 a group of experts started the
Tire Model Performance Test (TMPT),
1
for commercially-available passenger
car tire models offering the possibility
of getting objective information about
their efficiency. Consequently, the
TMPT also includes a comparison
of different models.
Figure 1 indicates that the group of
experts, establishing the test, first had
to define the test specifications attuned
for tire handling properties, and for the
high-frequency behavior of the tires.
Special measurements were the basis for
the parameterization of the tire models.
The tire characteristics of the chosen
tire models were investigated by MBS-
software suppliers using a special test
rig (Figure 3). Results management and
the general organization was done by
the university, independently of all other
participating groups. By creating this
structure the intention was to guarantee
an objective evaluation.
The majority of specifications for
the test maneuvers to be performed
applying the virtual test rig are summed
It is especially important that tire behavior is correct to obtain reliable
simulation results as substitutes for tests and experiments
by P. Lugner & M. Plchl, University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
Comparison of tire models
and their application for vehicle system dynamics
Figure 2: Specifications for the tire performance test
Figure 1: Structure of the Tire Model Performance Test (TMPT)
Establishing Group: Experts of tire manufacturers,
Tire model providers
MBS software providers,
Industry (application)
University
Measurements
Continental, Michelin
Tire models
TMPT specification
and definition
MBS simulation (test rig)
ADAMS, DADS, SIMPACK
Evaluation and comparison of results Inst. of
Mechanics and Mechatranics Vienna University
of Technology
Figure 3: Virtual test rig and possible input quantities for the simulation of the performance of the tire model.
Revolute joint between
wheel guidance and sledge:
steering angle
Wheel guidance device
Wheel carrier and
coordinate system
Inclination of wheel to
wheel carrier: camber
Revolute joint between
wheel and wheel carrier:
angular velocity of wheel
Vertical load to press wheel
on ground surface
Translational joint between
wheel guidance and wheel
carrier: vertical motion
Translational joint for
longitudial motion of
the sledge: velocity
Handling.
Parking: Steering at standstill
Cornering: steering angle (t)=kt, k=2/s (steering angle is equal to the side-slip
angle _ of the wheel for the test rig used
Turn around steering at v=10m/s until _=180 or failure of simulation
Changing driving conditions (with _=0.75_
max
): load step changes, +-step changes
Longitudinal behavior (_=0): change of inflation pressure, +-step change with braking
Combined steady-state characteristics F
y
(F
x
,_), M2(Fx,_), v=80km/h
High-frequency range.
Dynamic brake cycle: braking torque applied corresponding to an ABS-system
Vertical excitation sweep: amplitude 1cm up to 40Hz, different running speeds,
a=0 and a=0.75amax
Steering sweep: amplitude 2 to 40Hz: mean values _
m
=0 and _
m
=0.75_
max
Running over a cleat: different speeds, _=0 and a=0.75amax, 90 and oblique cleat
Sequence of potholes, step up and step down, with and without brake torque

41
up in Figure 2. The difference between
handling and higher frequency range
(hfr) should make an evaluation of
the tire models clearer, having in mind
the different complexity of the tire
models.
The data for a great variety of working
conditions to parameterize the tire
models were measured by Michelin and
Continental using a special test tire. Also
its cross section and material properties
were determined.
For the dynamic properties the first
eigenmodes for radial and transversal
vibrations were investigated. With
a cleat fixed on a drum the transient
tire characteristic were experimentally
measured for different cleat heights
and velocities. As a consequence an
extensive amount of information was
available for the tire model providers.
All seven tire models,
1
that participated
in the TMPT, were either already
commercially available as software
package or extensively applied for
simulations in industry.
The F tire structural tire model
2,3
uses the belt to rim suspension and
a description of belt deformations to
be able to take into account hfr problems
and local road surface contours. Local
contact elements describe the sticking
and slipping phenomena, (Figure 4).
A further development of the well-
known Magic Formula tire model,
4
the Swift model, scans the road surface
using cams that represent the tire
contour (Figure 5). The belt-to-rim
suspension, including the local contact
element, extends the range of application
into the hfr.
The CD tire model also utilizes the
substructuring of the belt to be able
to operate in the hfr (Figure 6
5,6
). The
effective tire-road surface contact is
also described by local contact elements
including elasticity and damping.
The TMeasy tire model is mainly
aimed at handling problems and
provides a mathematical approximation
of measurements of the longitudinal
and lateral tire characteristics.
By a reasonable combination of this
information any combined loading
of the tire can be described (Figure 7
7
).
A basic description for the transient
behavior is added.
Based on the Magic Formula,
4
the
PAC 2002 handling model calculates
for pure and combined longitudinal and
lateral slip valuing the corresponding
tire characteristics based on the
approximation of measurements.
Relaxation lengths in both directions
are employed to describe the transient
behavior.
8
The semi-physical Uni tire model takes
into account carcass flexibility in lateral
and longitudinal directions, carcass twist
stiffness, combined slip characteristics
and a non-isotropic friction concept.
9,10
Although thereby non-steady-state tire
behavior could be taken into account,
the tire model is mainly aimed at studying
handling maneuvers.
The Hankook-semi-physical-tire-model
concept emphasizes handling behavior. It
includes a transient behavior description
based on visco-elastic properties.
11,12
Belt flexibility stiffnesses
Radical force elements
between each belt node
and rim
Contact element tangential
displacement model
Figure 4: Main structural features of the F tire structural model which describes sticking and slipping phenomena
wheel plane
wheel rim
belt
residual
springs
contact
oblique step
cams
effective road plane
s
a
`
e
`
_
_
C
W
_
sc

_
V
sc
c
_
V
M
z
F
y
Figure 5: Structure of the Swift tire model, which scans the road surface using cams that represent the tire contour
Figure 6: Structures of tire model CD tire 30 (with one belt ring) and model CD tire 40 (with four belt rings) with
flexible connected structural elements. The CD tire model uses substructuring of the belt to operate in the hfr
EUROPES LEADING
INTERNATIONAL TIRE DESIGN
AND TIRE MANUFACTURING
EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE
www.tiretechnology-expo.com
9, 10 & 11 February 2010, Kln (Cologne) Messe, Germany
Design I Technology I Materials I Manufacturing
www.tiretechnology-expo.com
8
0
0
k
h
0
w
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43
Camber, aligning torque and combined
slip values are represented in considering
the tire-patch structure.
The aim of the simulations was,
on one hand, to show the range of
application of the tire models by
capability tests, and on the other,
to check the quality of the results
by validation tests in comparison with
measurements, including measurements
not available for the tire model provider.
The following results are marked with
symbols: higher frequency models (hfr):
A, B, E; handling models: C, D, F, G; MBS
software: I, II, III; producing available
combinations: IA, IB, IC; IIE; IIIA, IIIB,
IIID, IIIF, IIIG.
Only a small selection of results are
shown and for more information and for
related names of tire models and software
packages see Lugner & Plchl, 2009.
One of the capability tests is turning
the tire at standstill, typically when
parking (Figure 9). Not all tire models
were able to simulate this manoeuvre.
The obvious differences between the
models and softwares are relatively small.
Most essential for vehicle handling is
the tire behavior during cornering, the
lateral force and the aligning moment
induced by the tire side slip angle (Figure
9). Besides the deviations for the less
important moment, all tire models show
a good performance, which was also
validated by comparison with the
measurements.
A typical example of transient tire
properties can be considered for changing
friction conditions at constant side-slip
angle (Figure 10). Here the hfr-models,
ABE encounter vibrations although the
handling models show, more or less,
rapid and relatively smooth transitions.
An example of the influence of the
applied MBS-software I, III (caused
by different integration methods,
internal representation of the test
rig and test, but same tire models)
can be noticed by the longitudinal
force behavior of a dynamic, step-wise
brake moment increase as it may
occur when ABS-braking (Figure 11).
The same limit values with a locked-
wheel (about) are achieved, but
the time histories show significant
differences.
An illustration of a validation
test in Figure 12 shows the crossing
of the hfr-tire models over a cleat.
Despite obvious differences, the tire
behavior is satisfactorily reproduced.
Figure 8: Turning at standstill: illustrations of the aligning moment M
z
as a function of steering angle
Figure 7: Combination of lateral F
y
and longitudinal F
x
force measurements describing combined loading of tire
F
x
M

S
y
400
300
200
100
0
-100
-200
-300
-400
F
y
G
F
x
M
F
x
dF
x
0
S
x
M
S
x
G
S
x
F
y
dF
0
F
M
F
G
S
y
S
M
S
G
S
x
S
S
y
G
S
y
M
dF
y
0
F
y
M
F
y
F
x
F (s)
m
o
m
e
n
t

M
z

[
N
m
]
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40
delta [deg]
-40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40
delta [deg]
IIIA
IIB
IIF
IA
IB
IC
Figure 9: Lateral tire force F
y
and aligning moment M
z
as a function of the tire side-slip angle _ during cornering
6000
4000
2000
0
-2000
-4000
-6000
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20
alpha [deg]
80
60
40
20
0
-20
-40
-60
-80
m
o
m
e
n
t

M
z

[
N
m
]
F
o
r
c
e

F
y
[
N
]
IID
IIF
IIIG
IID
IIF
IIIG
IA
IB
IC
IIE
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20
alpha [deg]
44
Considering the uncertainties of real
road surface structures, such simulation
results can be used for comfort
investigations.
Through the TMPT investigation
it becomes obvious that a careful
handling and checking of the sequence
tire measurements tire modeling
dynamic simulation of tire characteristics
is necessary.
It is necessary to be aware, that
different tire models, even if already
used previously, can show different results
within the same range of application.
A testing of the tire model to be used
with a virtual test rig, and a validation
of the respective simulation results
will finally guarantee effective vehicle
dynamics simulation with statements and
consequences that can speed-up, and
reduce, costs in vehicle development. tire
References
1) Lugner P., Plchl, M. Tire Model Performance
Test (TMPT) Supplement to the International
Journal of Vehicle System Dynamics (VSD),
Volume 45 (2007)
2) Gipser, M. FTire software: advances in
modelization and data supply. Proceedings
of Tire Society Meeting, Akron (2006)
3) Gipser, M. FTire info & download. Available
online at: URL: http://www.ftire.com
4) Pacejka H. B. Tyre and Vehicle Dynamics,
Elsevier, Second Edition (2005)
5) LMS International LMS Comfort and Durability
Tire User Manual (2005)
6) Gallrein, A., DeCuyper, J., Dehandschutter,
W., Bcker, M. Parameter identification for
LMS CDTire, 3rd International tyre colloquium,
tyre models for vehicle dynamics analysis
proceedings. Vehicle System Dynamics,
43(Suppl.) (2005)
7) Hirschberg, W., Rill, G., Weinfurter, H.
User-appropriate tire-modeling for vehicle
dynamics in standard and limit situations,
Vehicle System Dynamics, 38(2) (2002)
8) Adams/Tire Manual, MSC Software
Corporation ( 2005)
9) Guo, K. H., Ren, L. A unified semi-empirical
tire model with higher accuracy and less
parameters, SAE Technical Paper Series,
1999-01-0785, pp. 37-44 (1999)
10) Guo, K.H., Lu, D., Ren, L. A unified non-steady
non-linear tire model under complex wheel
motion input including extreme operating
conditions, JSAE Review, 22(4), pp. 396-402
(2001)
11) Gim, G., Choi, Y., Kim, S. A semi-physical tire
model for vehicle dynamics analysis of
handling and braking, Vehicle System
Dynamics, 43(Suppl.) (2005)
12) Guo, K., Lu, D., Chen, S., Lin, W. C., Lu, X.
The Unityre model: a nonlinear and non-
steady-state tire model for vehicle dynamics
simulation, Vehicle System Dynamics,
43(Suppl.) (2005)
Figure 10: Changing +-conditions at a constant tire side-slip angle (nominal value +n 0,9), p=80km/h, _7,5
Figure 11: Longitudinal force behavior of dynamic, stepwise brake moment increase under ABS braking, p=20km/h
Figure 12: Validation test illustration. Behavior of hfr tire models crossing a 20x20mm cleat, p=60km/h
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16
time [s]
9000
8000
7000
6000
5000
4000
3000
2000
IIIA
IIIB
IIE
IIIA
IIIB
IIE
measurement measurement
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16
time [s]
6000
4000
2000
0
-2000
-4000
-6000
6000
4000
2000
0
-2000
-4000
-6000
F
o
r
c
e

F
x

[
N
]
F
o
r
c
e

F
x

[
N
]
F
o
r
c
e

F
z

[
N
]
F
o
r
c
e

F
z

[
N
]
IC
IIIF
F
o
r
c
e

F
x

[
N
]
1000
0
-1000
-2000
-3000
-4000
-5000
1000
0
-1000
-2000
-3000
-4000
-5000
F
o
r
c
e

F
x

[
N
]
IA
IB
0.2 0.15 -0.1 -0.05 0 0.05
longitudinal slip []
0.2 0.15 -0.1 -0.05 0 0.05
longitudinal slip []
IIIG
IIE
v=20km/h
IIIA
IIIB
5 10 15 20 25 30
distance [m]
5 10 15 20 25 30
distance [m]
IIIA
IIIB
IIE
IC
IID
IIIF
IIG
IA
IB 1.2*
F
o
r
c
e

F
y

[
N
]
2000
1000
0
-1000
-2000
-3000
-4000
-5000
-6000
F
o
r
c
e

F
y

[
N
]
+
n
+
n
+
[
}
0.3
19, 20, 21, February 2008
Kln Messe, Kln, Germany
www.tiretechnology-expo.com
I think its the most exciting
show. We have all the suppliers for
the tire industry in one place. Its
always special to come here and
see the latest developments. Its
also a great location for us
Joerg Nohl, head of engineering,
Continental Tires
UKIP Media & Events Ltd l Abinger House l Church Street l Dorking l Surrey l RH4 1DF l UK
Tel: +44 (0)1306 743744 Fax: +44 (0)1306 742525 Email: colinscott@ukinpres.com
EUROPES LEADING
INTERNATIONAL TIRE DESIGN
AND TIRE MANUFACTURING
EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE
www.tiretechnology-expo.com
9, 10 & 11 February 2010, Kln (Cologne) Messe, Germany
Design I Technology I Materials I Manufacturing
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www.tiretechnology-expo.com
8
0
0
k
h
0
w
!
I think its the most exciting
show. We have all the suppliers for
the tire industry in one place. Its
always special to come here and
see the latest developments. Its
also a great location for us
Joerg Nohl, head of engineering,
Continental Tires
EUROPES LEADING INTERNATIONAL
TIRE DESIGN AND TIRE MANUFACTURING
EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE
www.tiretechnology-expo.com
Design I Technology I Materials I Manufacturing
6hVejgX]VhZgi]^h^hV`Zn[V^g#I]^h^hV\ddYdeedgijc^in
idbZZiZkZgnhjeea^Zg^cVcYdjih^YZ:jgdeZ!VcYhjeea^Zgh
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9, 10 & 11 February 2010, Kln (Cologne) Messe, Germany
UKIP Media & Events Ltd l Abinger House l Church Street l Dorking l Surrey l RH4 1DF l UK
Tel: +44 (0)1306 743744 Fax: +44 (0)1306 877411 Email: colinscott@ukintpress.com
Web: www.tiretechnology-expo.com
www.tiretechnology-expo.com
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48
Airplane take-off speeds are designed to ensure the lift-off speed does
not exceed the tire speed rating. But what factors can lead to a tire speed
exceedance during take-off, and how can such events be prevented?
by Ingrid Wakefield, flight operations engineer & Chris Dubuque, service engineer, landing gear systems, Boeing, USA
Exceeding aircraft tire
speed rating during take-off
A
irplane tires are designed to
withstand a wide range of
operating conditions, including
carrying very high loads and
operating at very high speeds. It is common
for a jet airplane tire to carry loads as heavy
as 60,000 lb while operating at ground
speeds up to 235mph. To accommodate
these operational conditions, each tire
has specific load and speed ratings.
Tires are carefully designed and tested
to withstand operation up to, but not
necessarily beyond, these ratings.
It is uncommon to exceed the load
rating of tires during normal airline
operation because the weight and center
of gravity position of the airplane are well
controlled and understood. However, on
occasion the speed rating of tires can be
inadvertently exceeded during take-off.
Boeing is receiving an increasing number
of operator inquiries about tire speed limits
being exceeded during take-off. This does
not appear to be a new issue. Rather,
advanced data acquisition tools on modern
airplanes have made operators more aware
of tire speed exceedance events.
In most cases, the speed exceedance is
small, only a few knots. Boeing is not aware
of any of these overspeed events resulting in
thrown treads, which suggests that airplane
tires in good condition can withstand these
small speed exceedances without damage.
However, it is important to remember that
at high speeds, heat is generated within
the tire structure.
This heat, combined with extreme
centrifugal forces from high rotational
speeds, creates the potential for tread loss.
Ensuring that tires are operated within
their speed ratings will help prevent
possible tread losses and the potential
for airplane damage.
When dispatching an airplane in
compliance with the certified Airplane
Flight Manual, the airplane take-off speeds
are designed to ensure that the lift-off speed
does not exceed the tire speed rating.
Although rotation and lift-off speeds are
generally expressed in knots indicated
airspeed, the tire speed limit is the ground
speed, which is usually expressed in statute
miles per hour. This means that a tire rated
at 235mph is designed for a maximum
ground speed at lift-off of 204kts.
A number of factors can lead to a tire
speed-limit exceedance during take-off.
Typically, this occurs when an airplane is
dispatched at or near the tire speed-limit
weight and: the airplane rotation rate is
slower than the Boeing-recommended
rotation rate; and/or there is a late rotation;
and/or the tailwind is higher than
anticipated.
Dispatch at or near the airplanes tire
speed limit is most likely to occur during
take-offs from airports at high altitudes on
warm days, because these conditions tend
to drive the ground speed at lift-off of the
airplane closer to the tire speed limit.
However, tire speed limits can be
encountered during take-off in less severe
environmental conditions, such as when
scheduling an improved climb take-off.
Crosswinds can aggravate the situation
by unexpectedly shifting into a tailwind,
which may further increase the ground
speed at lift-off. An unexpected (and
therefore unaccounted for) tailwind
component will directly add to the
ground speed at lift-off.
Take-off procedures
Boeing publishes a recommended all-
engine normal take-off procedure in the
Flight Crew Training Manual (FCTM) for
727, 737 Classic, and Next-Generation
737, 747, 757, 767, and 777 models, and
in the Flight Crew Operations Manual
for 717, MD, and DC models. In order to
avoid tire speed-limit exceedance during
take-off, Boeing stresses adhering to the
recommended average all-engine take-off
rotation rate of 2-3 per second, which
provides adequate tail clearance margins
with a target lift-off attitude reached after
approximately 3-4 seconds (Figure 1).
Tail clearance margins for all 7-series
models except the 717 are also outlined
in the FCTM. Tail clearance and tail strike
concerns are often the reason flight crews
give for opting to use a slower rotation
rate than recommended by Boeing.
When dispatching at or near the tire
speed-limit weight, which is most likely
to occur at hot temperatures and high
elevations, a slower rotation than the
Boeing-recommended 2-3-per-second
average may increase the actual
49
50
51
groundspeed at lift-off beyond the certified
tire speed limit. In addition, a slow rotation
or under-rotation could significantly
increase the runway distance required to
reach the 35ft point, which is another
important reason for adhering to the Boeing-
recommended rotation procedure.
Wind accountability
The certified tire speed-limit weight does not
contain any margin for wind accountability.
For instance, the FAA-certified take-off
field-length-limit weight typically contains a
conservative factor for wind accountability
of 1.5 times the tailwind and 0.5 times the
headwind. In comparison, the tire speed-
limit weight lacks any such conservative
wind factor. Because of this, an unexpected
tailwind component not accounted for
in the take-off analysis, occurring during
a take-off at or near the tire speed-limit
weight, may increase the true ground speed
at lift-off beyond the tire speed rating.
To avoid a tire speed-limit exceedance,
Boeing recommends to conservatively
account for the tailwind component when
dispatching at or near the tire speed-limit
weight in a crosswind situation. General
guidelines for crosswind take-offs are
outlined in the FCTM. These guidelines
include the recommendation to use a higher
thrust setting than the minimum required
in order to minimize airplane exposure to
gusty conditions during rotation, lift-off,
and initial climb.
747-400 case study
A case study of the 747-400 helps illustrate
this point. The operator sporadically
exceeded the tire speed limit even though
the take-off analyses showed a notable
buffer between the tire speed-limit weight
and the actual dispatch weight. The airline
approached Boeing for assistance.
The study was performed at two different
dispatch weights: 805,000 lb and 825,000
lb. There was a 40,000 lb and a 30,000 lb
margin between scheduled dispatch weight
and the tire speed-limit weight. These
weight margins, which appear relatively
large, only resulted in speed margins of 8kts
and 5kts between the associated ground
speeds at lift-off and the tire speed rating
(Figure 2).
This case study shows the relationship of
a tire speed-weight margin to the associated
speed margin for a four-engine airplane.
Under similar dispatch conditions on
a two-engine airplane, a similarly large
weight margin can be expected to result
in an even lower speed margin, due to
the higher all-engine acceleration.
The same case study showed that a
rotation rate that is 1 per second slower
than normal can result in a lift-off speed
increase of 4-5kts. This is in addition to
the increase in all-engine take-off distance
associated with the slow take-off rotation
(Figure 3).
This illustrates how a slower-than-
normal rotation rate can easily use up
what may seem like a large tire speed-limit
margin, especially if paired with a higher
tailwind component than accounted for
in the take-off analysis used for dispatch.
Maintenance actions
Although tire speed-limit exceedance events
during take-off are not a new phenomenon,
widespread recognition of these overspeed
events is relatively new because of advances
in flight data-recorder technology that
enables easier data acquisition. Airplane
manufacturers, tire suppliers, and regulators
have not yet developed an industry-
accepted set of maintenance instructions
following a tire speed-limit exceedance
event during take-off.
One maintenance suggestion would be
that all wheel/tire assemblies be removed
from the airplane before further flight after
such an event occurs. In practice, however,
replacing all of the wheel/tire assemblies
on an airplane represents a major logistical
problem and likely results in flight
cancellations and/or dispatch delays.
It would be difficult to locate and
ship 18 wheel/tire assemblies to a 747
at a remote location following one
of these events! Additionally, if the
overspeed was very small (say, 2-3kts
over the tires speed limit), it is unlikely
that the tires would have suffered
any damage.
Some operators have elected to simply
examine the tires after an overspeed
take-off event using the normal tire
inspection criteria in Chapter 32 of the
Airplane Maintenance Manual. If no
damage is found, the airplanes are
dispatched normally and no further
maintenance actions are performed.
Based on many years of service
experience, this approach seems to have
worked well because very few, if any, tire
tread losses have been attributed to an
overspeed event.
Based on this service experience,
Boeing has typically not objected to this
practice even though there is no overspeed
take-off capability specifically designed
into the tire.
If an operator has any questions about
the integrity of the tires, the wheel/tire
assemblies should be replaced before
further flight.
Additional information on tire
maintenance procedures can be found
in the airplane maintenance manuals
and in the following documents:
FAA Advisory Circular 20-97B, Aircraft
Tire Maintenance and Operational Practices,
US Department of Transportation
(April 18, 2005)
Aircraft Tire Care And Maintenance,
Goodyear Aviation, 10/04, www.
goodyearaviation.com/img/pdf/
aircraftmanual.pdf.
Bridgestone Aircraft Tires, Tire Care, and
Maintenance, http://ap.bridgestone.co.jp/pdf/
Care_and_Maintenance.pdf.
Bridgestone Aircraft Tires, Examination, and
Recommended Action, http://ap.bridgestone.
co.jp/candm/recommendedaction.html.
Aircraft Tire Care & Service Manual,
Michelin, www.airmichelin.com/pdfs/
Care_and_Service_manual.pdf.
General practices manual for aircraft tyres
and tubes, Dunlop Aircraft Tyres Limited,
01/08, www.dunlopaircrafttyres.com/
tech_support/dm1172/DM1172.pdf.
Summary
Although it is uncommon to exceed the
load rating of tires during normal airline
operation, Boeing is receiving an increasing
number of operator inquiries about tire
speed limits being exceeded during take-off.
There is no industry consensus on the
maintenance actions that should be taken
following tire speed-limit exceedance during
take-off. At this time, operators, in
conjunction with their regulatory agency,
must determine the most appropriate
maintenance action based on the tire
speed-limit exceedance event.
The best approach is to try to avoid
overspeed take-offs altogether. By taking
the following steps, flight operations
personnel can reduce the possibility
of tire speed-limit exceedance during
take-off: Follow the Boeing-recommended
rotation procedure; when dispatching
at or near the tire speed-limit weight
in a crosswind situation, consider
conservatively, accounting for the tailwind
component; when dispatching at or
near the tire speed limit in gusty wind
and strong crosswind conditions, use
a higher thrust setting than the minimum
required. tire
For more information, contact Boeing Flight
Operations Engineering at flightops.engineering@
boeing.com.
This article originally appeared in AERO magazine
and is reprinted courtesy of The Boeing Company.
52
F
riction has a crucial role in driving.
All forces acting on a vehicle are
put into action via the friction
forces between the tire and the
road, except for aerodynamic forces and
gravity. A human driver can detect road
conditions, but most vehicle dynamics
control systems do not, until the moment
the vehicle begins to slide.
Unfortunately, drivers often fail to
estimate friction correctly, and attempt
unrealistic maneuvers. Road accident
statistics show that up to 40% of accidents
occur in bad road conditions, and
overestimation of the friction coefficient
is often among the major causes.
To reduce the number and the severity
of road accidents, there is a strong
demand to integrate more safety skills
into vehicles. This lead to the widespread
use of ABS and ESC on small vehicle
platforms and of more complex ADAS on
premium, and even some compact, cars.
However, along with driver behavior
and alertness, friction is one of the
remaining key unknowns in the control
strategies of many active safety systems.
The EU-funded project Fricti@n (FP6-
2004-IST-4) has focused on developing,
demonstrating and verifying a system that
provides continuous sensing of friction
for vehicle applications.
The goal is to offer new information
for the vehicle systems to enable them
to operate more accurately, especially
in unusual road conditions. The main
attention has been on the friction
conditions of paved roads constructed
with surfaces such as asphalt or concrete.
The surface conditions researched
included: dry, wet, snowy, and icy.
In general, most vehicle applications
will benefit from more accurate and
continuous friction sensing. Cooperative
driving applications could provide drivers
with more complete information about
road conditions, and well-established
systems such as ABS and ESP could
benefit from an optimal tuning for every
level of friction, reducing the compromise
between high and low friction. ADAS
such as collision mitigation, collision
avoidance, and curve speed warning
could adapt thresholds and intervention
according to the actual friction, preserving
a constant safety margin in every
condition to reduce false activation. For
example, if a collision mitigation system
assumes high friction, it will have poor
performance on snow, since it will brake
too late. However, if the system is tuned
to be effective on low friction, a lot of
unnecessary intervention will occur on
a dry road, causing disappointment to the
driver, who will switch the system off!
Sensor information is central to the
estimation of friction, but for cost reasons
the project emphasis was on making use
of existing or planned sensors in a new
way, rather than developing new sensors.
Three main sensor clusters are used in
the system. Firstly, the chassis sensors
were employed including the basic
sensors of ABS/ESC, steering-wheel angle,
steering torque, wheel velocities, body
accelerations, yaw rate, and pitch and roll.
Secondly, the environmental sensors were
used including air and road temperature,
xy ground velocity, laser scanner, radar,
camera, and laser spectroscopy. Thirdly,
a tire sensor was included, currently
a specific tire-deformation sensor from
the EU Apollo project (IST-2001-34372).
The Fricti@n estimation system was
conceived with a modular architecture,
taking into account two factors. The first
factor was fault tolerance: if one sensor
or sensor cluster is damaged or missing,
the whole Fricti@n system does not
cease to function, but its estimation
accuracy decreases.
Estimating tire-road friction
for chassis-control and driver-assistance systems
The EU-funded Fricti@n project showed great potential road-safety benefits,
including better driver information and improved ADAS performance
by Marco Pesce, vehicle systems, vehicle dynamics and fuel economy, Centro Ricerche Fiat SCpA, Italy
eSafety systems
Driver assistance systems (DAS)
Cooperative safety systems
Navigation Maneuvering Stabilization Pre-crash
IVIS ADAS Active safety Advanced
protective safety
Passive
safety
Rescue
services
e.g. navigation
systems
e.g. adaptive cruise
control (ACC)
e.g. electronic stability
program (ESP)
e.g. seatbelt
pretensioner
e.g. airbag,
structural
measures
e.g. eCall
t= ~10 sec t= ~1 sec t= ~0.1 sec t= 0 sec t= ~ -0.1 sec
IVIS = In-vehicle information systems
ADAS = Advanced driver assistance systems
Fricti@n cooperative applications
Fricti@n onboard applications
Figure 2: The context of intervention of automotive eSafety systems and the impact of friction information
Figure 1: Members of the Fricti@n consortium
53
The second factor was scalability: low-
cost systems may include only a subset
of sensors such as ESC sensors only, again
with reduced capability in comparison
to the full system.
Each sensor cluster provides friction
estimation tagged with quality/validity
information, and a fusion module
provides the final friction estimation
and probability. A learning feature
is implemented too, comparing
environmental data and vehicle dynamics
data, and updating an internal database
used for estimation.
The main output of the Fricti@n
system are two friction values: friction
used and friction potential. Friction used
shows how much friction a driving
maneuver requires. Friction potential is
the maximum friction that the tires can
achieve on the particular road pavement.
The degree of certainty with which the
system believes given friction values is
also provided. This enables other systems
to judge how much they want to utilize
the information.
The Fricti@n system can also provide
an estimate of wheel slip and road and
weather conditions in terms of dry, wet,
snowy, or icy. If tire sensors are present,
then information on tire forces and the
detection of the early stages of
hydroplaning can be offered additionally.
The research was carried out through
simulation models and driving tests in
winter and summer conditions using
three vehicles: a Volvo FH12 truck,
a Fiat Stilo, and an Audi A6. Both
the Volvo FH12 and the Fiat Stilo are
equipped with ADAS developed in
concurrent EU projects such as Safespot.
The full Fricti@n system demonstrated
a near-continuous estimation of friction
potential in changing road conditions,
using sensor fusion and learning features.
Careful checking was undertaken to assess
data validity, and changes in conditions
and driving provided a reasonably valid
estimate in most cases.
Even a basic system, including ESC
sensors only, provides good friction
information, if a certain amount of
friction is used. In this system a double
approach is used: the first method is
based on lateral dynamics (yaw rate),
and the second relies mainly on the
steering-torque information.
The first approach is quite robust
at medium and high driving dynamics,
when saturation of the tire lateral force
characteristic begins; the second is more
effective at lower slip angles, since it may
detect the variation of self-aligning torque.
A local fusion module based on the level
of driving dynamics provides the fused
estimation, tagged with a validity flag.
This basic configuration of the Fricti@n
system proved effective in the detection
of friction variation on a wet or icy
surface, although it is not able to
guarantee an almost continuous
estimation as would the full system.
The effectiveness of the system and
its benefits for ADAS performance was
proved by simulation and experimental
tests on demonstrator vehicles. The
project studied the benefits of friction
estimation using collision mitigation
system prototypes developed in the EU
project Safespot, on the truck Volvo FH12
and on the Fiat Stilo. The distances of
driver warning and brake activation were
compared with, and without, friction
information. Experimental tests confirmed
the reduction of crash energy in different
driving situations and road conditions.
Scenarios with a standing obstacle or
moving obstacle in front of the car were
considered at different speeds and on
different surfaces with friction coefficients
ranging from 0.2 (low friction) to 1 (high
friction). The crash energy index (CEI)
shows the reduction of crash energy
achieved with the friction-enhanced
system compared to the original system.
In conclusion, the Fricti@n project
showed fairly positive results and
interesting perspectives on friction
estimation. It also showed potential
benefits for road safety, starting from
driver information to improvement
of ADAS performance. Further R&D
activity is needed to increase accuracy and
reliability in everyday driving conditions,
to optimize cost benefits and system
integration, and to achieve a full
integration of Fricti@n information in all
vehicle control systems and ADAS. tire
current slip critical slip
Friction available
tire slip
Current operating point
of the tire
Friction potential
=Fy/Fz
Friction used
slip angle

Fy Mz
Mz
Fy
Crash energy index Standing obstacle
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
C
E
I

[
%
]
0.50 0.20
Road friction
30km/h
40km/h
50km/h
Figure 3: Explanation of friction potential, the friction used, and the friction available Figure 4: Basic principle of the double approach used with a chassis sensor cluster
Figure 5: The crash energy index shows the reduction of crash energy achieved with the friction-enhanced system
54
F
inite element analysis (FEA) of
pneumatic tires plays a vital role
during the design cycle of these
complicated structures. The
accuracy and reliability of the results
obtained by this approximate method is
very much dependent on the constitutive
models selected for the description
of the mechanical behavior of the tire
components. The unique molecular
structure of the polymers (natural and
synthetic rubbers) plus organic fibers
used in a tire makes their mechanical
behavior viscoelastic.
This means that they not only show
elastic (or hyperelastic) behavior, but they
tend to dissipate energy upon the release
of the applied load. Time is an additional
variable that should be considered when
the strain is to be related to stress. It is
generally found that about 90% of the
total energy loss in a tire is due to internal
hysteresis of polymer molecules. The
others go through friction between
tire, road, and air resistance (rolling
resistance). To reduce the difference
between the predicted properties of the
virtual tire obtained through mathematical
modeling and the real one, and also to
predict the energy dissipation or rolling
resistance, viscoelastic models must be
used in the FE model.
Many researchers have tried to develop
robust methods to more accurately model
tires under different loading conditions.
1
However, most of the developed models
and reported results are based on the
assumption of either an elastic- or
hyperelastic-mechanical model for the
rubber and the reinforcing parts in the
tires. This is mainly because development
of robust mathematical models is difficult,
obtaining the converged and stable results
is not always guaranteed, more
computational resources are required, and
determination of accurate and repeatable
material parameters is not straightforward.
In this numerical study, an FEA for a
steel-belted tire is presented. This model
was developed based on the numerical
capabilities implemented in the ABAQUS
code.
2
The analysis was performed under
steady-state rolling condition. The
difference between the results obtained
by the inclusion of the viscoelasticity and
the no-viscoelastic model using different
values of the model parameters and tire
velocities were numerically investigated.
A viscoelastic constitutive model not
only relates the stress to strain, but also
the variation of the stress (and strain) with
time is also included in the mathematical
formula that describes the mechanical
behavior of the material. The current form
of the viscoelastic model implemented in
the ABAQUS is based on the Prony series
given as (Equation 1):
Where g
R
(t) is the dimensionless shear
relaxation modulus [g(t)/g(0)], g
i
P
is the
material constant and o
i
G
is the relaxation
time, respectively. This equation gives the
variation of the shear modulus with time.
Figure 1 shows the variation of the g
R
(t)
with time for two different values of the
relaxation times (g
i
P
=0.3, o=0.1, 0.025
second). As can be seen, reducing the
relaxation time leads to a sharper decrease
of mechanical property and also the lower
value at the fully relaxed state.
Figure 2 shows the same variation for
A viscoelastic constitutive model not
only relates the stress to strain, but
also the variation of the stress with time
Finite element analysis shows that the material behavior during the
loading/unloading cycle plays an important part in contact-zone behavior
by Mir Hamid Reza Ghoreishy, Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute, Iran
Viscoelastic analysis of
rolling tires using the finite element method
Figure 1: Variation of shear relaxation modulus
with time (t= 0.1, 0.025s).
Figure 2: Variation of shear relaxation modulus
with time (gi= 0.3 , 0.5)
Figure 3: Variation of tan b with frequency
(t= 0.1, 0.025s)
55
two values of the material parameter g
i
P
(g
i
P
=0.5, 0.3, o =0.1). In this case,
increasing the g
i
P
also means a lower
value at the fully relaxed state. In both
cases, it is assumed that a 1-term Prony
series model was selected (N=1).
Equation 1 can be easily extended
to take the variation of the material
parameters of hyperelastic models.
Therefore, for a material-model parameter
such as Cij in a hyperelastic model (such
as Mooney-Rivlin), its variation with
time is expressed by Equation 2:
The Prony series parameters can be
related to the well-known dynamic
properties of the rubbers G, G and
tan b via the following relations:
Where t is the frequency of the cyclic
loading on the material. Figures 3 and 4
show the variation of the tan b with
frequency for the two previously
mentioned sets of viscoelastic parameters.
As it is easier to measure the dynamic
properties using a dynamic mechanical
analyzer (DMA), these relations (3 and 4)
can be used to calculate the Prony series
parameters for a given rubber compound.
A 175/70 R14 steel-belted radial tire
was selected in this work, which has
already been analyzed in previous
works
3-5
under different loading
conditions, without taking the
viscoelasticity into account. The FE
model consisted of 10,402 nodes and
12,321 elements, respectively, as shown
in Figure 5.
The mechanical behavior of the rubber
components was assumed to be described
by the well-known Mooney-Rivlin
hyperelastic model in conjunction with
a Prony series model (see equation 2)
to include the effect of the material
history (viscoelasticity) into the model.
The internal (inflation) pressure and the
vertical load were assumed to be equal
to 0.248MPa and 4,900N (500kg),
respectively. Three linear velocities,
namely, 6, 60, and 120km/h were
selected. Two computational strategies
were adopted in this work. In the first
method, which is called the traditional
approach, a constant linear velocity with
various values of the rotational speed (t)
is used while in the second technique,
a fixed value for the rotational speed
is chosen and the linear velocity was
changed within a pre-specified range to
complete the analysis. Figures 6 and 7
show the flow diagrams of the traditional
and the authors selected methods,
respectively. The other specification of the
model was exactly the same as reported
in references 3-5.
The ABAQUS/Standard was used to
carry out the FE calculation under rolling
condition using the three mentioned
linear velocities and two sets of the Prony
parameters given in Figures 1 and 2.
The analysis was first performed without
taking the viscoelasticity into account
using the traditional approach shown
in Figure 6. The computed value of the
rotational speed was then fixed and
the corresponding analyses using the
viscoelasticity were carried out using the
new algorithm given in Figure 7. The
linear velocity in this case was selected to
be 60km/h. Figure 8 shows the variation
of the longitudinal force versus linear
velocity for three different cases (no
viscoelasticity, viscoelastic analyses
with relaxation time = 0.1, 0.25).
As can be seen, the Force versus
Velocity curves associated to viscoelastic
analyses do not pass through zero point,
and show a positive value for the
computed longitudinal force. These forces
correspond to the rolling resistance of the
tire and can therefore be used to assess
the energy-dissipation characteristics of
the tire, rolling in steady-state condition.
Figures 9 and 10 show the distribution
of contact pressure for no viscoelastic and
Figure 4: Variation of tan b with frequency (gi= 0.3, 0.5) Figure 5: Finite element mesh of the tire Figure 6: Old steady-state rolling analysis approach
Figure 7: New steady-state rolling analysis approach
Figure 8: Variation of longitudinal force vs ground velocity for no viscoelastic and viscoelastic models.
The right hand curve is a zoomed view of the left curves around zero force
56
viscoelastic analyses, respectively. The
relaxation time and linear velocity were
taken to be 0.1 second and 60km/h,
respectively. It was discovered that the
viscoelastic analysis predicts higher values
for the contact pressure than the analysis
in which the effect of material history
is not taken into consideration.
During the no viscoelastic analysis,
the simulation was performed based on
the fully relaxed material properties that
are the lowest value for the hyperelastic
parameters (Figures 1 and 2). Therefore,
the computed values of the contact
pressure in this case (fully relaxed or
no viscoelastic) is lower than when the
viscoelasticity is included in the model.
In other words, in the viscoelastic analysis
the materials that pass through the contact
region do not have enough time to be
completely relaxed, and so the period of
a tire rotational cycle, does not permit
the rubber molecules to completely find
their final state. The contact pressure
distribution for the viscoelastic analysis
with identical relaxation time (0.1 second)
and lower selected linear velocities (6km/
h) is shown in Figure 11. Having
compared the results in this state with
those shown in Figure 10, it can be seen
that, by reducing the linear velocity, the
required time for the materials to be
relaxed on contact release will be
increased. This means that increasing the
velocity is equal to reducing the time and
therefore computed contact pressure is
higher for the linear velocity of 60km/h
compared to when it is equal to 6km/h.
In another analysis, the linear velocity
was kept constant (6km/h) and the
relaxation time was reduced from 0.1
second to 0.025 second. The contact
pressure corresponding to the latter case
is shown in Figure 12. The reduction in
the relaxation time (0.1 second to 0.025
second) causes the relaxation rate to
increase and thus the behavior of the
model will be closer to the no-viscoelastic
case. Consequently, reducing the
relaxation time makes the predicted
values of the contact pressure lower
than in the first case, in which the
relaxation time is four times greater
than the current value.
It is also worth noting here that the
predicted contact pressure for viscoelastic
models is asymmetric about the two-axis
(axis perpendicular to the traveling
direction of the tire). This is due to the
time-dependent behavior of the material
that passes through the footprint area.
The mechanical properties of a material
point that enters the contact zone changes
continuously with time, and when it
leaves the footprint zone, its material
parameter is different to those at the entry
to the contact region. Consequently, the
rear and front zones of the tire undergo
different contact pressure.
In addition to contact pressure, to
show the effect of viscoelasticity on the
wearability of the tire, a wear index has
been defined, which is based on the
Archards model for the description
of material wear. The Archards model
is given by:
Where q is the rate of material (rubber)
loss, k is a parameter, H is the material
hardness, p is the contact pressure and a
is the slip rate. The wear index has been
defined by the product of the magnitude
of the slip rate vector and magnitude of
the tangential force at the contact zone,
as in the equation:
Figure 13 shows the wear index for four
different analyses. In the first analysis that
corresponds to no-viscoelastic analysis
(upper-left contour), the value of the wear
index has been predicted to be lower than
Figure 9: Distribution contact pressure for no viscoelastic model (V=60 km/h) Figure 10: Distribution contact pressure for viscoelastic model (V=60 km/h, t=0.1s)
Figure 11: Distribution contact pressure for viscoelastic model (V=6 km/h, t=0.1s) Figure 12: Distribution contact pressure for viscoelastic model (V=6 km/h, t=0.025s
57
the viscoelastic analysis (upper-right
contour) with the same linear velocity
(V=60km/h).
This is due the lower value of the
contact pressure that has been obtained
for this simulation (see Figure 9). On the
other hand, by increasing the linear
velocity, the slip rate and contact pressure
also increase, which accordingly cause the
wear index to be increased. Consequently,
it is expected that the viscoelastic model
predicts that by increasing the linear
velocity, the tire will have a higher
wear rate.
Using FEA, a series of steady-state
rolling analysis was performed using the
viscoelastic constitutive equations to take
the effect of material history on the rolling
behavior of a steel-belted radial tire at the
contact zone. This was found via
numerical study, which makes it possible
to take the material history behavior
during the loading/unloading cycle
into account. The numerical simulation
results also showed that the tire behavior,
especially in the contact zone, is
dependent on the history effect. The
method in its current form, however,
cannot cope with the relatively higher
values of the Prony series parameters.
Therefore, more robust numerical
techniques than those implemented in
the current version of ABAQUS should
be developed.
Although we have used this approach
for the parametric study of a limited
number of variables and conditions
(contact area), the technique can be used
to investigate other structural parameters
in tire bulk construction. tire
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86136 Augsburg, Germany
Phone ++49 (0)821 24 35-531
Fax ++49 (0)821 24 35-320
info@erhardt-leimer.com
www.erhardt-leimer.com
Quality first,
no compromise
on tires
Figure 13: Distribution of the wear index (Eq. 7) at the contact zone for no viscoelastic and viscoelastic analyses
It is expected that the viscoelastic model
predicts that by increasing linear velocity,
the tire will have a higher wear rate
References
1) Ghoreishy, M. H. R. A state of the art review
of the finite element modelling of rolling tyres,
Iranian Polymer Journal, 2008, 17, (8),
571-597
2) ABAQUS, v 6.8, Documentation, 2008
3) Ghoreishy, M. H. R. Finite element analysis
of the steel-belted radial tyre with tread pattern
under contact load, Iranian Polymer Journal
(English Edition) 2006, 15, (8), 667-674
4) Ghoreishy, M. H. R. Finite element analysis
of steady rolling tyre with slip angle: Effect of belt
angle, Plastics, Rubber and Composites 2006,
35, (2), 83-90
5) Ghoreishy, M. H. R. Steady state rolling analysis
of a radial tyre: Comparison with experimental
results, Proceedings of the Institution of
Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of
Automobile Engineering 2006, 220, (6),
713-721
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OCTOBER 2009
INNOVATION INITIATIVE
Jean-Claude Kihn, Goodyears CTO, has
undertaken a historic innovation strategy TIRE LABELING
How will the forthcoming legislation
benefit customers?
TOMORROWS WORLD
Michelins view of future standards
and regulations, and how to meet them
L
u
n
a
r

im
p
a
c
t
How the moon will help generate
possible next-generation tires
INTERVIEWS Dr Joachim Neubauer
Standards and regulation, Michelin
Nina Renshaw
Policy officer, T&E
Dr Stuart Cook
Director of research, TARRC
Professor Joshua Summers
Clemson University
Ben Michell Dunlop Motorsport
mmm$j_h[j[Y^debe]o_dj[hdWj_edWb$Yec
59
L
ow rolling resistance and low
tire/road noise are requirements
imposed on modern tires for
environmental and economic
considerations. Tire/road noise, in
most driving conditions, is the largest
contributor to overall vehicle noise.
Social and other surveys have indicated
that traffic noise is probably the type of
environmental pollution that affects more
people than any other type of pollution.
Rolling resistance also directly influences
the fuel consumption of the vehicle,
which leads to a similar influence on
CO
2
and other exhaust emissions.
Although it is often estimated that
a rolling resistance change of 10% leads
to a fuel consumption change of 2-3%
(the so-called return factor), the truth
is that there is no single and universal
conversion from the tire rolling resistance
coefficient to overall fuel consumption
of any vehicle.
The specific influence depends on
several factors. Low tire rolling resistance
seems to be especially important for
medium-speed roads with relatively free-
flowing traffic (like in suburban areas or
urban highways). When traffic is often
interrupted and slow, most of the energy
is lost on frequent acceleration and
braking. On the other hand, on high-
speed highways, the aerodynamic drag
is the dominant factor responsible for
energy losses. However, at constant low
or moderate speed, tire rolling resistance
plays a very important role.
Tire/road noise, tire rolling resistance
and other important tire parameters
like friction, handling or wear resistance
depend on many tire and road properties,
in addition to driving conditions. This
leads to the inevitable question as to
whether there is a compromise in other
areas when tires are designed for lower
rolling resistance. Is there a conflict
between the requirements of low rolling
resistance and low tire/road noise?
One way to investigate possible
conflicts between low noise and low
rolling resistance is to make parametric
studies changing one tire or road
parameter at a time and evaluating
tire road noise and tire rolling resistance
variations due to those changes. This
method gives very interesting results.
However, it is very expensive and
difficult to perform for an independent
research center without tire
manufacturing capabilities.
The Technical University of Gdansk
(TUG) sometimes uses this method if
cooperation with a tire manufacturer
is possible to provide an appropriate set
of tires. A few years ago a set of five tires
that differed in reinforcement were tested
both for tire/road noise and for rolling
resistance. The results are presented in
Figure 1, where the rolling resistance
coefficient (CR) is plotted against the
A-weighted sound level.
Rolling resistance was tested on a
safety-walk surface, and noise was tested
on a replica of dense asphalt concrete. The
conclusion was that tire reinforcement can
be optimized for rolling resistance without
an increase in exterior noise. For interior
noise, the situation may differ, since stiff
tires would transmit more noise and
vibration to the suspension and structure.
Another approach is to make statistical
tests comparing results of tire/road noise
and rolling resistance for many different
tires. If comparisons show that there are
Noise and rolling resistance:
is there a conflict?
Is there any conflict between low noise and low rolling resistance of tires?
by Jerzy Ejsmont and Grzegorz Ronowski, Technical University of Gdansk, Poland
Rolling resistance coefficient [-]
0.0132 0.0134 0.0136 0.0138 0.0140 0.0142
Replica of asphalt concrete Safety walk
A
-
W
e
i
g
h
t
e
d

S
P
L

[
d
B
]
106
104
102
100
98
96
94
92
90
Figure 1: Sound levels for five 175/70R13 tires with different carcasses plotted against rolling resistance coefficient
Figure 2: Drum with ASP-4 (left) and safety walk (right)
60
tires that have low noise levels and low
rolling resistance coefficients, this would
indicate that there is no conflict between
those two parameters. Of course in
contrast to the first method, the statistical
approach is not able to show directly
what makes the tire silent and energy
saving (the same applies to road surfaces).
However, if such tires are selected, it
would be possible to closely investigate
their construction and identify the
parameters responsible for such results.
TUG tests numerous tires every year,
both in relation to their noise and in
relation to rolling resistance, so statistical
evaluations are possible. Rolling resistance
is tested according to different methods,
including methods described in ISO and
SAE standards, both on the drum facility
(Figure 2) and using a specially built
trailer R2 (Figure 3). The drum facility
shown in Figure 2 is also used for close-
proximity noise measurements together
with a smaller drum that is equipped
with a replica of ISO 10844 reference
road surface (Figure 4).
Data presented in this paper was
obtained for typical passenger car tires,
intended for summer and winter use.
Tires were loaded to 4120N and inflation
pressure was adjusted according to their
load index. This paper presents the results
for speed of 80km/h that was judged to be
the most representative for the majority of
traffic conditions, where rolling resistance
is of high importance.
Figure 5 presents the comparison
between rolling resistance coefficients
measured on a very smooth surface, safety
walk, and tire/road noise measured on
a rather smooth surface a replica of the
ISO 10844 reference surface. A similar
comparison obtained from measurements
performed on an extremely rough surface
APS-4 (both rolling resistance and noise)
is presented in Figure 6.
Both Figures 5 and 6 clearly indicate
that the correlation between rolling
resistance and tire/road noise is very
weak, to the point of being practically
non-existent. Indeed, it may be stated
that it is no more probable that a given
tire has low noise and low rolling
resistance than that it has low rolling
resistance but is noisy.
Experiments performed in different
conditions (different speeds, loads and
inflations) show a similar lack of
significant correlation between rolling
resistance and the noise of passenger
car tires, both for conventional smooth
and rough road surfaces.
Unfortunately the number of rolling
resistance road measurements performed
so far is still not enough to formulate
conclusions that would cover all common
road surfaces and experimental designs,
such as, for instance, poroelastic road
pavements. Initial observations, however,
indicate that the conflict between low
noise and rolling resistance is unlikely
to be present for them either.
In general terms, for modern passenger
car tires, within existing tire and road
pavement technologies tested so far,
there does not appear to be any conflict
between low noise requirements and
low rolling resistance. tire
A
-
W
e
i
g
h
t
e
d

S
P
L

[
d
B
]
Rolling resistance coefficient [-]
0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009 0.010 0.011 0.012 0.013 0.014 0.015
105
100
95
90
V=80 km/h
RR tested on safety walk
SPL tested on the replica of ISO surface
R
2
= 0.0805
A
-
W
e
i
g
h
t
e
d

S
P
L

[
d
B
]
110
105
100
95
R
2
= 0.1242
V=80 km/h
RR tested on APS-4
SPL tested on APS-4
0.010 0.011 0.012 0.013 0.014 0.015 0.016 0.017 0.018 0.019
Rolling resistance coefficient [-]
Figure 3: Trailer for rolling resistance testing R2 manufactured and used by TUG Figure 4: Drum for testing tire/road noise on replica of ISO 10844 reference surface
Figure 5: Comparison of rolling resistance coefficients tested on Safety Walk
and close proximity tire/road noise tested on replica of smooth road surface
Figure 6: Comparison of rolling resistance coefficients tested and close proximity
tire/road noise tested on a very rough surface approximating surface dressing
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF TIRES
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62
F
ull vehicle simulations cover
a wide range of excitations,
which may be generated by the
driver, control devices, or road
disturbances.
The wavelength and magnitude of road
disturbances can be used to characterize
different conditions. Handling
simulations, for instance, are often done
on local undisturbed ground surfaces
such as measured race tracks and are
based on GPS data. As a consequence, the
very low excitation frequencies mean tire
models based on steady-state conditions
can be used. In the case of ride, discrete
obstacles or road profiles from local
surface measurement are taken into
account small wavelengths with small
magnitudes will be found. Ride is limited
in the frequency area by approximately
50Hz, but the road profiles require tire
models that are able to compute the
contact areas shape and pressure
distribution, and modeling of tire
structure flexibility is needed.
Load cases involving vehicle
suspension strength and durability
uncover special road profiles with small
wavelengths and larger magnitudes, as
well as discrete obstacles, among them
misuse obstacles. The impact-like
character of a tire running into a pothole
excites higher frequencies, and the
dynamics of the tire structure have
to be taken into account.
Some questions arise when related
prototype tests are planned. One of them
is the determination of the critical velocity.
At low vehicle speed, the small amount of
kinetic energy cannot cause larger contact
forces but at high velocity, the spring
preload is not able to accelerate the wheel
into the pothole during the obstacle
crossing time. Therefore, between smaller
and larger velocity, there must be a
condition of maximum suspension load.
The range of velocities between 30km/h
and 60km/h is divided into 10 steps and
two tire-rim combinations, two inflations,
and two obstacles. The number of runs is
80. This limits the complexity in terms of
computational effort for the vehicle and
tire model. A multibody dynamics system
(mbs) is often used for vehicle modeling.
For tire modeling, the load path of
a typical passenger car tire is based on
the inflation pressure, which pre-loads
the structure. The load is carried by belt
and sidewall as tensile elements and not
by spokes. In normal rolling conditions,
contact occurs between the tire and road
surface. To handle misuse deformations,
the contact between the inner surface of
the tire and the rim has to be added to the
model. A second load path is established
if inner contact between rim and tire or
two tire surfaces occurs, as in the runflat
and in the misuse cases.
Looking at structure dynamics
involving contact and friction, finite
element models (FEMs) are usually the
first choice. Because of the large
computational effort, the number of runs
to determine the above-mentioned critical
velocity is limited. Some simplifications
may help to overcome the limitations,
especially if the rim forces are of greater
interest over the stresses and strains inside
the tire.
A starting point in modeling a tire with
FEM could be a structure representation
using rebar elements for belt and carcass
together with different linear or nonlinear
rubber matrix material models. This
leads to a FEM model close to the
physical nature of the tire but containing
a large number of nodes and elements.
Classical reduction techniques such as
condensation are able to reduce the
number of nodes and therefore the
number of degrees of freedom. An
additional way is to replace rebar elements
by elements with anisotropy. However, the
resulting model is still too expensive in
terms of computational effort in mbs full
vehicle dynamics, and with respect to the
required number of runs.
Going a step further, the load carrying
structure is assembled in quad 4 elements,
where the rebars are condensed
analytically to the four nodes, avoiding
any numerical integration. A typical mesh
of the belt is shown in Figure 1. A curved
contact layer at the outer tire surface is
connected to the belt grid by an elastic
foundation. The contact layer has a
different node density that normally will
be of higher density than that of the belt.
The contact or gap nodes are loaded by
the footprint forces in the contact area, if
the gap to the road surface is closed, from
Misuse load cases
and MBS simulation
Simulating full vehicle misuse behavior enables OEMs in an early phase of the
design process to obtain fundamental information on misuse-relevant force levels
and the damage chain with minimal extra parameters or computational effort
by Prof Dr-Ing. Ch. Oertel, FH Brandenburg (Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences), Germany
The wavelength and magnitude of road
disturbances can be used to characterize
different conditions
Figure 1: A typical FEM mesh model of a tire belt
63
which the contact areas shape and the
normal stress distribution is known.
The contact nodes transfer the load to the
belt and carcass. Some additional discrete
elements are used to represent the
bending stiffness of the rubber matrix.
Rotating the cross section generates
belt mesh, sidewall mesh and rim nodes.
Rim nodes move together with the mbs
part rim of the vehicle model. This
simplified flexible structure dynamics
model is able to follow the load path idea,
based on inflation pressure and preloads
in the structure elements. Together with
contact algorithm and friction model,
the tire model RMOD-K FB is built. The
computational effort in this model is
a linear function of the number of nodes
because of the explicit time integration
method. This ensures that the peak loads
are not influenced by numerical damping.
The misuse load case requires
additional model elements, which are able
to generate contact forces between rim
and inner tire surface. The basic idea
before starting the development of the
RMOD-K FB extensions was to add only
a few new parameters and to keep the
computational effort as small as possible.
Looking at radial displacement, the rim
is represented by a nonlinear stiffness in
every rim node. At the structure nodes
of the belt grid, corresponding nonlinear
stiffness elements exists.
The combination of both represents
the inner contact mechanism, shown in
Figure 2. The upper nonlinear stiffness
represents the rim part of the inner
contact and the lower ones are symbols of
the inner surface. If the gap between rim
and belt nodes closes, unilateral stiffness
elements begin to work, expressed by the
gap indicators. In consequence, only one
additional nonlinear equation per rim
node must be solved in every integration
step, and only if contact occurs in that
node, indicated by at least one gap
indicator greater than zero.
Five new parameters describe the
different materials. The rim related
parameter is an elastic-plastic approach
with constant slopes cE and cP. The
border between elastic and plastic
behavior is given by the force FE. Due
to the elastic-plastic behavior of the rim,
an additional dissipation mechanism is
included in the model. The rubber related
stiffness relation is a simple nonlinear
function with two parameters. If results
from material tests are available, any other
non-linear function can be implemented.
In combination, only five new values
are added to the tire model data set.
The model extension based on
unilateral contact elements between rim
and inner surface of the tire is completed
by the initial gap information from the
tires cross section. It enables the model to
deal with obstacles like cleats or potholes,
which are of the same dimension (height
or depth) as the tire sidewall. With a
typical passenger car tire, wheel load
peaks in impact situations such as misuse
tests may reach more than 70,000.
Testing rim and tire local material
properties or measuring the vertical
stiffness of tire and rim are two possible
methods of parameter determination.
The first approach was to measure the
vertical stiffness of the combination of
tire and rim. The results where used for
determination of the five new parameters.
Comparison between measurement and
simulation in Figure 3 shows sufficient
accuracy. Looking at suspension loads, the
vertical force is of interest, and the torque
generated by the asymmetry of the rim.
A test rig was built, able to measure the
rim stiffness at both sides separately as
well as the combined stiffness of tire and
rim. This leads to different rim stiffness
functions on left and right rim sides,
based on three measurements: rim left
and right load deflection relation and the
tire and rim combination with the results
in eight parameters.
In Figure 4, showing up to 60mm
vertical displacement, the second or inner
load path with contact between rim and
tire is not active. In consequence, the
torque remains zero and the vertical
stiffness is a linear function of
displacement. At greater displacements,
the second load path becomes active and
the torque goes up to 900Nm and above.
Using the model extension, the critical
velocity of a simple mbs vehicle model is
investigated. Two versions of the vehicle
model have been built, one using joints
between suspension and body and the
other using bushings. The suspension
geometry at the front axle differs from
that at the rear to show the influence
of the suspension design. The vehicle
runs through a pothole obstacle and is at
equilibrium with constant velocity before.
The front axle results are shown in
upper part of Figure 5. The vertical and
the longitudinal forces correlate with the
critical velocity, which is to be found
between 30 and 40km/h, around 35km/h.
F

z
[
k
N
]
0 10 20 30 70 80 90 100
F
z
M
x
linear
M
x
[
k
N
m
m
]
70
60
50
20
10
0
1000
900
800
700
300
200
100
0
F

z
[
k
N
]
dz [mm]
0 10 20 40 50 60
70
60
50
30
20
10
0
simulation
measurement
f 1 ( s 1)
s 1
g12
g13
( s 3) f 3
f 2 ( s 2)
s 3
s 3
s
( 2)
s
( 3)
Figure 2: Model of the inner contact mechanism
Figure 3: Comparison between measurement and simulation shows suitable accuracy Figure 4: Torque from inner contact, with up to 60mm vertical displacement shown
dz [mm]
64
Only at 30km/h (the red lines), the
wheel reaches the bottom of the pothole.
At any other velocities, the contact takes
place at the positive inclined surface of
the obstacle, and at the last edge, the
maximum peak load is reached. The
bushing version of the vehicle model
generates fewer tire forces. This can be
explained by the relative motion of the
wheel in the joint version, where the
wheel is able to avoid larger force levels
by moving round the obstacle. The front
axle runs into the hole based on a steady
vehicle state. At the rear axle, effects
from the pitch motion, influenced by
the wheelbase for instance, build some
interaction between the impact situation
and vehicle properties.
The correlation between vertical and
longitudinal forces vanishes at the rear
axle (lower part of Figure 5) and the
bushing version generates a similar force
level compared with the joint version. The
critical velocity at the rear axle is higher
than at the front axle when looking at
the results in the vertical force direction.
One reason is the different suspension
geometry at the rear. Another reason for
differences between front and rear tire
forces results from pitch angle excitation
when the front axle crosses the obstacle.
The impact situation expressed by
the time history of the rear wheel load
depends strongly on the pitch angle of the
vehicle. During front impact, the rear axle
is loaded and the pitch angle motion leads
to vertical wheel travel. Reaching the first
edge of the obstacle, the rear wheel moves
up at lower velocity. At higher vehicle
velocity, the wheel moves down when
reaching the first edge, and the impact
loads will be higher. This explains the
differences in the critical velocity between
front and rear axle.
Simulation results are usually
compared with measurements. To do this,
a test vehicle with a complete passenger
car rear axle including differential gear
box and equipped with several sensors
and cameras is built for indoor tests. An
mbs simulation model of the car is used
for comparison. Two different obstacles
are built a cleat and a pothole. Only the
rear axle crosses the obstacles because of
the different track at front and rear axles.
The tests were run by IAT mbH in
Berlin. Through the simulation model
instead of the real vehicle, it was possible
to minimize the number of critical
velocity tests. The measurement results
identified the same range of maximum
suspension loads as predicted from the
simulation. Comparison between
measurement and simulation showed
some limitations of the mbs model such
as the assumption of a massless spring,
or the formulation of bump-stop forces.
The possibility of simulating full
vehicle misuse behavior enables OEMs to
obtain fundamental information regarding
the misuse-relevant force level and
damage chain in an early phase of the
design process. Extensions of the tire
model RMOD-K FB were made in order
to run such simulations.
A major aim of these extensions was to
add only a small additional computational
effort and a small number of parameters,
measured on a new test rig. The
simulation approach to assess a vehicles
overall misuse behavior helps reduce
the number of prototype tests necessary
which involve, at a very late stage of
the development process, the risk of
additional, extremely cost-intensive
and time-consuming modifications
and validation loops. tire
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
t [s]
35.0
30.0
25.0
20.0
5.0
0.0
-5.0
-10.0
F

[
k
N
]
60 [km/h]
50
45
40
35
30
vx_30_joint
vx_35_joint
vx_40_joint
vx_45_joint
vx_50_joint
vx_60_joint
vx_30_bush
vx_35_bush
vx_40_bush
vx_45_bush
vx_50_bush
vx_60_bush
Fx Rear
vx_30_joint
vx_35_joint
vx_40_joint
vx_45_joint
vx_50_joint
vx_60_joint
vx_30_bush
vx_35_bush
vx_40_bush
vx_45_bush
vx_50_bush
vx_60_bush
30
35
40
45
50
60 [km/h]
F

[
k
N
]
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
t [s]
60.0
50.0
40.0
10.0
0.0
-10.0
Fz Rear
vx_30_joint
vx_35_joint
vx_40_joint
vx_45_joint
vx_50_joint
vx_60_joint
vx_30_bush
vx_35_bush
vx_40_bush
vx_45_bush
vx_50_bush
vx_60_bush 60 [km/h]
50
45
40
35
30
F

[
k
N
]
60.0
50.0
40.0
10.0
0.0
-10.0
0.1 0.25 0.4 0.55 0.7
t [s]
Fz Front
vx_30_joint
vx_35_joint
vx_40_joint
vx_45_joint
vx_50_joint
vx_60_joint
vx_30_bush
vx_35_bush
vx_40_bush
vx_45_bush
vx_50_bush
vx_60_bush
30
35
40
45
50
60 [km/h]
Fx Front
F

[
k
N
]
35.0
30.0
25.0
20.0
5.0
0.0
-5.0
-10.0
0.1 0.25 0.4 0.55 0.7
t [s]
Figure 5: The front axle results are shown in the upper two graphs, and the correlation between vertical and longitudinal forces vanishes at the rear axle in the lower graphs
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66
A
n EC-funded Fricti@n project
(2006-2008) developed sensor
fusion technologies for friction
potential estimation. In addition,
tire sensors were studied in depth.
A predecessor project of Fricti@n, the
Apollo project,
1
concentrated only on
tire sensors and resulted in a special
3-in-1 test tire. The tire possessed three
different sensors: a MEMS (micro-electro-
mechanical system) acceleration sensor,
a piezoelectric strain sensor, and an
optical position detection sensor. Since
tire sensors had a minor role in the
Fricti@n project, it seemed evident
that there were no resources to develop
all these sensor types further.
The acceleration sensor was extremely
interesting, but it is being extensively
studied at the moment. Some interesting
results based on strain sensors were
presented.
2
However, the piezoelectric
strain sensor was not durable enough
even for research purposes and was
the easiest to ignore.
The optical position detection sensor,
selected to be the tire-based sensor in
the Fricti@n project, showed excellent
performance in tire force estimation.
Based on the 2008 Aachen Colloquium,
3
the intention is to explain how the optical
tire sensor is being further developed
toward real-time tire force estimation,
and its capability to detect hydroplaning.
The optical tire sensor principle is
shown in Figure 1. The core of the optical
tire sensor is a two-dimensional position-
sensitive detector (PSD) that utilizes
photodiode surface resistance.
4
The PSD
is located on the rim and can detect the
movement of a light-emitting diode (LED)
that is glued into the innerliner of the tire.
The intensity of the LED is not constant
versus angular displacement. For
example, a 10 angular displacement
means approximately 2% lower intensity.
A plano-convex (PCX) lens with anti-
reflection coating focuses the light onto
the sensor. The effective focal length is
9mm, roughly the distance of the lens
from the sensor. The sensor setup has
been installed into a special dividable
rim. The tire in these tests was a winter
tire without studs (friction tire,
225/60R16). A Li-ion battery was
used as a power supply.
5
The wireless data transfer system
was the same as that used in the Apollo
project.
6
The resolution of each channel
was 12 bits and the sampling rate was
approximately 5,100Hz. The data
was transformed into CAN message
Tire-road contact information
for driver assistance systems: an optical sensor approach
Optical tire sensor technology is an outstanding research and development
tool for use in bringing the intelligent tire closer to a market reality
by Ari J. Tuononen, Helsinki University of Technology (TKK), Finland
Wheel rim
PSD
sensor
Lens
Intensity of LED vs
angular displacement
LED
Z
Y
Figure 1: The optical tire sensor, based on a 2D position-sensitive detector that uses photodiode surface resistance
Figure 2: Development of the optical tire sensor, starting from Apollo until the completion of the Fricti@n project
67
format to be ready for the vehicle
network.
Figure 2 shows the lifecycle of the
optical tire sensor, starting from Apollo
until the end of Fricti@n. The first
modification to the tire sensor was to
embed the displacement calculation in the
tire. In Apollo this calculation was done in
post-processing, and thus the new sensor
version saved a lot of processor time in
real-time operation. The resolution of the
data improved as a result of the analog
signal processing before digitizing. The
improved electronics were located in the
alloy housing, which made possible the
exact parallel installation of the optical
components (Figure 3).
With intensive testing completed
on the first Fricti@n prototype sensor,
there was great enthusiasm to test the
tire sensor on a truck. The same sensor
electronics were installed into a separate
sensor module. The sensor module is
easily installed without removing the
tire (Figure 4), and the flange joint was
welded to the truck wheel rim.
The tire forces can be calculated only
once per rotation. Thus it is essential to
know the exact position of the sensor.
An additional magnetic pick-up sensor
was used to synchronize the rotation
angle of the optical tire sensor exactly.
The sensor was installed in the rim
and aligned with the optical sensor.
A magnet was also installed into the
suspension or test rig to indicate the
upright position of the sensor. A new
tire force estimate is calculated and
a new rotation started when the sensor
passes by the magnet.
Vertical signal
The vertical movement of the LED can
be calculated from the intensity I
psd
:
Figure 5 shows a comparison of the
tire sensor measurement and FEM
simulation (run by Nokian Tires). The
peak value is found to be linear to the
vertical force. An area of movement z
is calculated:
where q is the rotation angle. The area
is also linear to the vertical force and
more independent of any noise or errors
during the contact.
Even if the vertical movement
correlates well with the vertical force,
in the final version of the algorithms it is
ignored. This is due to the fact that LED
intensity depends on temperature, supply
voltage, and LED orientation angle. The
final vertical force estimation is based
on the longitudinal movement signal,
because it is almost independent of those
environmental factors.
The longitudinal signal carries a lot
of information (Figure 6). The amplitude
is proportional to the contact length and
it can be further exploited to estimate
vertical force. The amplitude is calculated:
where
consists of all values of the x-signal for
one rotation.
The longitudinal force shifts the
longitudinal signal up- or downward,
but amplitude is maintained almost
completely (Figure 7). The recursive mean
value of the longitudinal signal correlates
with the longitudinal force. The mean
value is calculated:
Figure 3: The first Fricti@n tire sensor prototype, comprising an alloy housing with circuit board and lens (on top) Figure 4: An optical tire sensor module for a truck rim
0.035
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Figure 5: Tire sensor vertical movement with different wheel loads (measurement shown on left, FEM on the right)
The amplitude
is proportional
to the contact
length and it can
be further exploited
to estimate
vertical force
68
and the longitudinal force is calculated
after a completed rotation:
where c is the respective parameter
defined from a calibration run. Figure 7
shows the estimated tire force comparison
for the test rig measurement during
braking. The tire force is slightly
underestimated in some sections and
values have some offset around zero
forces, where only rolling resistance exists.
The vertical force is then calculated:
where the parabolic term is needed
because of the inverse square relation
of intensity and displacement. The
x, c
z,x gain
, and c
z,x offset
terms are needed
to compensate the vertical force estimate
under longitudinal force, which slightly
increases signal amplitude.
The tire sensor estimate and test rig
measurement are compared in Figure 8.
The tire sensor can estimate vertical
forces very accurately if no simultaneous
longitudinal force exists. The influence
of the compensation term can be seen on
the right in Figure 8, where the braking
sequence is the same as in Figure 7
(right). The additional term in Equation 6
compensates for the increased amplitude
during braking.
The lateral force is calculated from the
lateral movement signal. Equationally to
the vertical signal (Equation 2), the lateral
signal peak value and area of one rotation
are proportional to the lateral force.
However, the area of movement depends
on rotational velocity and it has to be
compensated. In real-time calculation
this was a major problem because of
the jitter and resulted in completely
wrong lateral forces. Thus, the recursive
mean value calculation (cf Equation 4)
was implemented:
and lateral force estimate:
The lateral movement signal is shown in
Figure 9 on the left and the tire sensor
estimate and test rig measurement are
compared on the right.
Hydroplaning severely hampers
interaction between the tire and the road.
In hydroplaning the tire contact patch can
be roughly divided into three sections
7
(Figure 10). In zone A, the inertial effect
of the water dominates and no contact
between the tire and the road surface
exists. In zone B, some rubber-road
contact exists, but the viscous effect
of the water squeezing out from the
contact area limits this area. Zone C
represents full wet road contact.
Figure 11 shows the tire sensor
measurement in transition from dry
tarmac to an 8mm water reservoir.
The left- and right-hand figures relate to
the same data; only the view is different.
The elevation of the front part of the
patch can be seen from the increased
distance between the LED and the
unloaded radius. The signal also shifts
slightly towards smaller rotation angles,
which can be seen on the right in the
figure. The drop in the peak values just
before hydroplaning reveals the descent
of the tire into the water reservoir and
means reduced vertical tire force.
A more detailed analysis of optical tire
sensor behavior in hydroplaning has been
carried out.
8
The most difficult task of
real-time hydroplaning detection is to
distinguish wheel load deviation from
the hydroplaning phenomenon. This
can be done, for example, by calculating
the shifting of the area covered by the
signal. However, this is influenced by
the longitudinal force, assumed to
be minor for a hydroplaning tire.
The optical tire sensor can very
accurately estimate tire forces as long
as the tire inflation pressure is known.
In the previous results the inflation
pressure was always the same as during
calibration measurement in the test rig.
The inflation pressure increases enough in
normal driving to introduce a bias to the
tire force estimate. However, if there is
ever a tire force sensor based on carcass
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Figure 6: Tire sensor longitudinal movement with different wheel loads (measurement on left, FEM on right)
The most difficult
task of real-time
hydroplaning
detection is to
distinguish wheel-
load deviation from
the hydroplaning
phenomenon
Figure 7: Longitudinal signal in braking (left) and tire sensor force estimate compared to test rig measurement (right)
1 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09
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69
movements in production, the direct
TPMS will certainly be standard
equipment at that time.
The longitudinal movement signal
has been found to carry most of the
information. It reveals the contact
length and the longitudinal forces.
Furthermore, it can detect similar
differences in hydroplaning for the
vertical movement. The longitudinal
forces cannot be accurately measured
during ABS braking, since the
update rate is limited to one sample
per rotation.
Vertical movement signal (intensity) is
disturbed by LED alignment, temperature
etc. Despite the facts, these limitations
(especially LED alignment) are
characteristic only for an optical sensor,
which requires a light source in the
innerliner. There are many optical devices
that can measure distance without
a light source in the object. This concept
would be more production-oriented than
the sensor considered in this paper.
The reliable measurement of innerliner
vertical movement would certainly allow
at least dynamic wheel load estimation
and possibly also the detection of
hydroplaning.
The lateral tire force can be accurately
estimated from the lateral movement
signal. It makes it possible to estimate the
vehicle slip angle accurately and rapidly,
because the tire force is acting on the
chassis before accelerations and rotational
velocities are generated. The side slip
estimator based on tire sensor forces
is one of the further activities.
The lateral signal could also provide
indications about the aligning moment
of the tire, but no systematic studies have
been done on this subject. In some tests,
it was observed that the lateral signal peak
was shifted forwards (towards the trailing
edge) in the tire contact patch at small slip
angles, which could be influenced by the
aligning moment. The aligning moment
would be interesting to estimate, because
it describes very nicely the tire operating
state, together with the lateral tire force.
9
The optical tire sensor has been an
excellent research tool to study dynamic
tire behavior. It is not even intended to
be a product, but resources have been
allocated to study what information is
available if the deflections of the tire
carcass are known. It can also be used
to validate complex physical tire models
such as FEM much progress has been
achieved in embedding the cyclic data
analysis algorithms into standard low-
cost MCUs. tire
The optical tire
sensor has been
an excellent
research tool
to study dynamic
tire behavior
Figure 8: Comparison of tire sensor estimate and test rig measurement results. The influence of the
compensation term can be seen on the right, where the braking sequence is the same as in Figure 7 (right)
Figure 9: Lateral movement signal is shown left, and tire sensor estimate and test rig measurement on the right Figure 10: The three-zone concept of hydroplaning
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References
1) Apollo final report, 7.7. 2008 Available online at:
www.vtt.fi/apollo
2) Morinaga, Hiroshi, 2006, The Possibility of
Intelligent Tire (Technology of Contact Area
Information Sensing), Yokohama Fisita World
Automotive Congress.
3) Tuononen, Ari J. et al. (2008) Tire sensing approach
for friction estimation in Fricti@n project, Aachen:
Aachen Colloquium,
6-8.10.2008.
4) Hamamatsu, PSD S5991-01 data sheet.
5) Tuononen, Ari J. (2008) Optical position detection
to measure tire carcass deflections, Vehicle System
Dynamics, 46:6, 471 481, Abingdon: Taylor &
Francis.
6) Nepote, Andrea et al. (2004) The intelligent tire:
A new challenge for automotive electronics,
Barcelona: Fisita 2004 World Automotive
Congress.
7) Browne, A. L, Cheng, H. and Kistler, A. (1972)
Dynamic hydroplaning of pneumatic tires, Wear
20, pp 128.
8) Tuononen, Ari J, Hartikainen Lassi (2008) Optical
Position Detection Sensor to Measure Tire Carcass
Deflections in Hydroplaning, Vehicle Systems
Modelling and Testing, Vol 3 Nr 3, Inderscience.
9) Pasterkamp, W. R. (1997) The Tire as Sensor
to Estimate Friction, Delft University Press.
70
N
ASAs renewed interest in
manned lunar flight has resulted
in research to create new mobile
platforms for lunar exploration.
Unfortunately, current tire technologies
cannot withstand the extremes of a lunar
environment, where temperatures range
from +250F to -250F between sunlight
and shadow.
With the support of Michelin Inc, one
Clemson University faculty member spent
two weeks at NASAs Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) to research new methods
to replace the polyurethane of the
terrestrial Tweel. Developed by JPL, the
Tweel, which has performance akin to a
pneumatic tire, was an appealing option
for use in the JPL ATHLETE (All Terrain
Hex Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer)
project, seen in Figure 1, as it is not
vulnerable to the pressures of expansion
and contraction caused by extreme lunar
temperatures that would make the rubber
of conventional tires very brittle.
Timothy Rhyne and Steven Cron, two
researchers at Michelins North American
R&D department, are the men behind the
non-pneumatic Tweel, which comprises
three major components: a critical shear
beam (or shear band), two inextensible
membranes, and deformable spokes. In
the Tweel, the shear beam is sandwiched
between two inextensible membranes
that restrict the motion of the internal
geometry, allowing shear only.
Unlike traditional balloon tires,
the Tweels unique top-loading weight
distribution shifts the vehicle weight from
the hub, up through the spokes, to the
arch of the inextensible membranes and
the shear beam sandwich. The shear beam
then carries the load to the ground, where
it deflects to form a relatively uniform
contact patch (Figure 2). The Tweel also
replicates four important pneumatic tire
properties: low contact pressure; low
stiffness; high load-carrying efficiency;
and low energy loss from obstacle impact,
which, with its unique configuration,
make the Tweel an ideal candidate for
use in a harsh lunar environment.
As part of their senior design project,
mechanical engineering students at
Clemson University designed three
NASA, Michelin, and South Carolinas Clemson University have joined forces
to research and test tread designs that may one day be used on lunar vehicles
by Jaifeng Jeff Ma & Professor Joshua Summers, Clemson University, USA
Tire-sand interaction
research for lunar applications
Figure 1: The All Terrain Hex Limbed Extra Terrestrial Explorer (ATHLETE) Rover undergoing testing on rough ground
Figure 2: Main components of the non-pneumatic wheel
Figure 3 (right): 2D FEM model replicating the prototype
71
non-pneumatic Tweels, all of which had
a different construction encompassing
bristle design, the segmented cylinder
design, and the helical coil design. In
subsequent research projects, the Clemson
University research team created
computational simulations of the
interaction of each Tweel design and used
the results, presented here, to improve
Tweel traction performance. The modeling
these students undertook plays an
important role in predicting optimum
parameters to improve Tweel capabilities
and performance in all future physical
prototypes. Their computational modeling
of Tweel-soil interaction can be used for
improving current tire designs used
in both construction equipment and
off-road vehicles.
The team has also developed
computational models to provide rapid
simulation and analysis tools for use in
modeling interaction between tires and
sand to inform improved military tire
designs for use in the arduous confines
of both Afghanistan and Iraq. From
this work, the team uses new mission
requirements provided by the US Army
(temperature cycles, speeds, loads) to
create new sand-tire interaction models
for use in new tread designs with superior
traction performance.
Simulating sand-tire interactions to
accelerate and evaluate non-pneumatic
tires and tread design requires the latest
technology available. In their design work,
the Clemson team has used the finite
element method (FEM), the discrete
element method (DEM), the meshless
integral method (MIM) as instantiated
in ABAQUS and PFC2D commercial
software and in-house MIM codes to
conduct FEM, DEM, and MIM modeling
and simulation. The team also developed
Ant Farm and Merry-Go-Round systems
to test the endurance of their developed
tire and tread systems, in addition to
several other experimental systems.
Eleven prototypes of different shapes
and materials were also built and tested.
Although the Tweel is unique, more
work is needed to make it viable.
Developing high-traction and high-
wear-resistant solutions that will last for
50,000 miles in temperatures ranging
from -380F to +260F is a daunting
challenge, says Professor Joshua
Summers of Clemson University.
One alternative to traditional
experimentation that involves
computational simulation of tire-soil
interaction has been most useful for
improving tire designs used in heavy
construction equipment, off-road vehicles,
and in advancing understanding of the
soil compaction.
To improve our understanding of the
Tweel and to optimize its traction
performance in our project, we will have
to run a sizeable number of computational
simulations of Tweel-soil interactions,
Summers continues. This computational
modeling plays an important role for
predicting optimum parameters before
building or improving physical prototypes
and conducting experiments.
Compared with existing analytical
and empirical methods, computational
analysis can provide detailed models
of tire-soil interaction and predict
deformations of the tire and the soil
within an acceptable accuracy once the
constitutive behavior of both materials is
well represented. The geometry of the
contact area between the tire and the soil
cannot be prescribed beforehand; it is
a complex interplay resulting from the
deformation of the tire and the soil.
Using the stress distributions in the tire
and the soil, and the interface between the
two, Summers and his team can predict
and compare these experimental results
for validation. They are currently using
three computational modeling tools in
their soil analysis: FEM, DEM, and MIM.
The purpose is to use these models to
develop a fully computational model that
can accurately model tire-sand interaction.
They can then use this model to search
for novel tread concepts to improve the
performance of tire-on-sand (traction),
and to avoid slip.
FEM has been one of the most
widely used computational methods
for determining the interaction between
the tire and the soil. It requires less
computational effort and provides
acceptable levels of accuracy. Summers
and his team treat their soil samples as
an elastoplastic solid, meaning that they
can use a single equation to determine
the mechanics of the soil behavior as
it is affected by their Tweels.
Figure 4: Contour plot of the maximum logarithmic strain using Lades single hardening model of sand
Figure 5: Contour plot of the maximum principal plastic strain between Tweel and soil Figure 6: Contour plot of the maximum principal plastic strain between Tweel and soil
72
Figure 3 shows the contour plot of
this plastic strain (PE12) simulation of
Tweel-sand interaction using sand from
Lebanon, New Hampshire, USA. The
graphic shows the low contact pressure
and high-load-carrying efficiency of
the Tweel, with a low energy loss from
obstacle impact. Because the wheel
is non-pneumatic, it can be made of
materials that can withstand extreme
temperatures on both terrains.
Figure 4 also shows the boundary
conditions and contour plot of the
maximum logarithmic strain of a plane
strain test using Lades single-hardening
model of sand. This model was used as
a user subroutine (UMAT) in ABAQUS.
From the contour plot of the logarithmic
strain, it is evident that this sophisticated,
11-parameter sand model captures failure
zone/shear band.
Figures 5 and 6 show the contours of
the maximum principal plastic strains of
the two instants of the interaction model
between 3D Tweel and soil (t=40 and
t=80). The soil is divided into three layers,
representing the change in bulk density
and shear strength with depth. Each layer
has a modified Drucker-Prager material
model with cap plasticity. These figures
show the 3D Tweel/tire model.
The Clemson team also used DEM
to model the flow of granular soil and
sand under and away from their
experimental Tweel designs.
The DEM is a numerical technique
that keeps track of the location of each
particle, its velocity, and the forces
acting on it, and calculates the resulting
acceleration of the particle and its
new position, velocity, and forces,
says Summers. In FEM analysis, the
granular material is treated as continuum
by averaging the physics across many
particles.
The result is a macroscale system that
inherits its properties from the properties
of microscale particles. Figure 7 shows a
DEM simulation of a direct shear test of
sand, containing 33,000 grains. The box
lid applies a constant average pressure to
the top surface of the sand as the entire
top half of the box moves slowly to the
right, shearing the specimen. The force
required to shear it is recorded for
plotting as a function of displacement.
The team is also developing the
meshless method that is different from
FEM to analyze the performance of
tire-on-sand (traction) for eventual use
on NASA moon rovers. This method,
which can handle the moving boundaries
and changing geometry of soil-tread
interactions to avoid possible traction slip,
consists of a distribution of nodes over the
problem domain with the solution derived
from these nodes. Consequently, nodal
connectivity in the meshless method
becomes simpler and more flexible.
Each node, through the use of a localized
weight function, is always connected
to nearby nodes, which means that the
number of interconnected nodes is
unlimited.
The Clemson team developed its own
meshless integral method to determine
linear elasticity, and elastoplasticity for
small and large deformations of tread
ware. Jianfeng Ma, a post-doctoral
researcher in Summers group, believes
this method to be vastly superior to
conventional tire-soil interaction
modeling.
This innovative idea is an
improvement over existing methods in
that essential boundary conditions are
enforced directly, efficiently, and
Figure 7: DEM simulation of a direct shear test of sand Figures 8 (a) (left) and (b) (right): Deformation and von Mises stress distribution along bottom line for punch test
Figure 9: General test setup of the Ant Farm Figure 10: Overview of the lunar testing system setup Figure 11: The lunar drivetrain design subsystem
73
accurately, says Ma. The implementation
is straightforward and more efficient than
indirect methods.
He went on to say that this meshless
method needs no background mesh for
integration, and it is more stable and
robust than meshless methods, and than
the finite point method. It is also more
accurate than FEM for the same number
of nodes.
Figures 8a and 8b show deformation
and von Mises stress (in MPa) distribution
along the bottom edge for a punch test.
The model geometry had 561 nodes, and
the spline weight function and linear
monomial basis were used. The Youngs
modulus is E=203 GPa, =0.3. After
yielding, bilinear stress-strain behavior
was assumed with a yield stress of
260MPa, and an elastoplastic tangent
modulus of 1GPa. Von Mises yielding
criterion was used. The prescribed
displacement of the left half of the top
edge was U2=-0.08m. The two figures
indicate that the meshless results are in
good agreement with the FEM solutions.
An undergraduate team of students
also generated the novel concept of the
Ant Farm, which aids the calibration of
the DEM analysis to the sand used in the
endurance testing of the lunar wheels.
The purpose of the Ant Farm is to
verify a software simulation made using
an FEM program and a DEM program,
says Summers. We want to use the Ant
Farm to lower an object (known as
a punch) into sand at a constant rate
for a specified period of time, to see how
the sand deforms around the punch.
The Ant Farm system includes a box
made of fine-grain plywood, with a
plexiglas front and aluminum punches,
and was entirely designed and built by
two students: an entering freshman and
a sophomore mechanical engineering
student. There are two punch shapes:
a semicircle and a rectangle with rounded
corners. It also has a sand box, a motor
support, motor, cam, cam follower, and
a punch. Figure 9 shows the general test
setup of the Ant Farm.
The punch rests on the sand and is
pushed into the sand by the cam follower.
The punch force is approximated by the
FEM and DEM simulations to run to
110N of force. The key information
collected is the vertical force exerted on
the punch versus time and also versus
displacement with secondary information
being the visual displacement of the layers
of sand.
The NASA Tweel project simulates
the rotation of a lunar wheel, which
must closely mimic the moons gravity
and terrain for an appropriate testing
environment. The Merry-Go-Round
system for the teams Tweel endurance
tests includes a turnable subsystem,
drive train subsystem, and sensory
and DAQ system (Figure 10).
The turntable has a 20-sided polygon
shaped trough with a circle of radius 6m
and one of 7m combined to form the path
of the trough. A framework underneath
prevents deformation of the trough
bottom. To stabilize the center column
and trough area, the team set steel cables
at the bottom of the frame and another
set to the top of the center column. Cable
tension was calculated for the amount
of weight supported. Because the trough
is suspended, the casters act as a safety
measure, which can decelerate the
turntable should any cables slip.
The drivetrain (Figure 11) has a 5bhp
three-phase motor, a gearbox reducer,
shaft, and suspension. A PTO shaft and
Figure 12: Testing location on a 25 constant incline Figure 13: Testing vehicle with prototype installed Figure 14: Hall effect counter and display on ATV axle
Figure 15(b): C&M wire tread concept
Figure 15(a): Coir rug tread concept
Figure 16(b): Carpet concept prototype tread
Figure 16(a): Astro-Turf prototype tread
Figure 17: Paddle wheel prototype tire tread
74
clutch provide movement in only one
direction, with a four-link suspension to
guide the lunar wheel on the correct path.
Sensors around the MGR measure
the wheel slip, wheel deflection, wheel
surface penetration, and wheel fatigue.
Pictures of each are taken at different
stages until the lunar wheel physically
fails to ensure the greatest possible
input of information.
Determining the most effective tread
design for obtaining traction in sand
occurred over a five-week period. The
eleven prototypes built and tested
integrate concepts used in sand racing,
and snow and mud driving. The team
analyzed test results to determine which
components were the most effective
in producing traction. The tests were
performed on a hill with a constant
incline of approximately 25 (Figure 12).
The dry sand testbed was 45ft long and
8ft wide, with a sand depth of 6-8in.
A flat 22ft entrance was created in front
of the hill to enable the test vehicle to
a reach steady state speed of 5mph
before reaching the incline.
A Kawasaki Brute Force ATV was used
to test each tread concept (Figure 13).
The front tires were replaced with racing
slicks mounted to a 13in wheel so that
each experimental tread would encounter
fresh, unpacked sand. Tire pressure
was set at 25psi. The team applied
an experimental tread while the other
was left slick for each run. The ATV
was kept in four-wheel drive mode and
a low gear for all tests to measure tread
performance in driving situations.
A throttle hard stop governed the
5mph speed before reaching the incline.
A camera mounted under the ATV
recorded all tread-sand interaction.
The same driver (weighing 160 lb)
conducted all tests, and the sand was
raked before testing began and between
each run. Tread performance was
quantified from the distance the ATV
traveled up the hill before encountering
full slip, and the percentage of slippage
during the run. The team measured the
distance from hill bottom to the front tire
of the ATV, allowing the tape to follow the
contour of the hill. Sensors and steel wire
strips tied to the ATV axle counted the
number of experimental tread revolutions
(Figure 14).
This counter and the circumference
of the tire (20in) determined the distance
the ATV should have traveled if no slip
occurred. They compared this theoretical
distance to the actual (measured) distance
and calculated the percentage of slippage
accordingly.
The 11 concept treads designed and
tested by the team are: coir rug, C&M
wire tread, Astro-Turf prototype, carpet
concept, paddle wheel prototype,
V-shaped grouser prototype, aluminum
wire mesh roll prototype, concave tread
prototype, traction tape prototype,
deformable adhesive tread concept prior
to testing, and snow chain prototype
(Figures 15 to 23).
Of the designs tested, the team found
that five exhibited superior traction
capability: the carpet, V-shaped grousers
(both orientations), aluminum
circumferential mesh, and concave treads.
We found that these were the most
impressive by far, says Summers. Our
computational modeling capabilities
using the FEM, the DEM, and MIM will
be used to bear this out and find more
optimal configurations using these
concepts as seeds.
So whats next? Summers and his
team will continue to refine their work
to develop treads that are more robust
for use in extremes of heat and cold.
Our groups philosophy is to push
state-of-the-art design, he concludes.
The work that were doing here will help
to create the next generation of engineers
who can look at seemingly unsolvable
problems, find their core essence, create
a solution, and communicate the solution
to the customer. tire
References
1) The ATHLETE Rover, http://www.nasa.gov/
images/content/168147main_image_feature_
748_ ys_full.jpg .
2) Rhyne, T. B. and Steven, S.M. Development of
a non-pneumatic wheel, Conference of Tire Society
(2005)
Figure 18: V-shaped grouser prototype tread Figure 19: Aluminum wire mesh roll prototype tread Figure 20: Concave tread prototype
Figure 21: Traction tape prototype tread Figure 22: Deformable adhesive tread concept prior to testing Figure 23: Snow chain prototype
SINCE 1998
The 9
th
International
Exhibition on Rubber Technology
The 9
th
International
Exhibition on Rubber Technology
Shanghai New International Expo Center,
Pudong, Shanghai, China
Tel: +86-10-58650277, Fax: +86-10-58650288, Email: rubbertech@chrubber.com
-- running parallel with Reifen China,
the 3
rd
Asian Essen Tire Show
www.rubbertech.com.cn
the official show website
Exhibit Categories
Rubber Machinery: All kinds of rubber machinery for rubber processing and analysis equipment for rubber products, etc.
Rubber Raw Materials: Nature rubber, synthetic rubber, carcass materials, thermoplastic elastomer, reclaimed rubber,
rubber powder, and rubber compound, etc.
Rubber Chemicals: Rubber accelerators, vulcanising agents, antioxidants, antiscorching agents, carbon black, fillers, etc.
Non-tire Rubber Products: Rubber belts & hoses, engeering rubber products, and other parts for auto and mine, etc.
R
e
g
i
s
t
e
r

N
o
w
Organizer
China United Rubber Corporation
Co-organizer
China Rubber Industry Association
China Synthetic Rubber Industry Association
Special Supportor
National Tech. Center of RP Industry
11, 12, 13 November 2009
76
Europes new regulatory
framework: requiring and inspiring
new technology and innovation
European tire development is being driven by the market requirements arising
from the new European regulations for increased road safety and environmental
protection, and the future of raw materials sourced from crude oil
by Fazilet Cinaralp, secretary general, European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA), Belgium
E
urope is the home of the tire
according to every definition
of the term. The pneumatic tire
was invented here and significant
developments in the tire industry often
happened first in Europe.
Europe has maintained its
technological hold on the worlds tire
industry, and it is in Europe that the tire
industry fights its technological battles.
Customers in Europe are the most
demanding in terms of performance,
lifetime, service and innovation. Any
company that is successful in Europe
has the technological tools to compete
everywhere else in the world.
The EU is also the most segmented
of any global market. Within a couple
of years, it is also likely to be the most
tightly regulated market in the world!
Current EU directives set standards
for tires, including: tire integrity,
dimensions and markings; minimum
tread depth; tire/road noise limits; a
landfill ban for used tires; polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons restrictions in
extender oils for tires; and chemicals
policy (REACh).
In early 2008, the European
Commission (EC) put forward a proposal
for a regulation on the general safety
of motor vehicles (COM(2008)316),
laying down harmonized rules on the
construction of motor vehicles and
minimum safety and environmental
performance requirements for tires.
In February 2007 the EC had adopted
a comprehensive strategy, A Competitive
Automotive Regulatory Framework for
the 21st Century for the European car
industry, to keep the manufacturing
of motorcars viable on a long-term
basis, at prices affordable to consumers.
The strategy covers a variety of areas,
(including reduction of administrative
burden, environmental sustainability,
and road safety). In this document,
the EC welcomed the recommendation
to simplify the current whole-vehicle
type-approval regulatory framework,
published in the CARS 21 report.
The technical requirements for the
type-approval of motor vehicles with
regard to numerous safety and
environmental elements have been
harmonized at EU-level to avoid
requirements that differ from one member
state to another, and to ensure a high level
of road safety and environmental
protection. New technologies now
available can dramatically improve vehicle
safety (such as ESC), or reduce CO
2
emissions (such as low rolling resistance
tires). Research has shown that there
would be significant benefits if such
technologies were introduced on new
vehicles as standard.
In the explanatory section of the EC
proposal (COM(2008)316), there is the
following: Concerning tires, the proposal
introduces requirements on the following:
rolling noise limit values, rolling resistance
limit values, wet grip and tire pressure
monitoring systems (TPMS).
For each of the above issues, the
following options were generally
considered: do nothing, voluntary/market
solution, mandatory solution with lower
technical difficulty, and mandatory
solution with higher technical difficulty.
The option of, mandatory solution
with higher technical difficulty was
selected for all the issues.
The statement then continues: In the
case of rolling resistance, wet grip, and
TPMS, research and product development
are already at a quite advanced stage so
that implementing the more stringent
technical requirement in a relatively short
timetable is considered to be feasible.
Concerning TPMS, setting a higher
standard would maximize safety benefits,
and ensure the maximum likelihood
of reaching CO
2
reduction targets.
Finally, on the question of rolling
noise, the statement says: Concerning
rolling noise, the option of mandatory
solution with higher technical difficulty
has also been retained because this is the
only one that would ensure the fulfillment
of the environmental objectives of the
proposal. However, since requirements on
noise are more challenging than the other
requirements, a longer implementation
period has been foreseen.
There is general agreement that three
areas have to be addressed together to
improve road safety and reduce CO
2
emissions by any meaningful amount:
vehicle technology, driver behavior, and
road infrastructure.
The challenge is to get the statutory
bodies across the EU, and at various
levels, to cooperate in this integrated
approach. Safety and environmental
features in vehicle technology are either
introduced by industry (commercial
introduction or voluntary measures),
or by EU legislation. Driver behavior is
largely the responsibility of member states
Any company which is successful in
Europe has the technological tools to
compete everywhere else in the world
77
through training, licensing requirements,
enforcement and information campaigns,
and road-safety and user organizations.
Infrastructure is the competence of
national, regional, and local authorities.
Safeguarding a common level of road
safety across the borders in Europe (the
right of citizens to road safety wherever
they travel) can only be achieved by a
joint effort between the various authorities
plus industry and user organizations.
An additional level of integration
in approach is required to improve
tire performance. In tire design, rolling
resistance is inextricably linked to wet
grip and tire life. Reduce rolling resistance
and the risk is making the tire less safe,
or making a tire which does not last
anywhere near as long. Wet grip relates
directly to safety. Better wet grip means
shorter stopping distances and reduced
tendency to skid or slide in poor weather.
Being the only vehicle element in
contact with the road, the tire helps
grip, handling, and fuel efficiency of the
vehicle. The proposed law recognizes
the importance of an integrated approach
to tire performance for consumers by
considering safety and environmental
performance in the same legislative act.
In particular, the legislation sees
the mandatory fitment of TPMS on
all passenger cars from 2012. Correct
tire inflation pressure is essential for
delivering tire performance and every
effort must be deployed to guarantee
proper setting and maintenance of
the inflation pressure, which has an
unquestionable influence on tire
rolling resistance. A permanent 25%
underinflation increases the tire rolling
resistance by 10%, which, in turn, results
in about 2% more fuel consumption.
Industry studies have shown that 40%
of drivers drive regularly with tires
underinflated by at least -0.5 bar.
Also maximum rolling resistance
thresholds will be introduced from
October 2012, followed by a second
stage from 2016. Lower rolling resistant
tires, together with TPMS fitted as
standard equipment to the vehicles on
the European roads, will contribute
to reducing fuel consumption, save
5-7 million tons of CO
2
annually, or
reducing CO
2
emissions by approximately
5g/km driven.
For the first time, by also setting
lower rolling resistance requirements for
truck tires, the EU is anticipating CO
2
provisions beyond the current European
automotive policy targets.
For minimum wet grip requirements
for passenger car tires from October 2012,
the legislation considered that voluntary
options were not appropriate since
wet grip was an important safety issue.
The no action option might lead to
a reduction in wet grip standards due
to the pressure on manufacturers to meet
noise and rolling resistance requirements.
Therefore, compulsory wet grip approval
was considered the best option (Tire
Safety Regulation, SEC (2008)1999).
For a second time (after the European
directive 2001/43 introduced a series
of external noise limits to tires), the
legislation pushes the technological limits
of the tire industry with the new limits
imposed, bringing a further 3-5 dB(A)
reduction to tire rolling noise from 2012.
Tire/road noise in real life is generated
on a wide range of different road surfaces.
Improving the quality of roads is a key
factor in achieving external noise
reductions, and making a positive impact
on decreasing CO
2
emissions. The EC
should continue assessing EU roads
according to their noise levels with a view
to setting maximum noise limits and
laying down road surface specifications.
As Andreas Schwab, European
Parliament rapporteur for global safety
regulation, stated, With improved tire
design and stricter requirements for
rolling resistance and stricter noise limits,
the external noise of motor vehicles is
reduced. It is clear that member states
should endorse the associated investments
in the medium-term to reduce noise
emissions in the same way in all modes of
transport, and therefore also provide noise
protection in road construction by using
improved quieter road surface coverings.
Mandatory tire labeling and more
consumer information is a further
initiative from the EC, released in
November 2008, enabling consumers to
purchase tires which surpass the limits set
in the safety regulation (COM(2008)316)
for tire rolling resistance and wet grip
performance. It aims at accelerating
market transformation towards even
more fuel efficient and safer tires.
Information on tire ranking for PC
(class C1), LT (class C2) and CV (class
C3) tires is to be provided in the
sequential order of the fuel efficiency class
(A to G), the wet grip class (A to G), and
the measured rolling noise value in dB.
These complementary regulations
show the potential of an integrated
approach. It is about setting challenging
environmental and safety objectives, and
providing visibility and regulatory
certainty to industry. Only such certainty
enables it to plan investments to develop
product offerings with ever-increasing
safety, reducing environmental impact
over the next decade.
The stipulations in the new regulations
will be proposed at the level of UNECE,
and are to be integrated into UNECE
regulation 117, and will be directly
applicable in all 27 member states.
Tires sold in the EU market will have
to demonstrate their compliance with
these new requirements via type-approval
certification and markings on the sidewall.
The challenge will be for the 27
enforcement authorities to ensure
consistent and effective market
surveillance. If importers are not
rigorously held to the same standards,
then EU manufacturers will be put
at a competitive disadvantage, and the
consumers safety may be at serious risk.
A Fraunhofer Institute study on the
2001 implementation of the Fuel
consumption labeling for cars in
Germany illustrated that self-certification
measures are often abused due to a lack
of inspection mechanisms and sanctions.
More than 50% of the electric appliances
checked in 320 German stores were
incorrectly labeled or not labeled at all.
Clearly that must not happen with tires.
ETRMA is concerned about the risk of
inadequate implementation and policing,
to the disadvantage of the consumer and
the European tire industry. ETRMA is
insisting on the need for member states to
set up robust verification mechanisms to
protect industry and consumers from the
less scrupulous producers and importers.
Equally important, there must be severe
penalties that punish enough to be truly
dissuasive, and they must be rigorously
applied when products do not comply
with the legislative requirements. tire
ETRMA is concerned about the risk of
inadequate implementation and policing,
to the disadvantage of the consumer,
and of the European tire industry
78
M
ore than five years ago Gabo
Qualimeter introduced the
Gabometer a modified
universal Goodrich
Flexometer (Goodrich Flexometer
according to ASTM D 623/ISO 4666).
This type of flexometer is used to analyze
the warming up or heat build-up of
rubber specimens during mechanical
oscillations at high frequencies (30-
100Hz or above) and at high dynamic
deformation amplitudes (up to 6mm).
The Gabometer works basically in the
compression mode and can be equipped
with up to three independent temperature
measurement units in order to determine
the heat build-up of the test specimen.
A needle-type thermocouple allows
measurement of the temperature inside
the samples.
Nowadays this flexometer can be
rearmed to a complete high-power DMA/
DMTS system named Eplexor 2000
or 4000, providing in addition tensile,
shear, bending, creep and fatigue test
and universal test procedures. Additional
fields of application are material testing,
thermal analysis, components testing and
quality control, as well as relaxation/
retardation tests. Moisture required?
No problem. This DMA/DMTS can be
equipped with a humidity generator
(Hygromator) to create environmental
conditions between 5% and 95% rH.
In other words: flexometer and
DMA/DMTS tests with one instrument.
Nevertheless, like the Gabometer and
the table-desk Eplexor series, the new
Eplexor 4000 models can be equipped
with the robot system ASSS a fully
automatic sample feeding system.
The technique of DMA/DMTS is
mainly being applied in rubber and
polymer research, in production and
in the processing industry. Dynamic
mechanical spectroscopy is an off-
resonance method working with forced
oscillations. It is being used for dynamic
compression, tension, bending or shear
applications. Dynamic material testing
provides precise information about the
viscoelastic mechanical properties
(e.g. elastic modulus |E*| and viscoelastic
damping tan b). In the case of pure
elastic materials (e.g. stainless steel spring)
the sample response to a constant
sinusoidal dynamic deformation is in
phase (b = 0) with the external excitation.
Viscous materials show a time-delayed
response to an external excitation. In this
case a phase shift of 90 (out of phase
component) can be observed (b = 90,
see Figure 1).
An intelligent universal flexometer offers the advantages of a standard flexometer
and the benefits of DMA/DMTA testing in one state-of-the-art instrument
by Horst Deckmann, Gabo Qualimeter Testanlagen GmbH, Germany
A universal flexometer
and dynamic mechanical thermal spectrometer
Figure 1: Mechanical sample excitation and response Figure 2: Complex modulus in the complex diagram
Figure 3a: Heat build-up tests and thermal set (standard)
Figure 3b: Heat build-up tests, thermal set
and viscoelastic data (advanced)
79
Rubber materials demonstrate an
intermediate behavior showing a mixture
of elastic and viscous properties.
Figure 2 shows the complex modulus
|E*| consisting of the two components E
(storage modulus) and E (loss modulus).
E and E describe the elastic and viscous
mechanical properties of the material. E
corresponds to the loss energy dissipating
into the sample. The ratio of E/E (tan b)
describes the phase shift between sample
excitation and response. A metal spring
contributes only elastic, an oil-only
viscous components toward E*. Most
polymers demonstrate a mixture of
these properties. They are viscoelastic.
A quite different approach to dynamic
sample loading was introduced by
Goodrich. In the last century Goodrich
developed the Goodrich Flexometer.
This instrument is used to heat up rubber
specimens by a sinusoidal mechanical
deformation. Cylindrical rubber
specimens with a diameter of
approximately 17.8mm and a height
of approximately 25mm are loaded with
a constant static load between 1 and 2
MPa. Additionally, a sinusoidal dynamic
load at a test frequency of 30Hz with
a peak to peak amplitude of up to 6.6mm
(3.3mm) is superimposed. Due to
intrinsic friction processes caused by
the cyclic dynamic deformation, the test
specimens start to heat up. The heat
build-up of the samples is recorded by
a contact thermo sensor on the surface
of the sample (see Figure 3). In addition,
due to the thermo-mechanical dynamic
aging process, most samples start to
reduce their sample height during the
test (thermal set). Thermal set will also
be recorded.
Standard test instruments (Figure 3a)
are restricted for heat build-up and
thermal set only, whereas the Eplexor
2000 and 4000 with flexometer function
are able to record viscoelastic data
(modulus, tan delta, etc Figure 3b).
The missing step a combination
of both technologies was introduced
by Gabo Qualimeter Testanlagen GmbH.
The combination of both methods
allows the monitoring of changes in
modulus and tan b depending on the
sample temperature during the heat
build-up process.
The instruments
Figure 4 shows the Eplexor 4000N
system. The total load of this instrument
is up to 4,000N. The total dynamic strain
amplitude for the basic model depends
on the configuration. Up to two dynamic
strain transducers within the range from
1.5mm up to +/-11mm can be installed
simultaneously. These technical features
enable the user to easily operate either
in the DMA mode with the request for
small deformations (+/-1.5mm) and a
very high resolution (resolution <5Nm)
or in the Flexometer mode using large
deformations (heat build-up and blow-out
test). Additionally, as for universal tensile
testers, due to a large set of exchangeable
force transducers (from 10N to 5,000N
capacity) the sensitivity of the instrument
can be adjusted to the requirements of
the test. Just plug and play. Exchange
can be made within a few minutes.
All instruments can be equipped
with oven systems operating between
-150C and 500C. These temperature
chambers can be equipped with up to
three thermocouples. The first thermo
sensor controls the oven temperature
whereas sensor number two determines
the sample temperature at the sample
surface contact area.
Thermocouple number three is
designed as a needle-type thermocouple
(optional). Again two versions are
available. A horizontal needle-type can
be penetrated into the sample during
the test. This needle has to be adjusted
manually. The second needle operates
vertically. A pneumatic needle drive with
a position control mechanism penetrates
the needle automatically into the core
of the sample at the end of the test. Both
needle-type thermo sensors record the
intrinsic sample temperature (Figure 5).
The test results
Dynamic heat build-up tests provide
a better understanding of the thermal
aging properties of the corresponding
elastomers.
Of course, due to homogeneity
fluctuations within different batches
of test specimen the most important
requirement for a reliable flexometer test
is the reproducibility of the test results.
Figure 6 shows such a reproducibility test.
Two test specimens (same batch:
cylindrical samples for compression load)
were tested at 30Hz using identical static
and dynamic load conditions. The tests
were performed at room temperature.
In both, the heat build-up within the
center of the sample (measurement was
carried out with the horizontal needle
thermocouple) as well as the temperature
on the skin of the sample (corresponding
to standard ASTM D 623, DIN 53 333)
were recorded.
Electronic cabinet
Eplexor 4000
Liquid
nitrogen
container
PC Table with screen
Figure 4: The high-power Eplexor 4000 N can also be fitted with ASSS, a fully automatic sample feeding system
80
The results show the temperature rise
for both samples are in a satisfactory
accordance.
Even the tan delta (material damping)
measurement shows an excellent
reproducibility.
Tests with practical aspects
what is the benefit of an
additional temperature sensor
(needle thermocouple)?
Nowadays, heat build-up tests performed
with Goodrich Flexometers are quite
common. However, occasionally with
conventional flexometer tests there
is a lack of information due to the nature
of the basic test principle. Flexometer
tests normally record only the skin
temperature and thermal set. Changes
of the viscoelastic properties related
to the dynamic warming-up test are
not recorded.
Figure 7 shows a heat build-up test
for two different compounds, A and B.
The temperature rise of samples A and B
is more or less identical for the skin
temperature. The skin temperature sensor
records the temperature on the surface of
the sample at the cross-sectional area on
top of the test cylinder. Unfortunately this
sensor does not supply the information
concerning the real temperature in the
core of the sample. To obtain this
information, the horizontal needle-
type thermocouple was used for the
measurement of the core temperature in
the center of the sample during the test.
Sample B shows a remarkably higher
warming up within the center compared
with sample A. Due to this behavior the
lifecycle of sample B can be expected to
be much shorter than that of sample A.
Indeed, practical tests show the
expected behavior. Sample A has a longer
lifecycle than sample B. The conventional
heat build-up test still shows the same
heat build-up behavior for sample A
and B. It seems the recording of the
skin temperature is not sensitive enough
to show any difference.
Only with a second thermocouple in
this case the needle-type sensor located
in the center of the test specimen can
additional information be provided.
But what is the reason for this
difference? The basic compounds used
for samples A and B are identical. In fact
different carbon black fillers are used
for system samples A and B. The heat
created in the core of sample A during
the heat build-up test can be transferred
much more quickly to the surface of
the sample compared with sample B.
The heat conductivity of polymer A
seems to be much better than that of
compound B. The core temperature of
sample A is reduced. Consequently the
duration of the lifecycle could be
improved.
The lifecycle of compounds is not the
only major topic for the tire industry:
the lifetime of tire cords and the friction
of the tire cords within the rubber are
also of considerable interest.
Friction behavior of tire
cords determination
of failure limits
For the reinforcement of rubber
components such as car tires, conveyor
belts or v-belts, application-optimized tire
cords are used. Usually during the curing
process the tire cords inside the rubber
components will be mechanically and
thermally stressed.
Therefore the internal friction between
the cords and the surrounding rubber is
influenced by the curing process. With
the DMA/DMTS system a straightforward
test procedure for testing this kind of
interaction between cord and rubber
can be carried out.
Knowledge about the friction behavior
of the tire cord within the rubber matrix
is essential, in order to develop products
with reliable and durable dynamic
properties. The most convenient test setup
is the H-test or T-test geometry (Figure 8).
For both test specimens the tire cords
are cured within the rubber matrix.
As shown in Figure 8, a T-test sample
is clamped within the special holder. For
showing the test procedure, two different
cord rubber systems were investigated.
The target of this test is the
determination of the dynamic mechanical
stress limits. For this reason different load
levels were applied on the samples. The
static as well as the dynamic deformation
levels were increased stepwise. On each
Figure 5: Compression test configuration
with needle thermocouple
Figure 6: Reproducibility of test results in a heat build-up test
Figure 7: Comparison of two compounds Samples A and B
upper compression
plate - with a
thermocouple in
the centre of the
upper plate
Horizontal needle
thermocouple
lower compression
plate
ASTM test specimen
81
deformation level a mechanical oscillation
with test frequency of 10Hz was applied
for about 250 seconds. The ratio between
the static and dynamic deformation
was maintained as constant on each
deformation level. As expected, with
increasing deformation the total force
increases too. After reaching a certain
deformation level, for one sample (red
curve) the cord starts to be pulled out
from the rubber matrix, whereas the
second sample (blue curve) stays stable
up to the end of the test. All tests are
made at room temperature (Figure 9).
Dynamic aging close to the
mechanical failure limit
Of considerable interest is the lifecycle
behavior of both samples in the case of
cyclic dynamic ageing. The applied load
conditions should be very close to the
mechanical failure limit. The above two
cord rubber systems are investigated again
with a fatigue test setup at a test frequency
of 50Hz.
Figure 10 displays the behavior of
the complex modulus |E*| and tan delta.
Again two new samples of both the
discussed cord rubber systems were
investigated. The total load applied for
these tests was approximately 90% of the
pull-out load conditions found in the
previous test (see Figure 8).
Again, for the first sample (red curves)
after a duration of above 2,000 seconds
the destruction of the T-test sample takes
place, whereas the second sample (blue
curves) stays stable until the end of the
test procedure. These tests were made
at room temperature.
Summary
Not only conventional DMA/DMTS tests
can be carried out with the new Eplexor
2000 and 4000 system line of Gabo
Qualimeter Testanlagen GmbH. The
combination of fatigue test, universal
tensile or compression test applications,
heat build-up and blow-out tests, and the
complete application range of thermal
analysis (temperature sweeps, master
curves (time temperature superposition
according to William Landel Ferry),
frequency and strain sweeps, etc) and
much more is the key feature of this
instrument series. tire
Figure 8: H-Test or T-Test for dynamic testing of tire cords, with the T-Test sample clamped within the special holder
Figure 9: Static dynamic sweep for two different cord rubber-matrix systems Figure 10: Fatigue test of cord rubber matrices, showing complex modulus and tan delta
82
P
olybutadiene rubber (BR)
belongs, beside styrene
butadiene rubber (SBR), to
the general purpose butadiene-
based synthetic rubbers, which contribute
24.5% of the synthetic rubber volume
produced worldwide. Typical applications
are in tires, high-impact polystyrene
(HIPS), conveyor belts, caterpillar
tread blocks, footwear soles, golf balls,
and V-belts.
The major application for
polybutadiene rubbers is in tires. More
than 70% of the BR produced worldwide
is consumed in this application. Figure 1
shows the average BR content in different
elastomer blends of a typical radial car
tire with two steel belts and a nylon
cap-ply.
Polybutadiene rubbers are highly
elastic, have a very high degree of
resistance to dynamic stress, and retain
these properties even at extremely low
temperatures. Blending natural rubber
or styrene butadiene rubber with
polybutadiene rubber improves the
abrasion resistance, crack resistance,
and heat build-up under dynamic load.
Butadiene rubbers are produced by
the solution polymerization process
with the aid of organometallic catalysts.
Commercially, Ziegler-Natta type catalyst
systems are used. Due to an activation
reaction between the catalyst components
in a separate aging step or in situ, the real
active complexes are formed to be a single
site system or as a mixture of different
catalytic active sites.
The catalyst system, which is
characterized by the particular metal
(neodymium, cobalt, nickel, titanium,
or lithium), and the way to activate
the different Ziegler-Natta type catalysts
influences the microstructure and
macrostructure of the polymers and
therefore their properties (Table 1).
Unique micro- and macrostructured high-cis polybutadiene rubbers
can be used to improve the dynamic performance of tires
by Dr Heike Kloppenburg & David Hardy, Performance Butadiene Rubbers, Lanxess Deutschland GmbH
From golf balls to
rolling resistance
Active complexes are formed to be
a single site system or as a mixture
of different catalytic active sites
Table 1: Summary of polymer properties of different Polybutadiene Rubber grades
Catalyst Nd
(1)
LXS
Nd
(2)
Co
(1)
Ni
(2)
Ti
(2)
Li
(1)
Microstructure
1.4-cis BR [%] 98 97 - 98 97 97 93 38
1.2-vinyl BR [%] 0.5 0.5 0.9 1.3 2.5 1.2 2.0 5 11
Glass transition
temperature Tg [C]
-109 -109 -107 -107 -104 -93
Branching (%) < 5 < 5 10 50 5 - 40 15 < 5
Polydispersity (Mw / Mn) 2.1 2.4 4 3 - 4 4 - 6 3 - 4 2.0
(1) Product range of Lanxess
(2) Product variety not including Lanxess products
Figure 1: There are several areas within the tire where BR is applied to improve the tire properties
Carcass (2)
Innerliner
Carcass (1)
Apex (-25% BR)
Bead wire
Chafer
(50-100% BR)
Hump strip
Sidewall (30-50% BR)
Shoulder strip
(30-50% BR)
Tread (70% SBR
& 30% BR))
Belts
3. Nylon
2. Steel
1. Steel
Radial car tire
Two steel belts/nylon cap ply
Figures are showing the
average BR content in
the elastomer blend
83
The high-cis BR grades based on Nd,
Co, and Ni catalysts differ only slightly
in 1.4-cis content. More important is the
difference in the 1.2-vinyl content, which
for Co and Ni catalysts is up to five times
higher than for Nd catalysts. This leads
directly to differences in the low-
temperature crystallization behavior and
in the glass transition temperature. Ti-BR
contains slightly less 1.4-cis than the
other high-cis BR grades and therefore has
a higher crystallite melting temperature
and slightly higher glass transition
temperature. Where these microstructural
properties are concerned, the Co- and
Ni-BR grades are intermediate between
the Nd and Ti grades.
The macrostructure is distinguished
by the molecular weight distribution
(polydispersity) and the degree of
branching. Figure 2 compares the
molecular weight distribution of different
high-cis BR grades, all having the same
Mooney viscosity of 44. Figure 3 shows
the GPC curves of NdBR grades of
Lanxess with the same polydispersity
and different Mooney viscosities.
For better physical properties, such
as lower hysteresis, low heat build-up
and finally lower rolling resistance, the
number of free polymer chain ends
should be limited. The number of
polymer chains is best described by
the numeric average of the molecular
weight, (Mn) meaning that a higher Mn
will produce fewer chain ends per unit
volume, whereas the weight average (Mw)
is more related to the polymer viscosity.
The higher the Mooney viscosity, the
higher the Mn and Mw. Figure 4 shows
the dependence of Mn and Mw on the
Mooney viscosity for different linear NdBR
grades with the polydispersity of 2.1
(red) and 3.5 (purple). The lower the
polydispersity, the higher the Mn value
for the same Mooney viscosity. One
needs an increase in Mooney viscosity of
approximately 20 points in order to get
the same Mn value for the polymer with
the high polydispersity compared to the
Table 2: Analytic data for the different BR grades
Catalyst system Ni
(4)
Ni
(4)
Ni
(4)
Co
(3)
Co
(3)
Nd
(5)
Nd
(3)
Nd
(5)
Nd
(3)
Nd
(3)
Compound number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
High-cis BR grade NiBR - 1 NiBR - 2 NiBR - 3 TAKTENE
220
TAKTENE
1203 G1
BUNA
CB Nd40
BUNA
CB 24
BUNA
CB Nd60
BUNA
CB 22
BUNA
PBR 4007
1.2-vinyl BR [%] 1,2 1,5 1,7 2,5 1,3 0,9 0,6 1,0 0,5 0,5
ML 1+4 (100) [MU] 46 45 43 39 44 44 43 63 64 75
MSR (6) [MU/s] 0,34 0,69 0,41 0,40 0,40 0,59 0,66 0,54 0,68 0,72
Relax 30 [%] 19,7 5,4 14,4 14,5 13,8 7,2 4,9 9,2 5,5 5,3
Solution viscosity
(7)
[mPas] 98 312 177 54 76 433 174 812 350 585
Mn [kg/mol] 79 118 83 91 116 125 153 146 208 216
Mw [kg/mol] 458 453 460 327 360 446 300 512 434 456
PDI 5,3 5,3 3,6 3,2 3,6 2,8 3,6 2,0 3,5 2,1 2,0
(1) Product range of Lanxess
(2) Competitor product
(3) Product range of Lanxess SA (ex Petroflex)
(4) MSR: defined as absolute numbers (without negative sign)
(5) SV: 5,43 w-% of polymer in toluene at 20C
Figure 2: GPC curves of different high-cis BR grades with Mooney viscosity of 44
Figure 3: GPC curves of NdBR grades of Lanxess with the same polydispersity and different Mooney viscosities
84
low polydispersity material. For CoBR
grades (blue) with a higher degree of
polymer branching, the Mn value for the
same Mooney viscosity drops even more
than for linear polymers with the same
polydispersity.
To calculate the number of polymer
chain ends, the number of polymer chain
ends per molecule is important, which
is two for a linear polymer and three
or even more for a branched molecule.
There are different methods to analyze
the polymer branching. The GPC-MALLS
curve in Figure 2 shows with the RMS
graph a higher branching degree of the
high molecular weight polymer fraction
of CoBR and NiBR compared to the linear
NdBR. Another analytical tool is the
branching index, which is defined as
the ratio of Mooney viscosity to solution
viscosity, where the solution viscosity is
influenced by the molecule contraction
in solution due to long chain branching
and is exponentially dependent on the
molecular weight. The Mooney Stress
Relaxation (MSR) is a bulk property
and depends on chemical branching and
physical entanglements of the polymer
chains. The higher the branching index
and the lower the MSR values, the higher
the polymer branching.
Table 2 contains analytical data for the
different BR grades used in subsequent
tire compound tests.
Figure 5 summarizes the branching
analysis of these polymer grades. Both
CoBR grades are highly branched,
whereas the NdBR grades are more linear.
The NiBR grades are taken to demonstrate
the different branching degrees from
highly branched (NiBR 1) up to a rather
linear grade (NiBR 2).
Whereas the branching index depends
on the solution viscosity, the MSR value
as a bulk property seems to be more
related to final compound properties.
Another differentiation of the polymers
is the polydispersity (Figure 6). All NdBR
grades ex Lanxess have a very low
polydispersity of only two, followed by
a group between three and four, with
different CoBR, NiBR, and NdBR grades,
and end up at a very high polydispersity
of more than five with one NiBR.
As described earlier, the Mn value
of the molecular weight distribution
can best be used to indicate the number
of polymer chain ends in the material:
the higher the Mn the fewer chain ends
are present.
To include the different branching
degrees of the polymers, a polymer
Figure 4: Dependence of Mn and Mw on the Mooney viscosity for linear NdBR and branched CoBR grades
with different polydispersities
Figure 5: Branching analysis of the polymer grades
Figure 6: Polydispersity and numeric average of the molecular weight distribution of the compound samples
Figure 7: Polymer characterization factor (PCF) as factor for free polymer chain ends and vinyl-1.2 content
of the compound samples
85
characterization factor was defined as the
product of Mn and the MSR value. Figure
7 shows this polymer characterization
factor (PCF) as a factor for free polymer
chain ends for the various BRs against
the respective vinyl-1.2 content as an
indicator of very short side groups. The
lower the vinyl content and the higher
the PCF, the better are the dynamic
physical properties.
The compound test formulations used
were as follows: 100phr high-cis BR;
50phr Corax N 326; 4phr Vivatec 500;
3phr Edenor C 18 98-100; 2phr Vulkanox
4020/LG; 3phr Vulkanox HS/LG; 2phr
Zinkweiss Rotsiegel; 3phr Resin SP-1068;
Table 3: Compound results
Catalyst system Ni
(4)
Ni
(4)
Ni
(4)
Co
(3)
Co
(3)
Nd
(5)
Nd
(3)
Nd
(5)
Nd
(3)
Nd
(3)
Compound number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
High-cis BR grades NiBR - 1 NiBR - 2 NiBR - 3 TAKTENE
220
TAKTENE
1203 G1
BUNA
CB Nd40
BUNA
CB 24
BUNA
CB Nd60
BUNA
CB 22
BUNA
PBR 4007
Mooney ML1+4 (100) @ final compound
ML 1+4 Compound [MU] 46 52 47 42 47 53 56 70 71 80
MSR [MU/s] 0,34 0,51 0,40 0,34 0,38 0,45 0,51 0,42 0,52 0,51
Monsanto MDR @ 160C, 30 min
S minimum [dNm] 1,70 2,00 1,77 1,61 1,69 2,03 1,95 2,59 2,63 2,94
S maximum [dNm] 14,4 17,7 15,8 15,4 17,6 17,9 19,2 18,7 19,5 20,1
S end [dNm] 11,7 14,8 13,1 12,7 14,6 15,5 16,6 16,4 17,3 17,5
Delta S [dNm] 12,7 15,7 14,0 13,8 15,9 15,9 17,2 16,1 16,9 17,1
TS1 [s] 146 129 137 136 136 116 133 100 108 100
TS2 [s] 172 156 163 163 164 149 168 139 145 140
Conversion 10% [s] 158 148 152 151 156 140 162 129 138 133
Conversion 50% [s] 211 198 205 206 208 197 220 189 199 194
Conversion 90% [s] 315 296 310 320 315 306 333 294 307 288
Conversion 95% [s] 360 340 357 371 363 357 385 342 358 333
Vulcanisate properties
Hardness @ 23C [Sh A] 56,8 60,7 58,3 57,2 59,7 60,9 61,9 61,5 62,4 63,1
Hardness @ 60C [Sh A] 53,3 58,2 56,3 55,4 57,2 58,8 58,5 60,6 61,2 60,8
Rebound @ 23C [%] 54,3 56,2 55,2 54,1 57,7 58,7 59,3 61,5 62,8 62,1
Rebound @ 60C [%] 57,0 59,8 58,8 56,6 60,5 61,1 62,1 63,1 65,2 67,2
Tensile strength @ 23C
S10 [MPa] 0,4 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,6 0,6 0,5
S100 [MPa] 1,4 1,6 1,6 1,4 1,7 1,6 1,6 1,7 1,7 1,8
S300 [MPa] 5,3 5,5 5,4 4,9 6,2 5,3 5,3 6,3 5,4 6,1
D Median [%] 478 482 401 497 497 517 482 462 500 436
F Median [MPa] 11,5 11,7 8,7 11,2 14 12,9 11,6 12,8 12,7 11,6
MTS amplitude sweep @ 60C, 1Hz
G* (0,5%) [MPa] 1,72 2,04 1,72 1,85 1,93 2,08 2,16 1,90 1,97 1,73
G* (15%) [MPa] 0,87 1,01 0,90 0,91 1,01 1,04 1,09 1,03 1,07 1,02
tan d (max.) 0,182 0,179 0,181 0,190 0,164 0,161 0,163 0,145 0,145 0,138
(3) Product range of Lanxess
(4) Competitor product
(5) Product range of Lanxess SA (ex Petroflex)
Figure 8: Vulcanization curve and the polymer characterization factor (PCF) as factor for free polymer chain ends
correlated to delta torque
86
2phr Antilux 654; 1.4phr Vulkacit CZ/
EGC; 2.36phr Rhenogran IS 60-75. The
compounds were mixed in a lab Banbury
(1.5-liter size) using a one-pass mix.
The rubber mix was left overnight
to cool and then passed through a mill
three times. Vulcanization was carried
out at 160C for cure times previously
established in the rheometer (t90+5
minutes for tensile test samples and
t90+10 minutes for thicker dynamic test
samples). Test samples for the tests were
cut from the resulting vulcanized sheets.
Table 3 contains the compound results.
For the polymer grades #1 to # 7 with
a Mooney viscosity range of 39 to 46,
the compound Mooney viscosities differ
between 42 and 56.
The higher the MSR value, the more
linear is the polymer grade and the
Mooney viscosity of the compound
increases.
The MDR analysis at 160C (see Figure
8) gives a characteristic curve, where
the Delta torque value (Delta S) can be
correlated to the polymer characterization
factor as indirect number for the free
polymer chain ends.
The influence of the strain amplitude
sweep on the loss factor (tan b) is shown
in Figure 9. The highest tan b maximum
is given by the highly branched CoBR
grade Taktene 220, followed by all three
NiBR grades. What becomes evident is
the lower maximum tan b and therefore
reduced energy dissipation for the NdBR
grades with a higher Mooney viscosity.
Another tool to predict rolling
resistance is the rebound measurement
at 60C. In Figure 10, the correlation of
rebound 60C to the maximum loss factor
measured on the MTS shows the polymers
in the same sequence that is known from
the polymer characterization factor PCF
(Figure 11). The higher the PCF, the lower
the number of free polymer chain ends
and the lower the energy dissipation
of the polymer.
In summary, the neodymium (Nd)
catalyst system employed at Lanxess
gives a polymer structure that cannot be
obtained with other catalyst systems and
which enables marked improvements in
vulcanisate performance to be achieved.
Lanxess Nd-BR grades are high-cis-1.4
grades with the lowest vinyl-1.2 content,
a very narrow molecular weight
distribution, and a low degree of
branching.
This results in an NdBR series
exhibiting reduced energy dissipation
relative to all other BR types and can be
used to reduce the rolling resistance of
tires. It is hypothesized that the higher
linearity and narrower MWD of NdBR
results in less free chain ends, which
in turn lowers the hysteresis of the
compound and thus will reduce its
rolling resistance. In addition, the
reduced energy dissipation will also
increase the rebound value.
The golf ball industry has taken
advantage of NdBRs superior resilience
for the manufacture of high-performance
golf balls over the past decade. Reducing
the rolling resistance of tires will become
increasingly important under the
context of EU directives (COM 2008
0779) requiring tire labels in Europe
from 2012. This label will describe
the fuel efficiency of the corresponding
tires and NdBRs will have an important
contribution to make in achieving
a good rating. tire
Figure 9: Tangent delta dependence on strain at 60C
Figure 10: Correlation of resilience to tangent delta maximum
Figure 11: Tangent delta maximum versus PCF
88
I
n terms of reliability and durability,
resistance to tearing is a key factor in
the performance of tire rolling tread.
Although many efforts have
focused on gaining a better understanding
of the occurrence and development of
cracks in elastomer compounds, there
is a lack of advanced testing methods
dedicated to the study of crack
propagation, beyond simple fracture tests.
01dB-Metravib, the world-renowned
dynamic mechanical analysis specialist,
introduces a brand-new fatigue test
machine: the DMA+300, specifically
designed and dimensioned for fatigue
tests on elastomers and crack growth tests.
The principle of the crack growth
test consists of initiating a crack on one
side of the elastomer film specimen,
and following up the growth of the
crack using an optical system during
a dynamic mechanical fatigue test.
Unlike servohydraulic machines,
which are often used for fatigue tests
on components, DMA+300 does not
require any hydraulic station just
a connection to the electrical line
and to the compressed air network.
The DMA+300 s electrodynamic
actuator does not require any specific
maintenance (no more than an audio
loudspeaker) and offers reliability and
durability in full adequacy with the
very nature of the endurance test that
requires one million excitation cycles.
The 300N excitation force is
dimensioned so as to offer the power
required to cover the stress and strain
A new testing machine for the study of crack growth in elastomer compounds
can compare or sort compounds according to their composition, and analyze
influential parameters of mechanical excitation
by Hugues Baurier, 01dB-Metravib, France
Fatigue test machine
for crack growth testing
The DMA+300 testing machine
89
domains necessary for the analysis
of elastomer compounds.
The specimen geometry is particularly
well suited to the requirements of the tire
industry as it enables testing not only
of compounds that are currently being
developed but also compound specimens
sampled from new or used tires.
Furthermore, thermal regulation and
gas conditioning can be easily optimized
on a reduced volume around a specimen
of relatively small dimensions.
The test machine
The DMA+300 consists of a floor-standing
mechanical frame, control and acquisition
electronics, and a computer station
equipped with dedicated software.
The dynamic mechanical excitation
is delivered by an original electrodynamic
actuator developed by 01dB-Metravib,
which includes a high-performance
guiding and anti-rotation system
maintaining the excitation within the
specimen plane. Its 300N force range
was defined based on the elastomer
specimen geometry in order to offer
an optimum analysis range.
The dynamic and static components
of the specimen strain, as well as the
applied force, are measured respectively
at each end of the specimen.
The excitation signal is programmed
using a new software program, devoted to
fatigue and crack growth tests: Multitest.
The excitation signal is controlled by
controlling the strain or the stress. The
floor-standing mechanical test frame was
designed so as to grant the operator easy
and comfortable access to the specimen,
to the cutting system, and to the crack
growth follow-up optical system.
Specimen mounting device
The specimen is mounted on a specific
mounting template according to a strict
protocol, ensuring the jaws are accurately
positioned on the same plane and parallel
to the specimen plane. Once the specimen
is pre-mounted on its jaws and the
mounting template, it can be placed
on the test machine with no risk
of degradation or unwanted stress.
Thermal chamber
Thermal conditioning is ensured by
a dedicated thermal chamber operating
through forced convection.
The chamber was designed for an
operating temperature range well beyond
the requirements commonly encountered
for elastomer analysis, i.e., from -150C
to 600C.
The thermal chamber includes a large
window that enables the entire surface of
the specimen to be observed. The optical
quality of this window allows for highly
accurate control and optical analysis
of the specimen.
Cutting system
In order to ensure cutting control and
to avoid any risk for the operator when
handling cutting tools, 01dB-Metravib
has developed a surrounded cutting
system with external manual controls.
The cutting system is integrated inside
the front door of the thermal chamber.
A cut can then be made in the specimen
to initiate a crack, very precisely and
repeatedly, without opening the chamber,
hence without disturbing the temperature
regulation or the gas mix, this operating
mode ensures the safety of the operator.
The cutting system includes two
blades, located on the left and right of
the specimen. The crack can therefore be
initiated on either side of the specimen.
Each blade is fixed onto a mobile blade
holder moving along the horizontal axis
(X) and the vertical axis (Y).
The displacement of each blade is
controlled using two thumb wheels, one
for horizontal displacement (X axis) and
the other one for vertical displacement
(Y axis).
Access to and replacement of the
blades is quickly achieved by triggering
a specific command.
Gas conditioning
The test can be carried out by setting
the specimen to a specific oxygen rate.
The gas conditioning system is used to
achieve an air/nitrogen gas mixture
and to set the nitrogen rate for the mix.
The air/nitrogen mix is sent to
a thermal exchanger and brought
to the temperature required for the
fatigue test. The specimen mounting device is highly accurate
Multitest software offers multiple excitation waveforms, as well as the import of operator-customized signals.
90
The oxygen rate is measured at the
entrance of the thermal chamber using
a dedicated probe.
Optical measurement system
The optical measurement system includes
a binocular microscope, a ring light
system, a mechanical translation system
driving the motions of the microscope
along X, Y, and Z axes, and driving
electronics interfaced with test software.
Micrometric translation plates driven
by a step-by-step engine are used to drive
and control the microscope displacements
very precisely.
The entire optical system is placed on
the right side of the fatigue test machine.
It can then instantly be revolved in crack
growth position or be quickly retracted
to give access to the thermal chambers
opening and to the specimen.
When the crack growth test is started,
the microscope is placed in front of the
specimen.
After the cutting phase, the operator
takes a geometric reference shot that will
represent the origin of the crack growth
follow-up.
The microscope remains in this
position during the entire crack growth
test to allow for as many crack
propagation measurements as necessary
during the test.
Multitest software
Test driving and acquisition are achieved
by Multitest, which is a brand-new fatigue
software program developed by 01dB-
Metravib engineers in close collaboration
with research engineers from the rubber
and tire industries.
Regardless of the users profile
engineering specialist or skilled operator
the Multitest architecture offers optimum
user-friendliness to access all functions
and capabilities of the machine.
Multitest offers multiple excitation
modes (waveforms): sine, haversine,
pulse, triangle, square, etc., as well as the
import of operator-customized signals.
The excitation frequency can be
programmed from 2Hz to 1kHz.
The test can be controlled using
different parameters: displacement
amplitude, strain, force amplitude,
stress, excitation frequency or strain rate.
Multitest enables fatigue test campaigns
and crack growth tests to be achieved.
Fatigue test campaigns
Each test campaign can consist of different
tests chained together. A test campaign
can include as many tests as desired.
Beyond fatigue tension tests achieved
on elastomer films, other fatigue tests
can be achieved with other test modes
using other specimen holders and other
specimen geometries: tension plates,
shear jaws, tension jaws for rectangular
specimens, etc.
Crack growth test campaigns
Crack growth test campaigns must be
composed of different type sequences
that are specific to this type of analysis:
accommodation, characterization, and
crack growth.
The accommodation sequence consists
of applying a certain number of excitation
cycles to the specimen in order to stabilize
it. This operation is only a conditioning
phase for the specimen and does not yield
any analysis results. The accommodation
sequence always occurs before the
characterization sequence.
The characterization sequence consists
of applying a strain sweep (with imposed
frequency or strain rate) to the specimen,
and getting the tearing energy (G, in J/m
2
),
i.e. the energy delivered by area unit.
Multitest enables
fatigue test
campaigns and
crack growth test
campaigns to
be achieved
A test specimen exhibiting left and right cracks
An operator using the DMA+300. Note how all the features of the machine fall easily within the operators reach
91
The plot of G versus the amplitude of
the imposed displacement is particularly
interesting to characterize, as it enables
comparison of the crack growth behavior
of different materials under similar
conditions, i.e. at identical tearing
energies.
In a crack growth test campaign,
the dynamic excitation amplitude
setpoint to be applied during a crack
growth sequence is automatically
calculated and programmed based
on the G curve obtained during the
characterization sequence, and enables
the test conditions corresponding
to the targeted tearing energies to
be defined.
Cutting step
As soon as the crack growth sequence
is started, the specimen is cut. Cutting
the specimen consists of making a cut
of a few millimeters on one side of the
specimen (left or right side, or both)
to initiate the crack.
The specimen is first subjected to
a pre-tension using Multitest, which
controls the displacement applied to the
specimen, as well as the corresponding
force.
The crack growth sequence consists
of following up the crack growth,
under given stress conditions. To
do so, cut measurements are carried
out periodically.
The cut measurement consists of
stopping the dynamic test and using
the microscope to read the geometric
coordinates of the crack tip.
During the crack growth sequence,
the user can perform a cut measurement
at any time, and stop the dynamic test
with a simple mouse click.
Successive acquisitions of the crack
tip coordinates throughout the test enable
the acquisition of the crack growth curve
(length in mm, crack growth rate in mm/
number of cycles).
In order to meet the requirements
of testing laboratories, Multitest integrates
new functions that enable test campaigns
(accommodation, characterization, and
crack growth) to be defined, starting
from an internal work request in Excel
format. These functions considerably
shorten the time required to define
the test on the machine, and decrease
the risk of potential input errors by
the operator.
Multitest can be used to edit results
according to different modes: graphic
representations and numerical data,
reports on the different types of tests, etc.
The Analysis View function is
particularly useful to navigate through
the test campaigns and the tests
themselves to display the results quickly.
Data export as ASCII files enables
customized external analysis of all
test results.
Conclusion
DMA+300 is an innovative testing
machine for the study of crack growth in
elastomer compounds, either to compare
or sort compounds according to their
composition, or to analyze influential
parameters of mechanical excitation.
Beyond this specificity, DMA+300
is a very versatile test machine that can
be used to gather advanced knowledge
of the elastomers used to produce
tires, combining particularly relevant
characteristics and possibilities such
as achievement of fatigue tests (tension,
compression, shear); achievement of
crack growth tests on elastomer films;
extended frequency range; high
measurement precision; integration
of real excitation signals; analysis at
controlled temperature; analysis at
controlled oxygen rate; and analysis
of heat build-up. tire
Curves of both crack growth from left and right cracks presented with the Multitest fatigue software program
Tearing energy
The specimen is cut when the crack sequence starts,
92
I
f a tire manufacturing company
were to be asked if it was interested
in saving money on final-finish
tire testing equipment, the answer
would be a definite yes. However, the
opportunities to avoid extensive lifecycle
costs and increase the value that the
equipment investment provides are often
ignored or overlooked. There are ways
to minimize expenditure on final-finish
tire testing and measurement, but they
require a focus on the right things
during the supplier evaluation process,
the purchasing process, and throughout
the operational life of the equipment.
Investment in a single final-finish
line to perform tire uniformity, dynamic
balance and geometric runout testing and
measurements can exceed US$1 million
a major purchase indeed. In actuality,
this initial purchasing cost only represents
a small portion of the expense that the
final-finish operation will incur over the
life of the equipment. Typically these costs
are less than 20% of the total outlay over
a 10-year lifecycle. By focusing on the
right things, and through comprehensive
analysis of potential suppliers and
equipment options available in the
marketplace, a better purchasing decision
can be made during the equipment
acquisition phase. This results in the
minimization of costs to the organization
for providing this critical capability.
Recent developments in high-quality,
highly integrated tire testing systems have
also enhanced a tire companys ability
to address this difficult situation. These
new systems are optimized to deliver
high customer value throughout the
equipments lifetime, while adding other
features that make the tire testing process
easier to manage. By shifting a companys
sole focus away from initial purchase costs
to total lifecycle costs, and through careful
consideration of newly developed
integrated final-finishing systems, a tire
company can reduce its overall required
investment in tire testing equipment.
Piece (per tire) cost
The most popular metric utilized to
evaluate the overall value of purchased
equipment is Piece Cost. This value is
defined as the total cost per tire required
to evaluate force variation uniformity,
dynamic unbalance and geometric runout
characteristics, for the purpose of final
quality screening before delivering that
tire to a customer. All costs required to
purchase, install, maintain, and operate
the equipment on an annual basis are
rolled up and divided by the anticipated
yearly throughput of the equipment.
Piece Cost =
Annualized Costs
Annual Throughput
The tire producers goal is to minimize
Piece Cost, which can be accomplished
by ensuring the highest equipment
throughput possible while minimizing
annualized costs. To accomplish this, the
correct equipment must be chosen during
the acquisition phase and complementary
strategies must be implemented that will
sustain the competitive advantages over
the life of the equipment. The goals of
throughput maximization and annualized
cost minimization should be discussed.
The analysis will also include a review
of a rarely discussed or quantified cost
component associated with machine
repeatability-related measurement
performance.
Throughput maximization
Equipment throughput is simply defined
as the anticipated number of tires tested
per year. This key metric is a direct
function of the equipment utilization,
typically expressed in units of seconds
per year, and the total system cycle time,
typically expressed in units of seconds per
tire. The annual equipment throughput
of the machine is calculated by dividing
these two individual quantities.
[ ]
Equipment
Throughput
tires
year
=
Equipment Utilization [seconds/year]
Total System Cycle Time [seconds/tire]
As a result, throughput can be
maximized by purchasing and adequately
maintaining the most productive
equipment, ensuring the possibility
of maximum utilization of machines
operating at minimal cycle times.
The only way to guarantee the greatest delivered value over the life of a tire testing
machine is to look at the annual costs along with specific throughput information
by Dr Shaun M. Immel, Micro-Poise, USA
Final-finish tire testing:
what is the true cost?
Table 1: Daily machine throughput (tires/day) based on the factors of system cycle time and system reliability
93
Two notable items deserve attention
when trying to ensure superior equipment
utilization: production availability of the
equipment, and system reliability
of the equipment.
The scheduled operation of the
machine, along with daily scheduled
downtime, defines the production
availability of the equipment. This
quantity depends solely on production
scheduling and is the same regardless of
the final finish equipment used. The other
major contributor to machine utilization
is system reliability. This factor represents
the percentage of time that the machine
will stay running in an automatic mode.
For automated equipment in a tire plant,
both the frequency of breakdowns as well
as the time to recover from each instance
should be taken into account.
The calculated effects of small
differences in system cycle time and
system reliability on daily machine
throughput are summarized in Table 1.
The equipment is assumed to be available
for production for 90% of a 24-hour day.
The throughput increase resulting from
even a small improvement in cycle time
or system reliability is quite dramatic.
In the typical equipment operational
range for a final-finish testing process,
highlighted in Table 1, one second of
cycle time improvement can provide more
than 200 extra tires per day (thats 68,000
tires per year or more than 11% additional
testing capacity). And one percent of
system reliability improvement can
provide more than 40 tires per day
(thats 14,000 tires per year or more
than 2% additional testing capacity).
Total system cycle time and system
reliability are two very important factors
that deserve attention and evaluation
when selecting a supplier for tire
testing equipment that will maximize
throughput. Selecting equipment that
achieves high availability through
excellent system reliability performance
while operating at sustainable total system
cycle times as low as possible will ensure
the best return on investment for that
equipment. A trade-off exists when
designing equipment that will operate at
low cycle times and concurrently maintain
high system reliability. For a given
mechanical design, if mechanical motions
are programmed to execute and complete
rapidly in order to minimize cycle time,
wear and tear on components will occur
and typically cause more breakdowns
and reduce system reliability. The reader
is cautioned to recognize and consider
this negative interaction when evaluating
equipment for purchase. This
phenomenon must be understood
and accounted for when the supplier
is designing the equipment.
Annualized cost minimization
As previously mentioned, there are several
components that go into determining
the annualized costs for a system of
equipment. These factors include but
are not limited to the acquisition costs,
installation costs, maintenance costs, and
operating costs of the equipment. All
these factors are important, but in reality
have a very different impact on the total
annualized cost of the equipment.
The installation costs are undoubtedly
important, but dwarf in comparison
with the large amount of capital outlay
required to initially purchase such
a testing system. With production tire
testing equipment, installation costs and
other costs associated with start-up time
are similar among different suppliers.
The equipment is heavily automated
and can be well tested before leaving
a suppliers facility, so it typically can
be made production-ready in a short
period of time. Installation materials and
labor are also minimal, particularly when
compared to other tire manufacturing
equipment. Hence this is typically not
an area where testing equipment
suppliers can differentiate themselves.
The most widely discussed component
of total cost is the up-front acquisition
costs for procuring testing equipment.
Examples of these costs include the
complete system purchase price, taxes,
duties, and shipping. Clearly this
component is an extremely important
consideration when purchasing
equipment, but it is often incorrectly
used as the primary driver in making
purchasing decisions. When total lifecycle
costs are analyzed for this type of
equipment, the acquisition cost is
typically less than 20% of the overall
equipment life costs when compared
with the other cost categories.
The single largest contributor to
annualized cost is unquestionably the
operational costs for the equipment.
There are a huge number of items worth
considering in this category. These
include, but are not limited to: operating
labor, electric power, compressed air,
marking tape, bead lubrication material,
hydraulic fluid, grease, various
maintenance costs, training costs, and
spare parts. There is great potential for
equipment suppliers to differentiate
themselves in all these areas. A small
amount of design intent can go a long
way toward reducing costs in each of
these categories. And, since the costs are
incurred repeatedly over the life of the
equipment, they can become extensive.
Unfamiliar cost contributor
An additional high-impact operating cost
component, rarely discussed today, is
related to the measurement performance
of the testing equipment in operation.
Not only can insufficient quality of
measurement performance directly
increase annualized costs by forcing
incorrect screening decisions for
a given tire, it can indirectly increase
costs through the erosion of tire consumer
confidence. Direct costs may be
accumulated by incorrectly scrapping or
downgrading a tire that is truly below the
screening limit and considered acceptable.
In addition, in some instances increased
tire adjustment costs may be incurred
as a result of mistakenly shipping an
unacceptable tire to a customer.
Consider the example of collecting
multiple uniformity measurements of
Figure 1: Normal distribution of uniformity (s=0.75 units) Figure 2: Normal distribution of uniformity (s=0.75 units)
Figure 3: Alternate normal distribution of uniformity
D
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0.8
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1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Amount of Force Variation in Units of Force
good machine
repeatability
poor machine
repeatability
acceptable tire
classified as scrap
screening
limit
misclassified tire
percentage
acceptable tire
classified as scrap
screening
limit
misclassified tire
percentage
Amount of Force Variation in Units of Force Amount of Force Variation in Units of Force
misclassified tire
percentage
screening
limit
D
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1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Amount of Force Variation in Units of Force
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
poor machine
repeatability
rejectable tire
classified as
acceptable
94
an arbitrarily chosen tire that is known to
have a true uniformity value of 11 units
with a machine that has a repeatability
standard deviation specification limit
of 0.38 units. Under a reasonable
assumption of a normal distribution of
measurements, the resulting distribution
of measurement values may look
something like that shown in Figure 1.
The solid vertical red line in Figure 1
represents a potential screening limit
for that particular tire. During a small
percentage of the time, the tire will
measure above the specification limit and
be rejected unnecessarily. This percentage
of time is represented by the black shaded
region. This tire would, at a minimum, get
measured a second time requiring extra
handling, labor and time. In the worst
case, the tire would be downgraded or
scrapped unnecessarily. The closer the
tires true value to the grading limit, the
greater percentage of the time a potentially
devastating decision may be made on
the disposition of the tire.
Now consider a similar scenario, with
the same tire, where the tire is measured
by a machine with a comparatively
worse repeatability standard deviation
specification limit of 0.75 units. The
resulting distribution of measurement
values is shown in Figure 2. When
measuring this same tire through a
machine with inferior measurement
repeatability, a poor decision will be
made a much greater percentage of the
time, thus increasing the number of tires
over a given year that are unnecessarily
downgraded or scrapped. The number
of tires unnecessarily scrapped over
the course of the year depends on the
distribution of tires as produced in
relation to the specification limit. Under
typical plant production conditions,
the percentage of tires that may be
misclassified in this way can exceed
1.5% of tire production. Imagine a tire
uniformity checking system testing over
1,000,000 tires per year and unnecessarily
scrapping over 15,000 tires that year. At
an estimated cost of US$30 per tire, thats
over US$450,000 of unnecessary scrap.
There is a similar but different mode
of incorrectly assessing the disposition
of the tire that relates to the machines
measurement performance. Consider
now measuring another arbitrarily
chosen tire with a known true uniformity
value of 13 units with a machine that
has a repeatability standard deviation
specification limit of 0.75 units. The
possible distribution of measurement
values would look something like that
shown in Figure 3. In a similar fashion,
one can observe that during a percentage
of the time that the tire is measured, the
tire would have measured below the
specification limit and would have been
incorrectly classified as an acceptable
tire. This percentage of time is again
represented by the black shaded region.
Not every one of these tires escaping the
production facility will turn into a tire
adjustment or customer ill-will; however,
a small percentage of them may have that
unintended consequence. These incidents
are fewer in number but more costly than
an incorrectly scrapped tire. There are real
tire processing costs and replacement tire
costs, not to mention the indirect cost of
customer and consumer disappointment.
Under typical plant production
conditions, the percentage of tires that
may be misclassified in this way can
exceed 1.0% of tire production. If even
10% of these tires are returned at an
adjustment cost of US$150 per tire, the
overall costs can exceed US$150,000
a year. This decision-making failure
mechanism can also occur in a similar
fashion during dynamic balance and
geometric runout screening.
There are a vast number of factors
that affect the annualized cost for such
an investment in tire-testing equipment,
including installation costs, acquisition
costs, and operating costs. One very
important consideration when procuring
equipment is the acquisition cost, but
it should not be incorrectly used as the
primary driver of the purchasing decision,
as it represents a relatively small portion
of true lifecycle costs. Operating costs
are the dominant expense one example
of which is the costs associated with
repeatability-related rejects and
adjustments. Measurement performance
and the other components of operating
costs should be a major consideration in
the purchasing decision-making process
when procuring tire-testing systems.
The bottom line
When confronted with the daunting task
of acquiring several lines of final-finish
tire testing equipment, the equipment
supplier and the specific equipment
should both be chosen with the goal of
minimizing piece cost in mind. There
are suppliers on the market with tools
available to assist in the evaluation of the
important factors that drive piece cost.
Financial models can be used to compare
equipment from two or more suppliers,
enabling buyers to analyze and compare
the important considerations presented
in this paper. An example of final output
from such a financial model, developed
for adding 20,000 tires per day of tire
testing capacity, is shown in Table 2.
In this example, Supplier As equipment
is approximately US$50,000 more
expensive per individual system than
Supplier Bs equipment and completes
a measurement cycle four seconds faster.
This results in a requirement of seven
Supplier A systems, as opposed to eight
Supplier B systems, to provide the 20,000
tires per day of testing capacity. Even
though Supplier As equipment is initially
more expensive per system, selection of
this supplier results in an approximately
US$600,000 lower initial equipment
investment because of the need for fewer
systems. In addition, because of the
characteristics of Supplier Bs equipment,
the annualized process costs are more
than 70% higher for Supplier B when
compared with Supplier As equipment.
The bottom line is an almost doubled
piece cost if Supplier Bs equipment is
chosen. With an in-depth look into the
annualized costs along with specific
throughput information, it becomes clear
which equipment will ensure the greatest
delivered value over the life of the
machine. Equipment suppliers should be
challenged to provide this critical process
cost information, and chosen based not
on their initial system acquisition price
but on their ability to provide the best
performance at minimal process cost. tire
Table 2: Example of a financial model output comparing equipment from two suppliers (20,000 tires per day)
SHORT COURSE ON
THE BEHAVIOR OF RUBBER MATERIALS
8 & 9 FEBRUARY 2010
Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL) and
Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC)
LIMITED PLACES BOOK NOW TO GUARANTEE YOUR PLACE!
DOWNLOAD THE FULL PROGRAM NOW!
visit: www.tiretechnology-expo.com
MONDAY 8 FEBRUARY
Polymers, elastomers and rubbers what are they?
Thermodynamics of elastomers
Physics of rubber elasticity
Finite strain elasticity theory
Inelastic behavior
Strength and fatigue of elastomers
TUESDAY 9 FEBRUARY
Design with rubber materials
Failure of elastomer products
Friction and abrasion
Vibration and shock control: isolation and damping
Testing rubber materials and components
To be held in conjunction with the
Tire Technology Expo and Conference
The Behavior of Rubber Materials Short Course
will be held concurrently with Tire Technology
Expo 2010 in Cologne, Germany on 8 and 9
February 2010
The performance requirements for engineered rubber products
such as tires have continuously increased over the last few
decades and are expected to continue to increase.
The conficting demands of weight reduction and reduced rolling
resistance, coupled with increases in abrasion resistance and wet
and dry friction performance, make the tire designers life dif cult.
All rubber components have to be designed and manufactured
using robust engineering principles to ensure that they comply
with the expected performance and lifetime requirements.
TIRE TECHNOLOGY EXPO 9, 10, 11 FEBRUARY 2010
COLOGNE, GERMANY
I think its the most exciting
show. We have all the suppliers for
the tire industry in one place. Its
always special to come here and
see the latest developments. Its
also a great location for us
Joerg Nohl, head of engineering,
Continental Tires
EUROPES LEADING INTERNATIONAL
TIRE DESIGN AND TIRE MANUFACTURING
EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE
www.tiretechnology-expo.com
Tire Technology Expo 2010 Conference
The Tire Technology Expo Conference is Europes leading tire
design and manufacturing conference, with attendees coming
from over 45 countries.
Over three days delegates will have the opportunity to see and
hear presentations from speakers picked from the worlds leading
experts on tire manufacturing. Presentations will cover the very latest
developments in the tire manufacturing industry.
This high-prole conference, coupled with one of the industrys
largest exhibitions, makes this not only a prestigious event to attend,
but also a priority for all involved in the tire-making process.
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UKIP Media & Events Ltd l Abinger House l Church Street l Dorking l Surrey l RH4 1DF l UK
Tel: +44 1306 743744 Fax: +44 1306 877411 Email: m.fenner@ukintpress.com
Web: www.tiretechnology-expo.com
www.tiretechnology-expo.com
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*Program subject to change
9, 10 & 11 February 2010, Kln (Cologne) Messe, Germany
Tire rubber made with naphthenic oil displays good quality and performance
yet also adheres to new EU health, safety, and environmental legislation
by Marika Rangstedt, Nynas, Sweden
Getting a grip
on future tires
Figure 1: Comparison of processing properties and properties indicative of strength for Nytex 4700, DAE and TDAE.
T
he race is on. As of January 1,
2010, tires containing extender
oils not compliant with EU
legislation on the content of
carcinogenic compounds cannot be
placed on the European market. Although
the legislation is issued by the European
Commission (Directive 2005/69/EC)
and applies to the European market, its
repercussions will be felt on a global scale,
as Europe is the end market for products
from many tire manufacturers and
polymer producers operating outside
the European Union.
Due to their high concentration
of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)
and other polycyclic aromatic (PCA)
compounds, the main products
traditionally used as extender oil in
tire rubbers aromatic extracts (DAE)
do not comply with the new legislation
and hence need to be replaced by less
harmful alternatives.
Several different oils comply with
the legislated health, safety and
environmental (HSE) criteria and can
be used to serve this purpose, among
them treated distillate aromatic extract
(TDAE), mild extraction solvate (MES)
and high-viscosity naphthenic oils.
TDAE is a DAE that is further refined
to meet the HSE criteria. This makes it the
alternative that most closely resembles
DAE from a chemical perspective. MES
is mildly refined paraffinic base oil,
sufficiently refined to meet HSE
requirements, but not as closely related
to DAE as TDAE. It therefore doesnt
display characteristics and performances
as similar to DAE as TDAE does.
The third product category that has
shown good characteristics when used
as extender oils in tire rubbers is highly
refined high-viscosity naphthenic oils.
As these oils also comply with the HSE
criteria, they have been shown to constitute
an excellent choice in the quest to replace
DAE as extender oils for the tire industry.
Studies carried out by researchers
at Nynas have shown that there are
a number of naphthenic oils that can
be used to replace aromatic extracts as
extender oils in tire rubber compounds.
Several studies on various different
naphthenic oils covering a relatively
wide range of viscosity and other
physical properties have been conducted.
Inside a given compound, the
performance of some of these naphthenic
extender oils, when used in rubber
compounds based on styrene-butadiene-
rubber (SBR), is similar to that of the
TDAE extender oil. Other qualities
display performance more akin to MES.
Earlier studies by Nynas and others
have also noted significant variations
between different rubber formulations.
This has led us to conclude that the effect
of the whole formulation, especially
regarding the choice of polymer as well
as that of the filler, has far greater impact
on the resulting mechanical and dynamic
mechanical performance than any of the
included extender oils.
The most recent studies have focused
on Nytex 4700, the newest member in
the Nynas tire oil family. This product
displays a performance at least in line
with that of TDAE in a comparative study
using a tire rubber formulation based
on an emulsion of polymerized SBR as
the polymer and carbon black as the filler.
DAE was also included in the study as
a reference (see Table 1). The effects of
Abraded volume (DIN)
ML(1+4) 100C
Delta torque
Tear strength Tc90
Elongation at break Hardness
Tensile strength
Nytex 4700
DAE
TDAE
80%
90%
100%
110%
120%
98
the extender oil on the compounding and
vulcanization processes as well as on the
material properties of the resulting rubber
were investigated.
The processing properties of the
naphthenic oil, TDAE and DAE can be
seen in Figure 1. The Mooney viscosities
of Nytex 4700 and DAE compounds are
very similar. The degree of vulcanization
displayed by the delta torque shows the
Nytex 4700 compound reaching a little
higher crosslink density than the other
two compounds. The time required to
reach 90% of complete vulcanization
is shown to be a little longer for the
compounds based on HSE-compliant
oil. The hardness is very similar for all
of them. The variation of the values can in
general be said to be low, which indicates
that the performance of the naphthenic oil
included in this study could parallel that
of the other oils under investigation.
Furthermore, properties indicative of
the mechanical strength of the resulting
three materials are brought together
in Figure 1. These show the tensile
properties of the materials, where the
results for the Nytex 4700 compound
were almost identical to those of the
DAE-based reference compound.
The elongation at break indicates
a slightly higher value for the naphthenic
oil compared with TDAE and DAE.
Finally, the tear strength indicates
an advantage for the naphthenic oil
compound compared with TDAE,
as the result is very similar to that
of the DAE compound.
The effect of the extender oils on the
glass transition temperature (Tg) of the
final rubber compounds can be seen in
Figure 2, where the Tg of the rubber is
compared side by side with the Tg of
the extender oil with which it has been
extended. It was clearly shown that
the spread in the extender oil Tg
approximately 15C is far greater than
the variation in the Tg of the resulting
compounds, which is less than 4C.
The comparative study shows that
the Nytex 4700 naphthenic oil presents a
high-performance alternative, matching at
least that of TDAE, in the task of replacing
DAE. It is clear that Nytex 4700 offers
a good solution, both technically and
economically, to manufacturers of tires
and producers of tire polymers. The study
illustrates that it is possible to combine
properties of high quality with compliance
with more stringent health, safety and
environmental legislation. Tires can get
a grip on health, safety and environmental
issues as well as on roads. tire
There are a number of naphthenic oils
that can be used to replace aromatic
extracts as extender oils in compounds
Figure 2: Glass transition temperatures of the extender oils alongside those of the resulting rubber compounds.
The values of the Tg compound should be Nytex, DAE, TDAE: -41, -39, -40C
0
-10
-20
-30
-40
-50
T
g

(

C
)
Nytex 4700 DAE TDAE
Q Tg Oil (C)
Q Tg Compound (C)
Physical properties of the extender oils used in the study
Nytex 4700 TDAE DAE
Density (kg/m
3
) 940 950 990
Viscosity (cSt) 700 410 1240
Flash point (C) 220 240 230
Tg (C) -53 -49 -38
HSE classification OK OK Not OK
99
F
or most car drivers, tires are
simply made of rubber and they
have little knowledge about how
sophisticated wheels have become.
Since John Boyd Dunlop patented the
first pneumatic tire in 1888,
1
tires have
evolved, but the requirements of the
pioneer days for comfort, cushioning,
and safety are still valid today.
The development of the car industry
from building inconvenient motorized
coaches to producing the high-speed,
high-technology vehicles equipped
with all possible convenience and safety
features, means the demands on the
interface of vehicle-to-road are increasing
fast. During this evolution, the make-up
of the tire and the raw materials have
been improved continuously.
In terms of the body reinforcement,
natural fibers such as cotton have been
replaced with semi-synthetic fibers such
as rayon, or man-made fibers such as
nylon (polyamide, PA) and polyester
(polyethylene terephthalate, PET).
With the invention of radial tires,
carcass fibers with high strength and
limited dimensional change were needed.
For PET tire cord the breakthrough came
with the introduction of high-modulus
low-shrinkage (HMLS) PET fibers. The
low raw material cost is an extra benefit
encouraging the penetration of PET into
the tire market, and the usage of PET
fibers is increasing steadily.
Development of pre-treatment
PET tire cord has a low reactive surface,
which makes the bonding of PET to
rubber difficult. The bonding strength
is essential to the performance of a tire,
as it ensures that the radial forces are
transmitted to the reinforcing fiber.
Any weakness would reduce the
tire durability during use. With the
introduction of the PET cord, it became
obvious that a modification of the
existing bonding system for PA and rayon
2
(resorcinol formaldehyde latex, RFL) was
necessary. A lot of effort was put into the
development of a pre-activation for the
PET fiber.
The alternative
Over the years, several pre-treatment
technologies have been developed to
improve the adhesion of PET to rubber. It
was found that a combination of an epoxy
and an isocyanate gave the best results.
3
The isocyanate has to be blocked in order
to not react immediately with the water
present in the mixture. The blocking of
isocyanates can be done with various
chemicals. Some of the chemicals in use
release hazardous decomposition products
such as phenol. To protect operators
and the environment against hazardous
chemicals, a safer alternative has been
found in caprolactam. A caprolactam
blocked methylene diphenyl diisocyanate
(MDI) has been commercialized for nearly
40 years under the trade name Grilbond
IL-6. The deblocking reaction mechanism
of the isocyanate is shown in Figure 1.
Today combinations of epoxy and
Advances are being made in adhesives for the treatment of polyester cord
and fabric for rubber applications. Recent product developments include
high-solid dispersions and a single-dip solution for non-activated polyester cord
by Marcus Bayer & Elke Gebauer, EMS-Griltech, Switzerland
Adhesion promoters:
cutting-edge solutions for the tire industry
100
caprolactam blocked MDI are by far the
leading pre-treatment systems for PET
tire cord fabric in the industry. The form
of delivery of the caprolactam blocked
MDI has changed since its introduction.
In the beginning, it was supplied as
powder and had to be ground on-site
before use. This production step was
not particularly controlled. It resulted
in inconsistent dispersion qualities
and therefore varying adhesion values.
With the introduction of Grilbond
IL-6 50%, EMS-Griltech solved this
problem. This product was a ready to
use dispersion with specified particle
size.It provided consistent quality in dip
mixing and consistent particle pick-up
for a uniform adhesion. It was applied
in a two-step dipping process by the
converters.
Advantages
Developments are triggered by the
demands of the market: combining
best technical performance with the
best economical aspects. EMS-Griltech,
as the leader in the global market for
tire cord adhesive systems, shaped
developments considerably.
Products have been optimized in
respect of chemical consumption to
improve the effectiveness of the used
chemicals on the dipped cord. With
optimized production technologies, the
company was able to reach an effective
isocyanate content (functional NCO
groups) in practice, corresponding to
the theoretical value. The content of
the reactive groups is higher than with
alternative materials, reducing the
consumption by up to 15% at the
converters.
4
Not only the content but also the
distribution of the groups on the surface
of the fibers is essential. Key is having
a stable dispersion, combined with
a fine particle size. For this reason, the
Grilbond IL-6 50% F was introduced,
which fulfilled these requirements exactly.
In addition, it offers a reduction of
the sedimentation in the dip tank and
the dip bath and gum-up on the rolls,
resulting in reduced chemical loss.
More important often is the reduction
of cleaning efforts and production-line
downtime. As a consequence, a massive
reduction in dipping costs can be
achieved by the on-site cooperation
of the technical service from EMS-Griltech
and the converters.
High solid dispersions
The recent development of a high solid
dispersion is the next benchmark and
there is a future generation of blocked
isocyanate-based adhesion promoters.
The newly introduced Grilbond IL-6 60%
dispersions offer additional improvements
in terms of foaming, sedimentation, and
gum-up behavior.
Single dip for na PET
The latest development aims at dipping
non-activated PET in one step, providing
the best adhesion properties and fabric
quality in one simple process step. This
enables the converter to switch from
adhesive-activated PET yarn to non-
activated PET yarn, with significant cost
savings on the fiber side. For converters
using a two-step dipping process on non-
activated PET, it denotes a simplification
of the process, offering cost savings on the
production side. This latest development
is commercialized under the trade name
Grilbond EasyDip.
A comparison of the one-step and
the two-step dipping process is shown
in Figure 2.
Figure 1: The deblocking reaction mechanism of the Grilbond IL-6 isocyanate (Caprolactam blocked MDI)
Figure 2: Comparison of the one-step and the two-step dipping process. The one-step process is much simpler
101
Bonding system
To optimize the adhesion strength, the
bonding mechanism of all incorporated
bonding partners must be known very
well. To understand the difficult situation
to bond a relatively non-polar substrate
like PET to rubber, the structure of this
polymer must be analyzed carefully.
The main chain sections of the PET are
non-polar like polyethylene, if compared
to nylon (for example, PA 66). This makes
it nearly impossible to bond any material
to PET without pretreatment. The only
dipolar structure in the chain is the
carbonyl group, which offers only little
polarity. The polar surface tension
5
of PET
is 10.4mN/m, and of PA 66 is 18.5mN/m.
Another option is to bond the polymer
end group with the RFL to the rubber.
3
Depending on the polymerization
parameters, there are more or less
carboxyl and hydroxyl end-groups in
the PET available for chemical bonding.
A typical amount of carboxyl end groups
is 15-25eq/g. In combination with
a typical average molecular weight of
Mn = 23,000 Daltons for PET, the number
of active end groups is very limited. Only
0.05% of the PET could be chemically
bonded to the RFL, which is used as
interface to the rubber. This can be
done during the spinning process with
an epoxy or silane compound, which
is applied with the spin finish.
The chemical reaction takes time and
leads to a slow down of the manufacturing
process. The chemicals used form aerosols
in the spin-process, which can be harmful
when inhaled and special precautions
have to be taken to protect the workers.
Both these features are counterproductive
to the economics of the pretreated fiber,
and in addition, the adhesion strength
is limited.
4
To improve the adhesion strength,
a nylon-like reactive surface must be
implemented. The insertion of hydroxyl
and amide groups is, in praxis, done by
a mixture of a blocked isocyanate and an
epoxy, which is the first dip of a double-
dip system. The mixture of unblocked
isocyanate and epoxy on the cord is
reacting in the heat setting phase of the
dipping process to a urethane.
6
Due to the comparable solubility
parameters
7
of this urethane and PET,
the reaction product dissolves in the PET,
leaving hydroxyl and amide groups of the
urethane exposed on the surface of the
PET. These active sites form a stable
covalent bonding with the RFL.
4
First dip-solution
The most important factor to achieve
the nylon-like reactive surface is that
the epoxy and the isocyanate are readily
available for the reaction. Both chemicals
have to be distributed on the surface of
the fiber very uniformly in order to get
the maximum adhesion levels.
Epoxy
The standard products are poly-
functional aliphatic glycidyl ethers
with low molecular weight. Essential
for these epoxy compounds in this
application is the quick and complete
water solubility, preventing fabric defects
such as white spots. A leading product
for the application is Grilbond G1701.
It combines the instant water solubility
and high reactivity in the dipping process
for shortest processing times.
Isocyanate
In contrast to the epoxy, the raw
isocyanate is solid. To ensure optimal and
safe application onto the PET, the blocked
isocyanate is delivered as a very fine
water-based dispersion. Due to the nature
of the blocking agent, and the deblocking
temperatures way above the boiling point
of water, there is no risk for the converter
of free isocyanate.
The fine dispersed quality of Grilbond
IL-6, together with the epoxy Grilbond
G1701, is best for high-quality cord and
fabric and easy, safe, and economic
processing. tire
References
1. Heissing/Ersoy, Fahrwerkhandbuch, Vieweg Verlag
(2007)
2. Porter, Norman K., Some major variables in RFL
formulations and their effect on dipped cord
properties Journal of coated Fabrics, Volume 23
(July 1993)
3. Durairaj, Raj B., Resorcinol: Chemistry,
Technology and Applications Springer (2005)
4. Kurz, Gnther, Presentation on ISIFM-meeting
(2005)
5. http://www.igb.fraunhofer.de/www/gf/GrenzflMem/
gf-physik/dt/GFphys-PolymOberfl.html
6. Hartz, Roy E., Reaction during cure of a blocked
isocyanate-epoxy resin adhesive Journal of
Applied Polymer Science Volume 19 Issue 3,
p735-746, 09 (March 2003)
7. Iyengar Y. and Erickson, D. E., Journal of Applied
Polymer Science, 11, 2311 (1967)
Figure 3: Illustration of the bonding mechanism of all incorporated bonding partners for optimal adhesion
Essential for these epoxy compounds in
this application is the quick and complete
water solubility, preventing fabric defects
102
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SHORT COURSE ON
THE BEHAVIOR OF RUBBER MATERIALS
8 & 9 FEBRUARY 2010
Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL) and
Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC)
LIMITED PLACES BOOK NOW TO GUARANTEE YOUR PLACE!
DOWNLOAD THE FULL PROGRAM NOW!
visit: www.tiretechnology-expo.com
MONDAY 8 FEBRUARY
Polymers, elastomers and rubbers what are they?
Thermodynamics of elastomers
Physics of rubber elasticity
Finite strain elasticity theory
Inelastic behavior
Strength and fatigue of elastomers
TUESDAY 9 FEBRUARY
Design with rubber materials
Failure of elastomer products
Friction and abrasion
Vibration and shock control: isolation and damping
Testing rubber materials and components
To be held in conjunction with the
Tire Technology Expo and Conference
The Behavior of Rubber Materials Short Course
will be held concurrently with Tire Technology
Expo 2010 in Cologne, Germany on 8 and 9
February 2010
The performance requirements for engineered rubber products
such as tires have continuously increased over the last few
decades and are expected to continue to increase.
The conficting demands of weight reduction and reduced rolling
resistance, coupled with increases in abrasion resistance and wet
and dry friction performance, make the tire designers life dif cult.
All rubber components have to be designed and manufactured
using robust engineering principles to ensure that they comply
with the expected performance and lifetime requirements.
TIRE TECHNOLOGY EXPO 9, 10, 11 FEBRUARY 2010
COLOGNE, GERMANY
105
D
iscovering or developing a new
fiber or material for industrial
designs and manufacturing is
a fascinating exercise, but brings
some inconveniences: the process is long,
and the R&D efforts require huge budgets.
Yet needs are constantly increasing and we
are being challenged by new expectations.
Therefore, finding innovative ways to
combine existing product capabilities is
a more promising field, which Kordsa
Global believes should be explored.
In the past, fibers used in industrial
technical textile fabric reinforcements
were limited to polyamide 6.6, polyamide
6, rayon, and polyester, which all have
bulk tonnages in production and
application. Aramid (AR), polyethylene
naphthalate (PEN), lyocell, etc, are
relatively new specialty fibers that have
appeared in the market lately.
Customers using these industrial
yarns are looking for new and superior
properties from industrial yarns and,
as a consequence, superior properties
in the end product.
Yarn producers are seeking new
solutions either by intensifying their
efforts in new yarn production or
optimizing the properties of the yarn
by chemical or physical modifications.
However it is well known that inventing
and launching a new product requires
huge resources, especially in terms of time
and cost. The modification of fibers either
through new spinning techniques or
chemical additives is another approach
it requires relatively fewer resources, and
yet the developments can be for high-
performance applications.
In addition to new fibers or fiber
modification, there are opportunities
to use a traditional fiber spectrum for the
optimization of the final product. Each
material within the stress-strain spectrum
offers attractive properties belonging to
its chemical nature. Polyamide 6.6 is
an attractive material in terms of its high
energy absorption, making it the fiber
fatigue-resistant champion. Polyester
has a high range of dimensional stability.
Rayon (RY) is a high-modulus fiber and
easy to adhere to the rubber. Aramid is a
high-modulus and high-strength material.
The unique properties of each fiber can
be partially transferred to new cord
structures by making proper combinations
of them, known as hybrid cord structures.
It is possible to engineer the mechanical
and thermal properties of hybrid cords
by making proper combinations of fiber
materials compatible with final
applications.
Various hybrid structures are possible,
such as hybrids of AR with NY and PET,
hybrids of PET with PEN and NY, hybrids
of RY with nylon (NY), or PET, and so on.
In recent years AR-NY hybrids have found
more potential in high-performance
tire applications.
As the percentage of aramid increases,
the hybrid breaking strength increases,
while elongation decreases
Engineered solutions
for niche applications
Developing high-tenacity polyamide 6.6 and HMLS polyester industrial yarns for
the tire reinforcement and mechanical rubber markets is an ongoing process
by Dr Berrin Yilmaz, Kordsa Global, Turkey
B
Figure 1: Typical stress-strain curve of twisted cords made of Nylon 6.6 (curve A), Aramid (curve B), Hybrid (curve C)
Table 1: Typical examples of hybrid cord in comparison with the reference aramid and the reference NY cords
AR weight
%
NY weight
%
Twist ratio
of AR/NY
Twist ratio of
AR/Cable
Twist ratio
of NY/Cable
Breaking
strength, N
Elongation
at 44 N, %
Elongation
at 66 N, %
Elongation
at break, %
100 - - 1.0 - 690 0.49 0.68 4.44
70 30 1.0 1.0 1.0 586 1.06 1.50 5.40
70 30 1.6 1.0 0.6 543 2.22 2.99 9.06
37 63 1.5 1.0 0.7 337 3.34 4.23 8.76
- 100 - - 1.0 321 7.19 9.74 28.90
C
A
106
Aramid and nylon 6.6 hybrid cords
are the combination of high-tenacity
and high-modulus synthetic fiber with
high-elongation and low-modulus fiber,
respectively. The mechanical properties of
hybrid cords are maintained and shaped
between the gap of aramid and nylon 6.6
cords as reference (see Figure 1). The
number of plies of each material, and
the single and cable twist levels, have
a pronounced effect on cord mechanical
properties and performance. The shape
and position of the hybrids can be
engineered within this gap by proper
adjustment of the above-mentioned
combinations.
In Figure 1 a typical stress-strain
behavior comparison of AR, NY, and
hybrid cords is schematized. Curve A
is NY cord, and curve B is AR cord, both
having the same twist levels. Curve C is
a hybrid cord example. The background
of the figure shows the microscopic
appearance of cords: from left to right is
AR cord; hybrid cord with two-ply AR,
one-ply NY; and one-ply AR, two-ply NY;
and finally NY cord. If the nylon 6.6
content in the hybrid is increased, the
hybrid curve shape shifts to the nylon 6.6
direction, whereas if the aramid content
is increased in the hybrid composition,
the hybrid curve shape shifts to the
aramid direction. As mentioned above,
since the twist level has a pronounced
effect on cord properties, as the twist level
increases, the shape of the curve shifts to
the nylon 6.6 direction. This shows the
flexibility of designing the hybrid cord
structures.
Some examples of hybrid cords with
different AR and NY composition and
twist levels are given in Table 1. This
table emphasizes the property variation
with different cord structures. It is
obvious that the aramid composition
and twist level have great influence on
mechanical property: as the percentage
of aramid increases, the hybrid breaking
strength increases, while the elongation
decreases and the modulus increases.
However, the contribution of NY
component twist level should not be
ignored to optimize the hybrid properties.
AR is a tensile member of AR-NY
hybrids. It has a very high breaking
strength and tenacity such as 20-22 g/
dtex, whereas NY has 8.0-8.2 g/dtex
tenacity. The degree of ply twisting of
AR in particular has great influence on
the breaking strength of hybrid. Examples
can be given regarding the twist level
versus tenacity change. For instance,
as 1100 dtex AR retains its tenacity by
approximately 80% at around 300tpm
twist level, the same dtex fiber retains
only approximately 70% at around
400tpm of its initial tenacity value.
Although the breaking strength and
tenacity are two of the indispensable
material requirements for tire design,
their optimization has critical importance
for fatigue requirement.
Figure 2 shows a radar diagram of one-
to-one ply AR-NY. In this radar diagram,
AR and nylon cords have been used as
a reference. K728 has been utilized as NY
component of hybrid. NY cord properties
are taken as reference; the other cord
properties are factorized based on this
reference. The breaking strength and the
tenacity of the hybrid seem to be close
to the middle point of the reference cords,
i.e. higher than NY and lower than AR
cords. The higher breaking strength of
hybrids compared with NY can offer an
opportunity for ply reduction in some tire
types. The hybrids retain their breaking
strength after curing in the rubber, and
do not show any significant difference
to that of AR and nylon cord.
Hybrids also enable designing the
strain behavior of the cord. Although AR
has very low elongation at break, such as
approximately 3.5% in fiber form, hybrids
of AR may have higher elongation at break
values as high as 9% and even higher. The
hybrid cord design parameters have a big
influence on the elongation behavior of
the materials. Regarding the partial load
elongations (EASL) of the hybrids, Figure
2 shows that hybrids apparently have
higher elongations compared with AR
cord. The partial-load elongations can also
give a clue about the modulus behavior
of the cords. AR is a high-modulus
material it loses its high-level modulus
when twisted with NY. Regarding Figure
1, some hybrid cord constructions have
high elongations or low modulus values
at low load levels similar to NY behavior.
The same cord changes its stress-strain
behavior by resembling AR cord behavior.
The variation of modulus along the stress-
strain curve gives some advantage in tire
building and tire performance while
running.
K728 fiber has around 5% thermal
shrinkage at 177C with 0.045 g/dtex
Strength
Tenacity
Easl
Shrinkage
Fatigue
Nylon 6.6
Aramid
AR-NY
Adhesion
Weight
Dimensional
Stability
Cure in rubber
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
2
The variation of modulus along the
stress-strain curve gives some advantage
in tire building and tire performance
107
The staff and management of Standards Testing Laboratories
gratefully acknowledge fellow tire professionals, engineers
and academics for recognizing us as the
2009 Tire Industry Supplier of the Year.
We were honored for the breakthroughs achieved in our independent,
confidential tire and wheel test lab available to the entire industry which
monitors tire rolling resistance by force and torque methods, and by steady-
state and step-wise coast-down procedures. Whats more, our machinery
division provides the latest tire test machinery technology at exceptional value.
From innovations in test laboratories and machine design, to service on industry
testing committees and boards, our staff has set a high standard of excellence
for nearly 40 years. We are grateful
for the recognition by our peers.
There is no higher honor.
TOUGH ON TESTING
SM
SM
SM
1845 Harsh Ave. S.E., P.O. Box 758 I Massillon, Ohio 44648-0758 I USA
Phone: 330.833.8548 I 1.800.833.8547 I Fax: 330.833.7902 I www.stllabs.com
I TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGIES
I TIRES, WHEELS & VEHICLE COMPONENTS
I TRANSPORTATION TESTING
I TESTING SYSTEMS FOR INDUSTRY
pre-tension. AR has very low thermal
shrinkage: maximum 0.2% shrinkage
under the same thermal testing
conditions. After combining two yarns by
twisting and then dipping, the resultant
hybrid has shrinkage values around
maximum 2.5%. This intermediate
shrinkage level gives better tire uniformity
compared with NY cords.
The term dimensional stability is
derived from shrinkage and EASL values
of hybrids. The lower the dimensional
stable value shows, the better the
dimensional stability. AR is certainly
a dimensional stable material. Figure 2
shows how the dimensional stability of
the cord is improved by incorporating AR
in the cord structure compared with NY
cord. The dimensional stability of hybrid
gives advantages to the carcass and cap
ply of the tire for better tire growth and
flat spotting performance.
It is well known that NY adheres easily
to RFL with conventional techniques.
However, AR does not give sufficient
adhesion with the same type of dipping,
due to its chemical structure. Therefore
two-step dipping is usually applied for
good adhesion. Hybrids generally require
the same method of dipping to achieve
at least the same adhesion performance
of AR. Figure 2 shows better adhesion
of hybrids compared with AR cord.
AR-NY hybrids offer improved fatigue
resistance compared with reference AR
cords. An increase of nylon 6.6 content
in the hybrid structure positively affects
the fatigue resistance of the hybrid cord.
An increase of AR cord twist level also
positively affects the fatigue performance
of the hybrid. In order to have improved
fatigue performance of hybrid cords,
optimization of AR and NY single and
cable twist levels must be undertaken.
A one-to-one ply hybrid example shows
the improved fatigue resistance of hybrid
cord compared with AR cord in Figure 2.
Considering the one-to-one ply hybrid
cord example in Figure 2, the hybrid is
a lighter material compared with AR
cords. Hybrids can also supply weight
reduction compared with metallic cords.
Usage of lighter materials decreases tire
weight, which has an influence on rolling
resistance and fuel consumption.
AR is a costly material. Hybrids may
offer a cost advantage compared with
AR cord when considering the whole
cycle of the tire.
Hybrids can be utilized both on
cap ply and carcass of tires, and each
component requires different material
properties. High fatigue resistances,
adjustable modulus at low and high
deformations, dimensional stability,
thermal shrinkage, and adhesion
are some examples of the required
parameters. Hybrids can give design
flexibility of modifying properties to some
extent. Tires with AR-NY hybrid cord
constructions are available on the market,
and they may still have a potential use
for new tires and non-tire applications.
Designing appropriate combinations of
hybrid plies for optimized cord structures,
twisting and weaving technologies and
practices of hybrids, treatment in dipping
lines to achieve desired adhesion levels,
and setting the tensile and thermal
properties are all critical steps in hybrid
cord production. In this respect, Kordsa
has built up design and manufacturing
knowledge of hybrid cords that forms the
companys leadership and success. tire
Section 2
Production, quality, and recycling
109
110
Curing rubber compounds
efficiently and cost-effectively
Rubber compounders and tire manufacturers could benefit from reducing
or eliminating harmful and expensive chemicals from the curing process
by Ali Ansarifar, Department of Materials, Loughborough University, UK; Co-authors: Li Wang, Saeed Ostad Movahed
and Farhan Saeed, Department of Materials, Loughborough University, UK; and K Ansar Yasin, Department of Chemistry,
The University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Azad, Kashmir, Pakistan and S. Hameed, Department of
Chemistry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
T
he implementation of the
European Union Regulation
REACH, and a need to use
materials and resources more
efficiently to reduce waste and pollution,
have imposed a considerable burden
on rubber compounders and tire
manufacturers.
The methods which are widely used
to cure silica-filled rubber compounds
with sulfur for green tire applications,
do not take into account the exact
requirements for the curing chemicals
and are therefore inefficient, too
expensive, and harmful to health
and to the environment.
Rubber compounds used to
manufacture tires contain several
ingredients. They include fillers, curing
agents, antidegradants and processing
aids
1
. Traditionally, fillers and curing
chemicals have performed two distinct
functions in rubber compounds.
Reinforcing fillers for example colloidal
carbon blacks and synthetic silicas with
large surface areas ranging from 150 to
400m
2
/g, are very effective in improving
the mechanical properties of rubber such
as hardness, tensile modulus and abrasion
resistance
2
.
Table 1: Recipe and ODR test results for the SBR, BR, NR and IR rubber compounds
Ingredients Compound no.
1 2 3 4
SBR 100 - - -
High cis BR - 100 - -
NR - - 100 -
IR - - - 100
Silanised silica 60 60 60 60
TBBS 3 7.5 6 7
ZnO 0.5 0 0.3 1
Santoflex 13 1 1 1 1
Processing oil 5 0 0 0
Cure system 3.5 7.5 6.3 8
ODR results
Minimum torque (dN m) 18 37.5 26 26
Maximum torque (dN m) 56 129 107 137
6torque (dN m) 38 91.5 81 111
Scorch time, ts
2
(min) 16 8 9 8
Optimum cure time, t
95
(min) 80 83 27 34
Cure rate index (min
-1
) 1.6 1.3 5.6 3.9
111
Curing agents, for instance sulfur,
in combination with accelerators and
activators, produce stable chemical
crosslinks between the rubber chains
in unsaturated elastomers. The cure
systems in tire-tread rubber compounds
often consist of primary and secondary
accelerators, primary and secondary
activators and elemental sulfur, which
add up to 11 parts per hundred rubber
by weight (phr)
3
. Reducing the use of
these harmful and expensive chemicals,
or eliminating them altogether, will be
greatly beneficial to rubber compounders
and tire manufacturers.
Styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)
(23.5 wt % styrene, Intol 1712, Polimeri
Europa UK Ltd, Hythe, UK), high cis
polybutadiene rubber (BR) (Buna CB 24,
Bayer; not oil-extended, Newbury, UK)
with a minimum 96 wt % cis 1-4 content,
natural rubber (NR) (standard Malaysian
natural rubber grade L) with 98 wt % cis
1-4 content, and synthetic polyisoprene
(IR) with a minimum 96 wt % cis-1-4
content (Kraton IR-307, Kraton Polymers)
were used in this study.
These elastomers are used in the
manufacture of passenger car and truck
tires. The reinforcing filler was Coupsil
8113 (Evonik Industries AG of Germany),
which is a precipitated amorphous white
silica-type Ultrasil VN3 the surfaces
of which had been pre-treated with bis
(3-triethoxysilylpropyl)tetrasulphane
(TESPT)
4
. It has 11.3% by weight TESPT,
2.5% by weight sulfur (included in
TESPT), 175m
2
/g surface area (measured
by N2 adsorption), and a 20-54 nm
particle size. This filler is known as
a crosslinking filler.
The chemical bonding between the
tetrasulphane groups of TESPT and the
rubbers was maximized by adding
N-t-butyl-2-benzothiazole sulphenamide
(Santocure TBBS; a safe-processing
delayed-action accelerator), ZnO
(activator) and stearic acid (activator).
A heavy paraffinic distillate solvent
extract aromatic-processing oil (Enerflex
74) was added to the SBR compound
to reduce its viscosity. To protect the
rubbers against environmental ageing,
N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N-phenyl-p-
phenylenediamine (Santoflex 13,
antidegradant) was also included
in the rubber compounds.
Four rubber compounds each having
60phr of Coupsil 8113 were prepared
in a Haake Rheocord 90, a small-size
laboratory mixer with counter-rotating
Banbury rotors. The rotors and mixing
chamber were maintained at 23C for
making the SBR, BR and IR compounds
and 48C for making the NR compound.
The rotor speed was 45rpm. The volume
of the mixing chamber was 78cm
3
, and
it was 55% full during mixing. The filler
particles were dispersed well in the
rubbers by increasing the mixing time
to 17 minutes. Full details of the mixing
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
d
N

m
)
6torque = T
max
- T
min
T
min
T
max
Time (min)
e
d
c
b
a
T
o
r
q
u
e

(
d
N

m
)
Time (min)
0 50 100
120
60
0
Figure 1: Typical torque-versus-time traces by
ODR for the filled IR rubber with (a) 0.4phr TBBS,
(b) 3phr TBBS, (c) 5phr TBBS, (d) 7phr TBBS, (e)
9phr TBBS
6
t
o
r
q
u
e

(
d
N
m
)
TBBS loading (phr)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
z BR/60 phr silica
NR/60 phr silica
Q SBR/60 phr silica
100
80
60
40
20
0
Figure 2: 6torque versus TBBS loading for the filled SBR, BR and NR rubbers
112
conditions of these compounds were
reported previously
5-7
.
The rubber compounds were
subsequently tested by an oscillating disc
rheometer curemeter (ODR) at 140C to
produce cure traces from which 6torque
was calculated
8
. 6torque is the difference
between the maximum and minimum
torque values on the cure traces of the
rubbers and is an indication of crosslink-
density changes (Figure 1). 6torque was
subsequently plotted against the loading
of TBBS, ZnO and stearic acid.
Optimizing the chemical bonding
between the filler and rubber via the
tetrasulphane groups of TESPT is a very
efficient method for crosslinking and
reinforcing rubber compounds.
Figure 2 shows 6torque versus TBBS
loading for the filled NR, BR and SBR
rubbers. For the SBR, 6torque increased
from 8 to 22dN m when 3phr TBBS was
added. Thereafter, 6torque increased at
a much slower rate to 26dN m as the
loading of TBBS was raised to 9phr.
It seemed that 3phr TBBS was sufficient
to start the reaction between the
tetrasulphane groups of TESPT and the
rubber. Similarly, for the BR, 6torque
increased to 87dN m when the loading
of TBBS was raised to 7.5phr. Further
increases in the amount of TBBS had little
effect on 6torque, which remained at
about 90 dN m. For the NR, 6torque
increased sharply from 9 to 55 dN m as
the loading of TBBS was raised to 6phr,
and it continued rising at a much slower
rate to about 61 dN m when the loading
of TBBS reached 10 phr. For the IR,
6torque increased to about 60 dN m as
the loading of TBBS reached 7phr and
remained at this level thereafter, when
the amount of TBBS was raised to 10phr.
The TBBS requirement for this rubber
was slightly higher than that of the NR
(Figure 3).
The filled SBR, NR, BR and IR
rubbers needed 3, 6, 7.5 and 7phr
TBBS, respectively, to fully react the
tetrasulphane groups of TESPT with
the rubber chains.
ZnO was incorporated into the rubbers
to increase the efficiency of TBBS. For the
SBR with 3phr TBBS, 6torque increased
from 22 to 57 dN m as the loading of
ZnO was raised to 0.5phr. The rate of
increase of 6torque slowed down
considerably with 6torque rising from
57 to 64 dN m as the amount of ZnO
reached 2.5phr. For the BR with 7.5phr
TBBS, 6torque increased to 131 dN m
when 0.5phr ZnO was added and showed
no further improvement thereafter when
an extra 1phr ZnO was incorporated into
the rubber. For the NR with 6phr TBBS,
6torque increased sharply to 91 dN m
when 0.3phr ZnO was included, and it
continued rising at a much slower rate
to 112 dN m when the loading of ZnO
reached 2phr (Figure 4). The IR with 7phr
TBBS needed 1phr ZnO to increase the
efficiency of cure. For this rubber, 6torque
increased from 60 to 109 dN m as the
loading of ZnO was raised to 1phr.
6torque subsequently rose to 125 dN m
when the amount of ZnO reached
2.0phr. It was interesting that the IR,
which is the synthetic analog of NR and
is chemically and structurally similar to
it, needed an extra 1phr TBBS and 0.7phr
ZnO to fully cure compared with the
NR (Figure 5).
The filled SBR rubber with 3phr
TBBS, filled NR rubber with 6phr TBBS,
filled BR rubber with 7.5phr TBBS, and
filled IR with 7phr TBBS required 0.5,
0.3, 0.5, and 1phr ZnO, respectively,
to optimize the chemical bonding
between the rubber and filler and
produce a fully efficient cure.
Stearic acid is a fatty acid that is added
Table 2: Mechanical properties of the SBR, BR, NR and IR rubber vulcanisates
Compound no.
1 2 3 4
Hardness (Shore A) 62.5 72 75 80
Tensile strength (MPa) 26 17 37 17
Elongation at break (%) 1308 606 837 404
Stored energy density
at Break (mJ/m
3)
140 49 137 33
T (kJ/m
2
) 75 30 58 17
Range of values 71-89 10-103 46-95 10-23
Relative volume loss in the
abrasion tests, 6v (mm
3
/mg)
126 15.5 - -
Modulus (MPa) at 100%
strain amplitude
0.73 2.2 2.2 3.0
Modulus (MPa) at 200%
strain amplitude
0.93 2.2 3.2 3.7
Modulus (MPa) at 300%
strain amplitude
1.17 2.6 4.2 4.3
Cyclic fatigue life (kc) 777->1000 40->1000 34-99 16-39
Figure 3: 6torque versus TBBS loading for the filled NR and IR rubbers
z IR/60 phr silica
NR/60 phr silica
6
t
o
r
q
u
e

(
d
N
m
)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
80
60
40
20
0
TBBS loading (phr)
113
to improve the solubility of ZnO in
rubber. The loading of stearic acid in
the rubbers with TBBS and ZnO was
increased to 2.5phr to measure the
amount needed to optimize the efficiency
of TBBS and cure. For the SBR with 3phr
TBBS and 0.5phr ZnO, 6torque decreased
from 57 to 46 dN m as the loading of
stearic acid reached 2.5phr. For the BR
with 7.5phr TBBS and 0.5phr ZnO,
initially 6torque increased from 131 to
134 dN m with up to 1phr stearic acid,
and then it dropped to approximately 113
dN m as the loading of stearic acid was
increased progressively to 2.5 phr.
However, the BR was fully cured with 7.5
phr TBBS and required no ZnO. For the
NR with 6 phr TBBS and 0.3 phr ZnO,
6torque decreased from 91 to about 83
dN m when up to 2 phr stearic acid was
added (Figure 6). However, for the IR
with 7phr TBBS and 1 phr ZnO, 6torque
increased from 109 to 121 dN m when
1phr stearic acid was incorporated in the
rubber and then, it returned to its original
value when the loading of stearic acid was
increased to 2phr. Notably, the 6torque
values measured for the NR were
noticeably lower than those calculated
for the IR (Figure 7).
Stearic acid had no beneficial effect on
the chemical bonding between the filler
and rubber and in fact, it was detrimental
to 6torque and therefore to the crosslink
density and cure of the rubbers.
After the TBBS, ZnO and stearic acid
requirements were measured for the
rubbers, four formulations were produced
(Table 1). The rubber compounds were
cured at 140C in a compression mold
to produce sheets approximately 2.4mm
thick and cylindrical samples 15.6mm in
diameter and 9.5mm in height for further
work. The hardness, tensile strength,
elongation at break, stored energy at
break, tensile modulus, tearing energy,
and abrasion resistance of the rubber
vulcanisates were determined using
the procedures described in the British
Standards 9039-12 (Table 2). The cyclic
fatigue life of the rubbers (number
of cycles recorded when the samples
fractured) was measured in uniaxial
tension with dumbbell test pieces at
a constant maximum deflection of
100% and a test frequency of 1.42Hz
13
.
The test temperature was 22C and
the strain on each test piece was relaxed
to zero at the end of each cycle. For each
rubber, eight test pieces were cycled to
failure and tests were stopped whenever
the fatigue life exceeded 1,000kc.
Good mechanical properties are
essential for the performance, durability
and life of tire compounds in service. As
the results in Table 2 show, the rubber
vulcanisates possessed good properties in
spite of substantially reducing the curing
Table 3: Sulfur (in TESPT), TBBS and ZnO requirements based on the actual weights of the chemicals measured in the filled SBR, BR, NR and
IR rubber compounds (see Table 1)
Compound S/TBBS (g/g) ratio S/TBBS/ZnO (g/g/g) ratio
SBR - - 0.45/0.9/0.15 3/6/1
BR 0.45/2.25 1/5 - -
NR - - 0.45/1.8/0.09 5/20/1
IR - - 0.45/2.1/0.3 1.5/7/1
z Filled BR/7.5 phr TBBS
Filled NR/6phr TBBS
Q Filled SBR/3 phr TBBS
6
t
o
r
q
u
e

(
d
N
m
)
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
160
120
80
40
0
ZnO loading (phr)
Figure 4: 6torque versus zinc oxide loading for the filled SBR with
3phr TBBS, filled BR with 7.5phr TBBS and filled NR with 6phr TBBS
Figure 5: 6torque versus ZnO loading for the filled NR with 6 phr TBBS and filled IR with 7phr TBBS
z Filled IR/7 phr TBBS
Filled NR/6 phr TBBS
6
t
o
r
q
u
e

(
d
N
m
)
160
120
80
40
0
Zn0 loading (phr)
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
114
chemicals. The hardness was somewhere
between 62.5 and 80 Shore A, and the
tensile modulus between 0.73-4.3MPa
at strain amplitudes from 100-300%.
The properties related to fracture were
also impressive. For example, the tensile
strength was 17-37MPa, elongation at
break 404-1308% and stored energy
density at break 33-140mJ/m
3
.
The tearing energy, which is of
a major importance to the impact
behavior of tires in service, was in the
region of 17-75kJ/m
2
. It is worth noting
that the relative volume loss in the
abrasion tests, was very low for the BR
and below the average for the SBR.
The shortest and longest cyclic fatigue
lives were recorded for the IR and SBR,
respectively. For the SBR and BR, seven
and four test pieces, respectively, lasted
longer than 1,000kc. The IR had the
shortest fatigue life, followed by the NR.
The mechanical properties of the
rubber vulcanisates were impressive in
spite of reducing the curing chemicals
substantially in the rubbers.
As mentioned earlier, Coupsil 8113
has 2.5% by weight sulfur included in
TESPT. The actual weights of sulfur, TBBS
and ZnO in the rubber compounds are
calculated and summarized in Table 3.
As the results show, at a given loading
of sulfur, to optimize the chemical
bonding between the rubber and filler
and to achieve the most efficient cure,
the requirements for TBBS and ZnO were
totally different. This was because of the
dissimilar composition of the rubbers.
The formation of stable covalent filler-
TESPT bonds is essential in rubber
reinforcement
14
, and a large improvement
in the rubber properties was seen, as
indicated in Table 2. Interestingly, stearic
acid was not at all essential to cure the
rubbers.
The methods used at present to cure
silica-filled tire compounds with sulfur,
TBBS and ZnO do not take into account
these different requirements and hence
cannot be efficient. It is likely that
a similar problem exists with the use
of these curing chemicals in rubber
compounds filled with carbon black.
In conclusion, a proper use of sulfur,
TBBS and ZnO for curing SBR, BR, NR
and IR rubber compounds for tire
applications must take into account the
composition of rubber at a given loading
of sulfur. This will increase the efficiency
of sulfur-curing without compromising
the good mechanical properties of the
rubber vulcanisates. Other benefits
include improvement in health and
safety, less damage to the environment
and cheaper tires. tire
Acknowledgement
We are grateful to Evonik Industries AG
of Germany for supplying the silica filler.
References
1) The Natural Rubber Formulary and Properties
Index (1984) EUR053, Archives, Tun Abdul
Razak Research Centre, Malaysian Rubber
Producers Research Association. Brickendonbury,
Hertford, UK.
2) Warrick, E., Pierce, R., Polmanteer, E., Saam, J. C.
(1979) Rubber Chemical Technology, 52, 437.
3) Byers, J. T. (2002) Rubber Chemical Technology,
75, 527.
4) Wolff, S., Grl, U., Wang, M. J., Wolff, (1994)
European Rubber Journal, 16, 16.
5) Ansarifar, A. Wang, L. Ellis, R. J. Kirtley, S. P.,
Riyazuddin, N. J. (2007) Journal of Applied
Polymer Science, 105, 322.
6) Ansarifar, A., Wang, L., Ellis, R. J., Haile-Meskel.
Y. J. (2007 ) Journal of Applied Polymer Science,
106, 1135.
7) Ostad Movahed, S., Ansar Yasin, K., Ansarifar, A.,
Song, M., Hameed, S. J. (2008) Journal of Applied
Polymer Science, 109, 869.
8) British Standards Institution (1977) BS 1673,
Part 10, London, UK.
9) British Standards Institution (1995) BS 903,
Part A26, London, UK.
10) British Standards Institution (1995) BS 903,
Part A2, London, UK.
11) British Standards Institution (1995) BS 903,
Part A3, London, UK.
12) British Standards Institution (1995) BS 903,
Part A9: Method A.1, London, UK.
13) British Standards Institution (1986) BS 903,
Part A51, London, UK.
14) Wolff, S. (1996) Rubber Chemical Technology,
69, 325.
Stearic acid loading (phr)
z Filled IR/7 phr TBBS/1 phr Zn0
Filled NR/6 phr TBBS/0.3 phr Zn0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
6
t
o
r
q
u
e

(
d
N
m
)
140
120
100
80
60
40
Figure 7: 6torque versus stearic acid loading for the filled NR with 6phr TBBS and 0.3phr ZnO,
and filled IR with 7phr TBBS and 1phr ZnO
Figure 6: 6torque versus stearic acid loading for the filled SBR with 3phr TBBS and 0.5phr ZnO,
filled BR with 7.5phr TBBS and 0.5phr ZnO, and filled NR with 6phr TBBS and 0.3phr ZnO
160
120
80
40
0
6
t
o
r
q
u
e

(
d
N
m
)
Stearic acid loading (phr)
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
z Filled BR/7.5phr TBBS/ 0.5phr ZnO
Filled NR/6phr TBBS/0.3phr ZnO
Q Filled SBR/3phr TBBS/0.5phr ZnO
Proudof the
technologywe put
intoevery tire
W
ith the combined
resources and experience
of Bartell, RMS and
Steelastic, the Pettibone Tire
Equipment Group continues to
be at the forefront of innovative
new tire technology. New technolo-
gy that continues to automate
production, while saving valuable
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And new technology that allows
us to continue engineering even
greater quality and reliability into
our systems.
Proud of the technology we put into every tire
Bartell Machinery LTD
Telford, England:
44-1-952-201291
Fax 44-1-952-201083
sales@bartellmachinery.co.uk
Bartell Machinery Systems LLC
Rome NY 13440
315-336-7600 Fax 315-336-0947
sales@bartellmachinery.com
www.bartellmachinery.com
RMS Equipment Company
Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2G 4J4
519-749-4634
Fax 519-749-4613
rmssales@rmsequip.com
www.rms-ca.com
The Steelastic Company
Akron OH 44310
330-633-0505
Fax 330-633-0527
sales@steelastic.com
www.steelastic.com
The Pettibone Tire Equipment Group
Asia Representative Office
4-21, Shin-Nishikata,Kuwana
Mie, Japan 511-0863
tisobe@steelastic.com
www.steelastic.com
RMS is well known as a designer
and manufacturer of complex
rubber extrusion equipment and
roller die heads, as well as first and
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machines. In addition, Steelastic
and Bartell offer one-stop shopping
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116
S
ealed flexible rubber bags are
inflated inside uncured tires
during the vulcanization process.
When the mold closes, air and
vapor or hot water circulate automatically
into the bladder. Under heat and pressure
conditions, the expandable bladder
inflates into the inner surface of tire. After
the green tire is shaped against the outer
mold surface, the bladder deflates.
Curing bladders are one of the most
severe applications for rubber in terms
of heat and flexing resistance. The bladder
composition, as usual, may contain
butyl rubber, polychloroprene rubber,
reinforcing carbon black, oil, resin
and other usual ingredients.
Since bladder compounds have a resin
cure and are used in high temperatures,
increasing thermal stability is one of the
most important subjects for them.
The resin-cure system does not
use any sulfur and is used when high
thermal resistance and low pressure set
is important. The curing reaction in this
system is slow, so it may need halogenated
activators. The advantages of this curing
system is that it can lead to obtaining
ozone resistant compounds and
eliminating the tendency to scorch
under high temperatures.
Heat produced during the service
causes decomposition of the crosslinks
network in the compound and reduces
modulus. In Butyl compounds 1,3-bis
(citra conimido methyl benzene) can fix
modulus and keep crosslink density by
forming stable carbon-carbon links.
In addition, it can control heat build-
up, increase thermal resistance, resistance
in dynamic flexes, reversion resistance,
flex-cracking resistance and flexibility.
It also improves compression set, and
the tensile and vulcanized physical
properties.
Experimental work
The bladders discussed here contain 1,3-
bis (citra conimido methyl benzene),
the amount depending on the type
of polymer and the cure system used.
The formulation is shown in Table 1.
The 1,3-bis (citra conimido methyl
benzene) is thermally stable at normal
processing temperature and has a melting
point below 90C. Thus its solubility and
dispersion will not be a problem. The
Increased production rate
through improved bladder compound
Increasing the thermal stability of bladder compounds, while preserving
other processing properties, can improve cracking resistance and flexibility,
and reduce bladder failures
by Maryam Mokhtarimehr and A.G. Moteshareie, laboratory manager and compounding manager, respectively,
of Dena Tire, Iran
Table 1: Formulation of compounds
Compound Ingredients Control Trial
Butyl rubber 100 100
Neoprene 5 5
Carbon black 50 50
Oil 7.5 7.5
Fatty acid 1.5 1.5
Zinc oxide 5 5
Resin 10 10
1,3-bis (citra conimido methyl
benzene)
- 0.75
Figure 1: The average of cure cycles by Control and Trial bladders in size 16A
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
deformed
319
197
236
360
337
212
0 0
blown out bared creased
Type of failure
Figure 2: The average of cure cycles by Control and Trial bladders in size 16B
deformed blown out bared creased
Type of failure
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
159
224
290
233
286
317
222
268
117
solubility is easy and the dispersion
occurs well into an internal mixer.
It resists decomposition up to 240C.
To obtain better dispersion in a
multiple-stage mixing, it should be added
at the masterbatch stage. The dispersion
may not be optimized if the mixing
temperature is below 90C. However,
to ensure easier and more effective
dispersion, it should be added at the
first (non-productive) mixing stage.
In this research, bladders were tested
in truck sizes 24A and 24RIB and light-
truck sizes 16A and 16B.
Discussion and results
Subject to constant curing conditions, the
average cure cycles of four sizes of trial
bladders 16A, 24A, 24RIB, and 16B
are more than in the control. Failure
through blow-outs is reduced in these
bladders (Figures 1-4).
Most of the trial bladders are scrapped
because of their creased and deformed
shape. These two failures are slightly
better than the other scrapped bladder
failures. In 16B, these two failures are
observed with less than the average
cure cycle (Figure 5).
Conclusion
The average cure cycles undergone
by the trial bladders is more than that
of the control bladder (Figure 6). These
bladders have less fracturing and longer
life. Most of the bladders suffered
deformation and abrasion and finally
appear deformed (Figure 7). It seems
the quality of compound in these
bladders is improved and they have longer
life and better efficiency compared to the
control bladder. Increased life duration is
observed in all the sizes (Figure 8). tire
deformed blown out
bared
Type of failure
71
94
Figure 3: Average of cure cycles by Control and Trial bladders in size 24RIB
250
200
150
100
50
0
187
239
88
0
Figure 4: Average of cure cycles by Control and Trial bladders in size 24A
244
159
255
246
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
deformed blown out
Type of failure
Figure 6: Total cure cycles with all failures by Control and Trial bladders
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
16A 16B 24A 24RIB
Bladder size
245
284
98
214
312
324
253
111
16A
Figure 8: Increase in bladder life compared to Control
16B 24A 24RIB
Bladder size
25
20
15
10
5
0
21.5
21.5
Figure 7: The average of scrapped Control and Trial bladders in all sizes
deformed blown out bared
Type of failure
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
369
312
30
9
65
78
3 15
creased
11.5
15
deformed blown out bared creased
Type of failure
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
300
334
166
153
316
268
175
158
Figure 5: Total number of cure cycles by Control and Trial bladders in all sizes
References
1) Patitsas, P. Self-releasing curing bladders,
December 2001.
2) Rubber Industries Engineering and Research Co,
Principle of Rubber Compounding and Technology
Samar Publisher.
3) New material general information and guidelines
for optimal use, Flexsys, BV Technical Bulletin,
1996.
4) Anti riversion agent, an overview, Flexsys, BV
1996.
118
Rubber devulcanization:
a successful project
DevulCO2 shows the way to successful rubber devulcanization, and its commercial
application could revolutionize the use of the huge amount of waste tire rubber now
that it can no longer be disposed of in landfill sites
by Andrew James, Smithers Rapra Technology, UK
D
evulCO2, the Technology
Strategy Board (TSB) funded
research project, has achieved its
aims of developing a continuous
and effective devulcanization system for
the production of devulcanized rubber
from waste tires. The project concluded
on April 30, 2009, having successfully
achieved all its goals and objectives.
The DevulCO2 project was instigated
to provide an answer to the EU ban on
disposing of waste tire rubber in landfill
sites that came into force on July 1, 2006.
The project results have now made the
300,000 tons of waste rubber destined
for landfill sites in the UK a viable
commodity. With a further two million
tons of waste tires available within the
rest of the EU, the technology developed
from the project will be in demand.
The steady increase in commodity
prices due to increasing global demand
has ensured major interest from
compounders in DevulCO2 and finding
a technically competent, economically
viable, and environmentally friendly
solution to the waste problem. It is clear
that enabling manufacturers to reuse
this large quantity of rubber has great
potential benefits, both to them and the
environment, but prior to the DevulCO2
project, efforts to substitute recycled
rubber for virgin rubber had been largely
unsuccessful. Past failures were due to
the poor mechanical properties achieved
when large volumes were used to produce
final products, processibility problems,
or economic considerations.
The continuing existence of this
potentially exciting and lucrative market
opportunity led to a number of different
devulcanization techniques being
developed aiming to regenerate rubber
for the manufacture of high-quality
rubber products. DevulCO2 has
developed the technology to exploit
this market.
The DevulCO2 project ran from
November 2006 and was funded by the
TSB within its Design and Manufacture
of Sustainable Products program. Projects
within this program are designed to
develop eco-friendly and sustainable
processes that will benefit SMEs based
in the UK. More than US$689,000 of
direct financial assistance was provided
by the TSB, with the project partners
matching the amount between them.
In addition to Smithers Rapra, the
consortium partners were PJH
Partnership, Martins Rubber Company,
BD Technical Polymer, J. Allcock & Sons,
and Charles Lawrence International.
The project satisfied its two key aims.
The first aim was to develop a novel,
effective and commercially competitive
devulcanization system for the production
of devulcanized rubber from waste tire
crumb. The second aim was to evaluate
this devulcanized rubber as a replacement
for virgin rubber in the manufacture
of a variety of high-added-value rubber
products within the general rubber
goods sector.
The project has been extremely
successful in achieving both of these
The first aim was to develop a novel,
effective and commercially competitive
devulcanization system
The DevulCO2 project is a positive step forward for new products made from devulcanized rubber from waste tires
119
goals, and the new technology developed
has been proven within a commercial
environment. The devulcanized rubber
can be easily processed via a range of
standard rubber processing operations,
such as extrusion and calendaring, into
good quality blanks for re-vulcanizing.
The re-vulcanizing step can then be
achieved using techniques such as
injection molding, compression molding,
and transfer molding. This flexibility
enables a wide range of high-added-value,
high-quality products to be produced.
The physical testing results obtained
impressive results on products
manufactured from 100% of the
devulcanized rubber showing tensile-
strength values in excess of 18MPa
combined with an elongation-at-break
of 350%. The novel process is capable
of recovering up to an amazing 80%
of the physical properties of original
virgin compounds.
The proven process utilizes standard
processing equipment with minimal
modification and will be easily scaled
up to commercial levels of production.
A key benefit of this process breakthrough
is that it does not present any additional
health and safety or environmental
concerns to the rubber industry.
The project has also demonstrated that
it is possible to blend the devulcanized
rubber with either virgin rubber or virgin
rubber compounds in a rubber intermix
to increase the range of products that
can be manufactured. The economic
and commercial assessments carried
out on the process have shown it to be
a cost-effective solution to the waste tire
problem and provide excellent business
opportunities.
The technology is now ready to
be scaled up to commercial levels of
production, it does not present any
additional health and safety or
environmental concerns, and the
process is extremely cost-effective.
The consortium is now able to take
the products to market.
The success of DevulCO2 has secured
further funding from the TSB for the
ReMould project, which will transfer the
devulcanization technology into other
high-tonnage waste rubber products such
as EPDM weather strip, further refine the
processibility to enable profile extrusions
to be produced, and extend the range of
final products that can be manufactured
such as the retreading of truck tires. This
project will commence in the summer
of 2009, will run for two years, and will
include two new partners: Kingpin Tyres
and London Metropolitan University. tire
It is possible to blend the devulcanized
rubber with either virgin rubber or virgin
rubber compounds in a rubber intermix
High-quality injection, compression or transfer-molded products can be created using the re-vulcanizing process
The technology is ready for commercial production levels
A number of technological innovations including a quick-cleaning gear
pump and a co-extrusion head are creating benefits for the tire industry
by Dr Tim Pohl, Troester GmbH & Co KG, Hannover, Germany
Tire industry innovations
including co-extrusion heads and Ethernet line control
Figure 1: Co-extrusion Y-head
120
T
roester is looking back on a
successful year and heading
optimistically into the future.
At the same time the company has
implemented technological innovations
that will benefit the tire industry.
Co-extrusion head
Of particular note is the development
of a new co-extrusion head with
a special clamping system (Figure 1).
The concept has already proved successful
in practice for the manufacture of sidewall
and apex profiles. The compact design
allows space-saving integration into
flexible manufacturing lines with short
profile running times.
The movable head parts (upper and
lower part) are connected by means of
lateral Y-joint rods, and are pulled toward
the fixed-head middle part by only one
hydraulic cylinder each. The clamping
force of the lateral tie rods acts vertically
on the sealing faces of the flow channels.
The flow channels are matched to
customers individual requirements and
their products with the use of finite-
element flow simulation. The streaming
history for the rubber in the head is
analyzed and adopted in order to achieve
a constant swelling behavior at the head
outlet, and a straight flow. The general
goal is a material-independent flow
channel construction in order to allow
an easier design of the subsequent
flow segments.
In addition to an appropriate forming
of the extrudate, the rubber compound
guiding parts should be designed with
the lowest possible pressure consumption.
This helps reduce the compound
temperature at the outlet and increase
the extrusion speed.
The features as a whole meet the
demand of the tire industry for flexible
manufacturing equipment to achieve high
productivity of the line and an increased
variety of products with the best price-
performance ratio.
Quick-cleaning gear pump
The use of a gear pump connected to
the extruder is state of the art for high-
pressure applications such as straining
or wire coating. The gear pump is fed
by the extruder and allows a volumetric
conveying characteristic of the compound.
The product quality is enhanced by the
stable discharge and by low tolerance
deviations. Using a gear pump enables
stable process conditions to be achieved
quickly, which is advantageous when
using such a system in cap strip, bead,
and wire coating lines.
However a gear pump is not self-
cleaning. In case of compound changes
or longer production stops, the system is
dismounted and disassembled. Therefore
Troester developed a quick-cleaning gear
pump for reducing the cleaning cycle.
Without using any tools, all parts are
The flow channels are matched to
customers individual requirements and
their products with use of FE simulation
Troesters headquarters in Hannover, Germany
121
individually removed from the pump and
can be quickly cleaned by the operator.
The gears and bearings are part of
a gear package set, which is hydraulically
pushed out of the gearbox housing and
can be replaced by a second clean set
(Figure 2). All other parts are easily
accessible and cleaned manually.
This new device enables a broader
application field for gear pumps, and
increases the acceptance of this machine
type in the tire industry.
Line control via Ethernet
The extrusion line control systems are
part and parcel of Troesters equipment
portfolio. The extrusion unit works
with the downstream equipment as
a functional entity, enabling constant
product dimensions in the various
production stages. The control is
developed, designed and programmed
in-house using the latest available
electrical components. Specification
and preferred subsuppliers are considered
according to the individual needs of
the tire manufacturer. Typically the line
control consists of a PLC-PC architecture.
In the field area all electrical units such
as drives, sensor, measuring equipment,
identification, and marking system are
controlled by PLC. For many years the
most well-known field bus systems with
the distributed I/O stations have been
used. The advantage is reduced cabling on
customers sites and more efficient checking
of machine groups before delivery.
In a further development step, Troester
recently installed complex tire production
lines by using Ethernet instead of typical
field bus systems. More than 80 units,
including drives, distributed I/O stations,
measuring devices, PLCs and line-PC
were linked together.
The line-PC is used for visualization
and process trending, recipe handling,
and the long-term production and quality
protocol. For each production run, the
production parameters as well as the
quality results will be stored. Such
production results are summed up
in statistically measured parameters
such as CPK values (statistical process
ratio). As well as providing long-term
information about the production history,
the data can also be used for labeling
the manufactured goods.
There is a tendency toward connecting
the line-PC to the plant network to receive
the pre-selected daily production schedule
of the line from a host, and to provide the
production data automatically from the
line via network to a plant server. State
of the art is a configuration with the PC as
a redundant system to ensure that quality
documentation and production reports
are provided without any time lag.
The thorough Ethernet concept
supports teleservice up to each end-
connected unit. This way Troester
engineers can support the operators on
site in real time from their headquarters
in Hannover, Germany. Ethernet supports
the tendency of merging the company
network with the entire line control.
Tire manufacturers around the world
face daily challenges that require a variety
of new manufacturing approaches. By
using Troesters engineering capacity,
many ideas result in innovations and end
up increasing the bottom-line results. tire
This new device enables a broader
application field for gear pumps, and
increases acceptance of this machine
Figure 2: Quick-cleaning gear pump
122
w w w . t r o e s t e r . d e
The tire industry is striving to
constantly improve its products
and manufacturing processes.
Our engineers develop inno-
vative production lines together
with our customers to meet
these requirements.
The TROESTER development
team uses state-of-the-art
computer-aided methods which
enable quick individual design-
ing of the line components.
Material ows, compound
temperatures and line speeds
are adjusted to the customers
requirements. Additionally, our
customers can use the exten-
sive test equipment in our
well equipped TROESTER
technology center to conduct
experiments and directly imple-
ment knowledge gained in
development.
TROESTER turns innovative
ideas into reality.
TROESTER GmbH & Co. KG has been devel op-
i ng i nnovati ve machi nes and l i nes for the
rubber and pl asti cs processi ng i ndustry si nce
1892. If you wi sh to know what i nnovati ons
we can provi de, then send us an e-mai l
to I nnovat i ons@t r oest er. de
T
he VMI MAXX tire building
machine can be equipped with a
bead-apex handling and green-tire
removal system, based on a robot.
Automating bead loading and green-tire
removal disengages the operator from
a short-cyclic task in front of the machine
and gives him (or her) time to handle
components on one or two VMI MAXX
machines and reduces the total amount
of required operators.
Each bead apex assembly (BA) lies
on a specially designed VMI carrier. The
carriers are stacked on a cart and fed into
the VMI MAXX. To take full advantage of
this system, VMI developed a stacking
module for its bead apex assembly
machines. This module, in combination
with the new robotic system for bead
loading in the VMI MAXX, creates further
possibilities for full hands-off production.
In a nutshell the system consists of
an automatic loading unit at the bead
apex assembly machine, carriers for
storage and internal transportation,
and an automatic unloading unit at the
tire building machine. There are several
requirements for such a system.
Automatic stacking of the BAs in the
bead apex-assembly machine requires
automatic quality monitoring of each BA
produced, automatic placement of the BAs
onto carriers, and controlled orientation
of the BA splice position on the carrier.
Storage and internal transportation
requires the optimal quality of
produced BAs to be maintained while
in intermediate storage. The carrier must
be of a sturdy design (long lifetime) and
A stacking system has been developed for bead apex assembly machines that,
combined with a robotic loading system, enhances hands-off tire production
by J.K. Grashuis, VMI-Group, the Netherlands
Automatic bead apex stacking
and loading into a tire building machine
Figure 1: The robot gripper is used to pick up the green tire. The gripper is servo-driven and can handle
a BA range from 13-24in, without any manual adjustments required by the machine operator, aiding efficiency
124
Figure 2: The VMI MAXX machine can be equipped with a robotic bead apex handling and green tire removal system
the stack of carriers must be stable and
self-supporting. Special carts for easy
handling around the machines are needed
and minimum floor space for intermediate
storage is required. There should also
be the possibility of handling stacks in
an automatic warehouse and of RFID
identification on carts.
Automatic loading of the BAs in
the tire building machine requires that
there be no sticking of bead and apex
compounds to the carrier, reliable
loading of bead-apex assemblies, and
controlled orientation of the BA splice
in the green tire, as well as continuous
production of approximately 50 minutes
before reloading.
The carrier
Based on the requirements listed above,
a special carrier was developed and
protected by a patent. The carrier is
injection-molded and made of high-
quality plastic. The carriers are optimized
for storage of the BA. The BA lies on
a conical surface with an angle of 10, to
support the shape of the initially hot apex.
The carrier has an outside rim to keep
the BA sufficiently centered and to protect
the apex and it has a fixed orientation in
the stack. This facilitates control over the
apex-splice in the tire. The carrier comes
in two sizes: one up to 20in and the other
up to 24in.
The open shape of the carrier prevents
accumulation of heat when the fresh
BA is stored on the carrier. The carriers
upper surface has a texture to prevent
the BA sticking.
For internal transportation the carriers,
which have a vertical pitch of 24mm,
can be stacked up to a height of 56 pieces
( 1.4m). The stack is stable and self-
supporting. VMI supplies special carts,
equipped with wheels for easy handling.
For intermediate storage, with a stack
height of 56 pieces, 118 small carriers
(max 20in) or 90 big carriers (max 24in)
can be stored per m
2
. The storage capacity
can be multiplied by storing
the stacks in a rack.
To aid logistic control, each cart
can be equipped with an RFID chip
for logistical identification of the stack
and for track-and-trace functionality.
BA stacking module
The BA stacking module that is added to
a bead-apex assembly machine places the
BA directly onto a carrier and stacks the
loaded carriers onto a cart. After adding
the BA stacking unit, it is still possible to
use the bead apex assembly machine in
the conventional way. Implementing this
system means no operator checks or even
touches the BA during the whole process,
and an automatic VMI vision system
monitors the quality of the BA.
Tire building machine
The central part of the module that is
added to the VMI MAXX tire building
machine is a robot that is located between
breaker and tread, and carcass servicer.
Up to three stacks of carriers with BAs
can be loaded into the system. This
equals 168 BAs, or 84 tires.
The robot gripper picks the BA from
the carrier by centering and actively
separating it. Also the separation of
the carriers is done actively, resulting
Table 1: Requirements for a stacking system
Automatic stacking of the bead apex assemblies in the bead apex assembly machine
Automatic quality monitoring of the produced bead apex assemblies
Placement of the bead apex assemblies into carriers
Controlled orientation of the bead apex (splice position) in the carrier
Avoidance of distortions of produced bead apex assemblies while in intermediate storage
Carrier must be of a sturdy design (long lifetime)
Stack of carriers must be stable and self supporting
Minimum floor space for intermediate storage
Placement of stack in automatic warehouse must be possible
RFID identification on stack of carriers must be possible
No sticking of bead and apex compounds to the carrier
Easy loading of bead apex assemblies into tire building machine
Autonomy of approximately 50 minutes before reloading in the tire building machine
Figure 3: The robot is mounted on a solid portal, and contains the conveying system and safety light screens
125
126
in a reliable process. The empty carrier
is placed onto a stack for empty carriers,
of which the system can also contain
three. The BA is placed into the VMI
MAXX offline bead loader, which assures
an optimal positioning accuracy of the
BA in the bead setter of the tire building
machine.
After adding the robot system
it will if necessary still be possible
to load BAs into the tire building machine
in the conventional way.
The gripper is servo-driven and
can handle 13-24in without manual
adjustment. The same gripper is used to
pick up the green tire. Again no manual
adjustments are required.
The robot can place the green tire onto
a customer-specific unloading position,
such as a conveyor system. All robot
tasks are performed within the tire-
building machine cycle time, which
is less than 40 seconds.
The robot is mounted on a solid,
static portal, which is firmly connected
to the floor. The portal also contains the
infeed- and outfeed system for the stacks
of carriers.
The operator easily rolls the stacks
on their carts in and out of the machine. Figure 4: With a stack height of 56 pieces, 118 small carriers of 90 big carriers can be stored on the rack per m
2
Figure 5: Top view of the carrier. The robot handles the carrier from the center. The kernel is the same for both sizes
The robot system will continue without
interruption during these operations.
The safety of the machine operator
remains guaranteed, with a safety
system that complies with the new
machine regulations and also to the
CE-PL safety norm.
The system described for automatic
bead-apex stacking and loading into a tire
building machine offers a comprehensive
logistic solution, starting at the production
of the BA and ending at the moment the
BA is built into a tire.
The robot takes over two tasks from
the operator in front of the tire building
machine, enabling a smaller workforce.
VMI offers several automatic monitoring
systems to perform the inspection, that
the operator used to perform.
Also, where operators can be distracted
by other tasks, the robot makes sure that
the BAs and green tires will be handled
every 40 seconds, resulting in a stable
and continuous output. tire
1624 Englewood Ave. | Akron, OH USA 44305 |
+
1-330-784-1251 | www.micropoise.com
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OCTOBER 2009
INNOVATION INITIATIVE
Jean-Claude Kihn, Goodyears CTO, has
undertaken a historic innovation strategy TIRE LABELING
How will the forthcoming legislation
benefit customers?
TOMORROWS WORLD
Michelins view of future standards
and regulations, and how to meet them
L
u
n
a
r

im
p
a
c
t
How the moon will help generate
possible next-generation tires
INTERVIEWS Dr Joachim Neubauer
Standards and regulation, Michelin
Nina Renshaw
Policy officer, T&E
Dr Stuart Cook
Director of research, TARRC
Professor Joshua Summers
Clemson University
Ben Michell Dunlop Motorsport
mmm$j_h[j[Y^debe]o_dj[hdWj_edWb$Yec
128
T
he tire market demands excellent
product quality at competitive
prices. To provide a high-quality
product at an economically
efficient cost, manufacturers have to
keep scrap and system complexity to
a minimum, but cost cutting must never
compromise product quality.
How can these requirements be
aligned in one single application?
Width measuring systems are a possible
approach to this issue. The systems
consist of sensors, analog sensors or CCD
cameras, for data logging, and a controller
to process the incoming data. Web-width
measurements can be used simply as
a display instrument to provide the user
with material width data, or integrated
into the machine controls so as to be
actively involved in the production
process by stopping the machine in
the event of an incorrect width.
Web-width measurements are perfect
for high-quality tire production for a
variety of reasons and offer a huge savings
potential. The systems provide precise
information on the relationship between
defined reference width and current
material width during production.
Likewise, they notify the user of
deviations. Web-width measurements
are suitable for measuring the position
deviation of a material strip on
a carrier material.
Measuring systems, used correctly
during the production of raw materials,
such as the innerliner, cushion, textile
cord, tread, sidewall, can avoid the
production of defective material and scrap
by preventing these materials from being
fed into the next production step.
Although material production cannot
be influenced in downstream processes,
in tire building machines the systems
may well be used to determine further
use. Once defective materials have been
fed into the next production step and
reach the end-product stage, green tire,
they become special waste. The disposal
of this special
waste is very
costly, as the
product mix
of the various
materials,
including
rubber, textile,
and steel,
cannot easily
be split into its
components
only by applying
a complex
process.
The
applications of
width measuring
systems are quite
versatile, from a
simple display of
current material
status to systems
that produce detailed reports for use in
downstream machines (workflow). These
reports store all product data for each
millimeter of material. The reports can
be used to set up a quality control system
or be integrated into existing systems.
In the case of the latter, only raw
data is transmitted to the customer,
who performs his own data evaluation.
This enables the customer to use his
own criteria to assess product quality.
The quality of a web-width
measurement system is determined by
the selection of suitable components.
Ease of operation, along with an
appropriate sensor system, is critical.
In the tire industry, CCD cameras
are frequently used, which can even
compensate height or thickness of the
material to be measured, based on
a BST International calibration method
for which a patent has been filed.
Where space is limited, the best choice
may be analog sensors, which can be
positioned using fully automatic sensor
adjusters. Just like a measuring system
with CCD cameras, these sensors are
calibrated and provide measured values
with a precision of 0.1mm or better.
When opting for a system made by
BST International, users may choose
from a broad range of products, from
basic analog sensor variants with manual
adjustment, to fully automatic sensor
positioning and CCD cameras. A uniform
look and feel of component operation
is a critical factor as this ensures that
users can quickly and reliably operate
systems regardless of the machine they
are working on and what type of width
measurement they are actually using.
If a BST International web-guiding
system is already in use, the sensor system
may be used for the control process and
for web-width measurement at the same
time. This gives additional synergies.
The use of web-width measurement
systems provides a range of possibilities to
enhance cost efficiency and environmental
compatibility in production by saving
on material, while ensuring highest
end-product quality. tire
Tire manufacturers must minimize scrap and system complexity, without
compromising product quality. Width measuring systems can help
by Andreas Flter & Sabine Sladky, BST International GmbH, Germany
Web width
measuring systems
The EKR500 Edition X commander unit for a BST web-width measuring system
BST International GmbH | Heidsieker Heide 53 | 33739 Bielefeld | Germany | Phone: +49 5206 999-0 | Fax: +49 5206 999-759
www.bst-international.com | automation@bst-international.com | A member of the group
Web Guiding, Web Width Measurement and Web Width Control systems for:
Innerliner
Extrusion Lines
Calender Lines (Textile- and Steelcord)
Assembly Lines
One step ahead with BST International
Always
Hitting
Your
Targets
Cutting Lines (Textile- and Steelcord)
Tire Building Machines
Doubling Stations
Special Applications
KONTRUKTA-Industry, a.s.
TRADITION IN TYRE MACHINERY
KONTRUKTA-Industry, a.s.
K vstavisku 13
912 50 Trenn
Slovak Republic
e-mail: sales@kotaind.sk
CUTTING TECHNOLOGY
Steel Cord Cutting Lines
- for Breaker Cutting & Splicing
- for Body Ply Cutting & Splicing
Steel Cord Cutting Lines combined
- for Body Ply and Breaker Cutting & Splicing
Textile Cord Cutting Lines
- for Body Ply Cutting & Splicing
Roller-Head Extrusion Lines
- for Inner Liner Production
- for Squeegee Production
- for Cushion Production
- for Gum Strip Production
Cold & Hot Feed
Extruders
- for Bead Wire Rubberizing
- for Apex Production
- for Feeding Systems
www.konstrukta.sk
EXTRUSION TECHNOLOGY
Multiple Extrusion
Lines
- for Apex Production
- for Sidewall Production
- for Tread Production
130
D
uring the last 20 years there have
been enormous improvements in
materials and construction, and
in the manufacturing process of
car tires. However, improvements in the
tire curing process have been marginal.
Mechanical curing presses have been
replaced by hydraulic operating systems,
and improvements have been made in
the control and handling systems. Radial-
opening mold systems for PCR and
TBR sizes are now common.
The tire mold shapes the final product,
and the end user has a large number
of different tire brands to choose from.
In addition to the quality of the tire,
promotions by test magazines, along with
pricing and appearance (especially for
PCR sizes), should not be underestimated.
As an independent tire mold
producer, which sells to international
tire companies, A-Z Formen has seen
customers investing in new tread designs
to improve the general appearance and
upgrade the overall performance of
their products.
Tire customers look for a modern,
state-of-the-art design. Tire designers
try to create up-to-the-minute designs
with variable groove configurations,
particularly for winter designs with
a large number of sipes. The removal
of air during the curing process requires
a large number of vent holes (up to 5,000
per mold) and creates stubbles, which
must be cut off. This additional
production step creates an undesirable
waste of rubber.
By using valve vents that automatically
close after air removal, the curing press
unloads the tire with a smooth, flawless
surface. Spring vents are already being
used by many customers and can be
installed into any kind of tire mold.
However, care must be taken when
cleaning the mold by blasting it with dry
ice, to avoid damage to sensitive valves.
The continuation of the tread pattern
due to wear during the lifetime of a tire
is not just an optical aspect. Trimming the
sipes is necessary to avoid damage to the
sipes on the segment split area. In this
case, due to normal tread wear, the tread
picture will be interrupted, and sipe
grooves will disappear. The slightly
different rubber volume in the split
areas might also influence the general
performance.
To avoid cutting through sipes, the
split between the individual segments is
designed to follow the bent sipes (S-split)
and no sipe needs to be trimmed. The
tread pattern remains and the overall
performance will be unchanged during
the life of the tire.
In addition to the use of high-precision
segments, accurate mold-closing systems
are essential.
A-Z Formen helps its customers meet
their technical demands and also helps
them maintain the quality of their molds.
A-Zs in-house technology and different
production possibilities for the tread
pattern, combined with the well-
established A-Z container system, ensure
that the company remains one of the
leading independent suppliers of tire
molding products in the world. tire
State-of-the-art production technology makes
all the difference when choosing a tire mold
by Rainer Hilke, A-Z Formen- und Maschinenbau GmbH, Munich, Germany
Tire molding: the final step
in the tire production chain
Tire molded with spring vents. Note the smooth surface Tire molded with small hole vents, with stubble
S-split segment at parting requires no sipe trimming
THETIRE
MOLDINGCOMPANY SINCE 40 YEARS
LINE OF PRODUCTS
Molds for tire curing in all sizes
In 2 piece or radial construction
Mold closing systems
AZ Container systems (WORLD PATENTS)
Machines for mold production
IN HOUSE PRODUCTION FACILITIES
Precision aluminium foundry for tread pattern
Tread pattern production by engraving in AL & STEEL
Complete production process by CAD - CAM equipment
A-Z FORMEN- UND MASCHINENBAU GMBH
Dessauerstrae 9 80992 Mnchen Germany
Phone + 49-89-14 9817- 0 Fax + 49- 89-14 9817- 90
info@a-z-gmbh.de www.a-z-gmbh.de
Y.MTIS
Y.MTIS

the standard in tire inspection

over 100 units sold worldwide
The solution offers

superior image quality

modular design

easy and intuitive operation

extreme reliability
Further information

Please contact our sales organization or

visit us at www.yxlon.com
YXLON. The reason why
YXLON International GmbH, a company of the COMET Group. Essener Bogen 15, D-22419 Hamburg,
T: +49 40 527 29 - 0, F: +49 40 527 29-170, E-mail: yxlon@hbg.yxlon.com, www.yxlon.com
Modular.Precise.Fast
Standard in Tire Inspection
MTIS Modular Tire Inspection Systems
132
I
n the tread extrusion process the
treads are wound, cut, or directly
fed to the tire building machine
at the end of the extrusion line.
When cutting treads it is vital
to check the important tread parameters
continuously to guarantee high-quality
treads. The basic parameters which can
be measured are width, length and
weight. Additionally, in modern extrusion
lines, profile measuring systems check
the cross-section profile of the cut treads.
The line control is able to gather all
these important values for each produced
single tread. Treads out of tolerance can
be sorted out of the production process
manually or automatically, to avoid the
production of poorer-quality tires.
Although weight measurement with
a final scale and width measurement with
CCD cameras have been used for a long
time, modern camera-based length
measuring systems and laser-based profile
measuring systems are helpful new tools
for judging cut treads.
The practice of length measurement
began with simple rollers that have
been used for decades, before moving
to light barrier and line-scan camera-
based systems, and then to modern
CCD camera-based units.
Figure 1 shows the definition of tread
length. The complicated situation results
from the angled cutting area and the
profiled structure of the tread.
Old-style length measuring systems
lead to large instabilities and are
influenced by many problematic
characteristics: even the smallest
inhomogeneity of the tread at the cutting
position results in incorrect measurements
when measured at only one point by laser
light barriers along the wide cutting line;
movements or vibrations perpendicular to
the transport direction result in significant
errors when point sensors are used to
detect the edges; applying rollers for
length detection results in failures due
to slippage of the transport equipment.
The wear of the roller and dirt on the
roller also influence the results, and some
systems need a split conveyor belt, due
to the backlight illumination necessary
for line-scan cameras.
All these disadvantages are overcome
by a CCD area camera-based measuring
system. Within several microseconds,
two high-speed cameras take images
of the treads ends simultaneously while
running along the final scales conveyor
belt. The tread can run through the
measuring position with high speed
without influencing the measuring
accuracy. Due to the used-area cameras,
the length is not only checked at one
point of the tread: in the field of view
Controlling the tread cutting process and monitoring tread parameters improves
the results of further production steps, and improves product quality
by Dr Hartwig Suhr, Dr Noll GmbH, Germany
The importance of checking
the length, width, weight and profile of cut tread
Figure 1: Schematic view of a length measuring system. The complicated situation results from the angled cutting area and the profiled structure of the tread
133
of the camera up to 700 lines are taken
to check the length. Special filtering
by software and special illumination
procedures enable the system to find
exactly the cutting lines inside the
product. An overall accuracy of 0.5mm
or better can be achieved over many
years, independent of the length of the
tread. Because external influences are
strongly suppressed by this new method,
the systems performance will be stable
once installed and calibrated.
Figure 1 shows a schematic view
of the length measuring unit and the
operators menu is shown in Figure 2.
The image of the detected ends of the
tread are shown on the monitor together
with the resultant length and detected
edges. This facilitates the operators
regular check to ensure that the system
is measuring correctly. Furthermore,
the operator is supported by the
additional trend display.
The length system can be applied for
tread with the profile lying either upside
up or upside down. Figure 3 shows
a length measuring system placed above
the final scales conveyor belt directly
after the skiver. In this case the tread
is running upside down.
Special filtering by software and special
illumination procedures enable the
system to find exactly the cutting lines
Figure 3: Inline system with scale and length measuring system. The system is placed above the final scales conveyor belt directly after the skiver. The tread runs upside down
Figure 2: The length measurement systems operator menu displays a combination of weight, width and length
Fixed camera Linear guidance Illumination
Scale
Skiver
Motor
Camera
The measured length value is not only
important for sorting and qualifying the
produced tread; it is also possible to give
feedback to the skiver to correct the cut
length for the following treads and to
provide early information if the skivers
knife is running into problems.
For best results, the length measuring
system should be installed at the final
scale together with a width measuring
system before the scale. A compact system
controlled by an industrial PC collects the
most relevant tread parameters. Figure 2
shows a system menu with the measured
length, width and weight of each tread.
All data (length, width and weight) for
each tread can be stored in the industrial
PC and can be used for further quality
evaluation. In addition to length
measuring for cut tread, this system
is also available for cut sidewalls.
For a long time width measurement
has been done by CCD cameras.
Nowadays cameras with up to 5,000
pixels provide, by theoretical calculations,
best results for tread width measurement.
However results in practice are often
worse due to underestimated influences
of the applied optics, installation, layout
and evaluation process of the measuring
system. Only careful selection of these
components by experienced engineers,
together with correct alignment of the
camera, backlight illumination and the
measured product in combination with
software that calculates the statistical
mean of a great number of measured
width values of each single tread, give
the best-possible results that can be
obtained with the newest techniques.
Weight measurement by the final
scale can achieve very high accuracies.
Although the techniques of the weight
cells have been stable for a long time, the
scale outline to reduce the required total
length of a scale has been improved in
recent years. This is very important due
to the increasing speed of the treads
when passing the final scale.
For accurate length measuring the
tread has to lie flat on an even surface;
therefore the conveyor belt of the final
scale is the best solution for the position
of this measurement. A combination
of both measurement systems is a good
solution for this reason.
Now the only thing missing from
the complete tread examination is the
profile determination.
Figure 4 shows a profile measuring
system which is installed at the end of
the extrusion line after the skiver. It is
based on scanning laser point sensors.
Cross-section, shoulder width, symmetry,
conicity and the control of important
thickness points are some of the results of
this unit. As an alternative to the scanning
measuring system, a system with light
intersection cameras (see Figure 5) can be
placed before the skiver. Although this
system is less accurate than the scanning
system, sometimes this principle is the
better solution, if fast measurement is
required and if the budget is limited.
This system has to be placed before the
skiver, because the required opening in
the transport equipment is too large for
the cut treads. The scanning laser point
system requires a much smaller gap.
New developments in measurement
techniques have resulted in compact
units, which make it possible to combine
the measurement of all the important
tread parameters at the end of the
production process.
The subsequent production steps to
the final tire are more safe and there is
less scrap and less wasted production time
from the building process until curing and
final test results. Fewer tires are rejected
in the final tests, if the early production
steps are carefully monitored. tire
For best results, the length measuring
system should be installed at the final scale,
together with a width measuring system
Figure 4: Scanning laser profile measurement. One sensor from top, one sensor from the bottom scan the product
Figure 5: Profile measurement by light intersection
134
136
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OCTOBER 2009
INNOVATION INITIATIVE
Jean-Claude Kihn, Goodyears CTO, has
undertaken a historic innovation strategy TIRE LABELING
How will the forthcoming legislation
benefit customers?
TOMORROWS WORLD
Michelins view of future standards
and regulations, and how to meet them
L
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How the moon will help generate
possible next-generation tires
INTERVIEWS Dr Joachim Neubauer
Standards and regulation, Michelin
Nina Renshaw
Policy officer, T&E
Dr Stuart Cook
Director of research, TARRC
Professor Joshua Summers
Clemson University
Ben Michell Dunlop Motorsport
mmm$j_h[j[Y^debe]o_dj[hdWj_edWb$Yec
01dB-Metravib........................................................ 103
A-Z Formen-und Maschinenbau GmbH ................... 131
Automotive Testing China Expo 2010 ....................... IBC
BST International GmbH .......................................... 129
China United Rubber (Group) Corporation .................. 75
Continental Matador Rubber s.r.o .............................. 13
Dr Noll GmbH .......................................................... 135
EMS-Chemie AG ..................................................... 103
Ergon Inc ................................................................. IFC
Erhardt+Leimer GmbH .............................................. 57
Gabo Qualimeter Testanlagen GmbH ......................... 39
H&R Oelwerke Schindler GmbH ................................ 61
Hagglunds Drives AB ................................................ 31
Harburg-Freudenberger Maschinenbau GmbH ............ 8
Holly Corporation ........................................................ 4
Indspec Chemical BV ................................................ 65
Intralox ...................................................................OBC
Konstrukta-Industry a.s ........................................... 129
Kordsa Global Endustriyel Iplik ve Kord Bezi ................ 3
Lanxess Deutschland GmbH ..................................... 87
MicroPoise Measurement Systems LLC ................... 127
Nynas Naphinenics AB ................................................ 7
Polyamide High Performance GmbH .......................... 58
RJS Corporation ........................................................ 61
Samson Machinery Inc ............................................. 21
Standards Testing Labs ........................................... 107
The Pettibone Tire Equipment Group ....................... 115
The Shepherd Chemical Company ............................ 65
Tire Technology Expo 2010 ........ 42, 45, 46, 95, 96, 104
Tire Technology International Online
Reader Enquiry Service ......................6, 58, 127, 136
TROESTER GmbH & Co KG ...................................... 123
TSM ........................................................................ 135
VMI EPE Holland BV ................................................ 108
Yxlon International GmbH ........................................ 131
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and provide the global support and guarantees to ensure complete success.
Please contact the tire team to calculate the savings in your conveyors.
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