Tread Separation Research Articles

Tyre Pressure Monitoring System with Compressor

Abstract: Around 15 million two-wheelers are sold annually in India, where one in three homes has a two-wheeler. The country produces 20 million units of two-wheelers annually. Severe underinflation can result in mechanical and thermal stress brought on by overheating, which can very quickly cause the tyre to blow out. Failures of this nature may result in dangers and mishaps that jeopardise not only the rider but also those around him or her. Under-inflated tyres cause tread separation and tyre failure, resulting in 40,000 accidents, 33,000 injuries, and over 700 fatalities each year, according to average country estimates. However, when taking into account India's population, these figures may soar due to a high number of people owning more 2- wheelers, having less time to physically check, and being unable to routinely get their cars inspected at a repair facility. Without the riders' knowledge, the aforementioned issues will occur more frequently. This project focuses on designing and creating a direct tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS), which uses a pressure sensor to measure air pressure taken straight from the tyre. The rider does not need to get out of his vehicle and manually pump air into his tyres when the TPMS detects a reduced tyre pressure because the TPMS and the compressor unit are working together to supply the air to the tyre. Energy is provided to the gadget either by a dynamo or a backup battery. To ensure consistency and accuracy in reporting the pressure and providing enough air to the tyre, the key components must be calibrated. Although there are numerous challenges and constraints, this prototype is a promising product for use in the real world.

Modelling and analysis of intelligent tyre alternatives for better performance

For more than ten decades people have been using vehicles rolling on pneumatic tyres. The essential factor for safety of automobile is tyre. Tyre conditional plays vital role in the safety of a passenger. In olden days wheels were made up of wood, later it became evolved into tube and tubeless tyre. A traditional tire is made up of reinforced rubber packed by using compressed air. Conventional tyre over period had been dominating market sector because of its riding comfort and strength. But it has its own disadvantages like problems of puncture, inflation. Under or over inflation of tyre cancause tire blowouts, tread separation. In recent years a few tyre companies and researchers are experimenting with non-pneumatic tyre performance including Michelin, Bridgestone, and goodyear but none of them has started its mass production. Non pneumatic tyres are the tyres which no longer need air pressure. In this project we replace traditional tyre by flexible tyre structure and finds out other intelligent alternatives to conventional tyres. We have investigated spoke’s structure designed for airless tyre and applied uniaxial load. We designed the structure in ANSYS design modeler and ANSYS static structural has been used to analyze whether the designed structure is valid or not. Three kinds of intelligent tyre alternatives have been identified and stressed their use, working and importance for future mobility.

Event Data Recorder Performance during High Speed Yaw Testing Subsequent to a Simulated Tire Tread Separation Event

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">This paper presents event data from the Sensing and Diagnostic Module (SDM) of a 2004 Chevrolet Malibu during high speed yaw testing. Yaw tests were performed using tires that were intact and tires that had the tread removed. The tires that had the tread removed were placed at various wheel positions on the vehicle (e.g. leading side - front, leading side -rear, trailing side - rear). This testing simulates the loss of control phase subsequent to a tread separation. Speeds up to 117 km/h (72.9 mph) were achieved. A simple electro-mechanical device was incorporated to the dynamic testing to simulate a low-severity non-deployment event that triggered the recording of pre-crash data by the SDM. The SDM data from the tests was imaged and compared to reference data from vehicle-mounted instrumentation recording wheel speed, steering angle, measured vehicle sideslip angle and GPS calculated over the ground speed. This paper examines the dynamic effect of high sideslip angles and changes to tire rolling radius, as a result of a tread separation, as it pertains to the accuracy of EDR reported vehicle speed.</div></div>

A Cohesive Zone Model to Predict Dynamic Tearing of Rubber

ABSTRACT Tire failures, such as tread separation and sidewall zipper fracture, occur when internal flaws (cracks) nucleate and grow to a critical size as result of fatigue or cyclic loading. Sudden and catastrophic rupture takes place at this critical crack size because the strain energy release rate exceeds the tear energy of the rubber in the tire. The above-mentioned tire failures can lead to loss of vehicle stability and control, and it is important to develop predictive models and computational tools that address this problem. The objective of this article was to develop a cohesive zone model for rubber to numerically predict crack growth in a rubber component under dynamic tearing. The cohesive zone model for rubber was embedded into the material constitutive equation via a user-defined material subroutine (VUMAT) of ABAQUS. It consisted of three parts: (1) hyperviscoelastic behavior before damage, (2) damage initiation based on the critical strain energy density, and (3) hyperviscoelastic behavior after damage initiation. Crack growth in the tensile strip and pure shear specimens was simulated in ABAQUS Explicit, and good agreement was reported between finite element analysis predictions and test results.

A unique neuro-fuzzy approach for improved prediction of tire reliability analysis with noisy life data

This article presents a novel adaptive approach consisting of artificial neural network (ANN) and fuzzy linear regression (FLR) for improved estimation and analysis of tire reliability. This approach undertakes to improve estimating the actual reliability of tires in the field using tire life data, which are obtained from laboratory test data. In this study, a particular failure mode known as tread and belt separation is considered and viewed as the resultant of some tire geometry and physical properties. According to the proposed approach, ANN and FLR approaches were applied to the provided data in order to capture the potential complexity, uncertainty, and non-linear relation between reliability function and its determinants. Next, the preferred ANN was selected based on sensitivity analysis results of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) function while the preferred FLR was identified according to the analysis of variance, MAPE, and index of confidence results. The results obtained from performance comparison of both models demonstrated the considerable superiority of the preferred ANN over preferred FLR considering the non-linear and complex nature of reliability function. This is the first study that presents an ANN–FLR approach for accurate estimation and analysis of tire reliability, which is capable of handling complexity and non-linearity, uncertainty, pre-processing and post-processing.

A Comparison of 25 High Speed Tire Disablements Involving Full and Partial Tread Separations

Tire tread separation events, a category of tire disablements, can be sub-categorized into two main types of separations. These include full tread separations, in which the tread around the entire circumference of the tire separates from the tire carcass, and partial tread separations, in which a portion of the tread separates and the flap remains attached to the tire for an extended period of time. In either case, the tire can remain inflated or lose air. Relatively, there have been few partial tire tread separation tests presented in the literature compared to full tread separation tests. In this study, the results of 25 full and partial tire tread separation tests, conducted with a variety of vehicles at highway speeds, are reported. Cases in which the tire remains inflated and loses air pressure are both considered. The testing was performed on a straight section of road and primarily focused on rear tire disablements. The driver steering inputs required to keep the vehicle within its travel lane and the vehicle's dynamic response during the events were documented with video and data acquisition equipment. The results from the testing are presented and compared. It was found that the steering inputs required to keep the vehicle within its lane during a partial tread separation were similar in magnitude to those in the full separation testing. These results were also similar to the results of full separation testing documented by other researchers. In all cases, the vehicle was controlled within its lane with minor corrective steering. Figure 1 depicts video documentation and vehicle speed during one of the test runs. Language: en

Evaluation of Passenger Car Tire Failure in Saudi Arabia

Tire failures, including catastrophic tread separation and blowouts, are common events that lead to serious road accidents in Saudi Arabia. In this paper, a field investigation of eight different brands of tires in Saudi Arabia was performed to understand the reasons for tire failure. Their performances were monitored in the field for a period of 10 months and then subjected to laboratory tests to investigate the effect of field conditions on the mechanical properties of the tires at the end of the performance period. The selected tires were chosen based on a previous survey conducted to determine tires which failed commonly and rarely the best four and the worst four brands in terms of failure rate were selected for this study. Field performance was measured via the strength and ductility of the tire materials, in addition to the failure events reported during the service period. Laboratory tests were performed on used and new tires to determine the effect of in-service conditions on tire properties. The laboratory tests included strength, peeling, tensile, elongation, bead unseating, endurance, and high-speed performance tests. With regard to the new tires, all the tested brands passed the internationally adopted tire quality control tests. However, the results indicated some differences between the frequently and infrequently failed tires in terms of some physical properties and the percentage of failed tires during field use.

Failure analysis on tread throw of the tire of B737-800 airplane

This paper provides an analysis of tread throw of B737-800 airplane tire. The plane experienced tire tread throw during takeoff. Laboratory observation shows that there exist numerous dense beach marks around one shoulder area of the tire. These beach marks shows that the repair exposed cords area around tire shoulder is the origin of tread separation of the incident tire. It is believed that the poor adhesion of the repair exposed cords area caused fatigue accumulative damage to develop into a tread separation. The structure form of the main landing gear of B737-800 airplane leads to unbalanced loadings on the double-tire (wheel) of the main landing gear, this gave a promotion to tread throw of the tire. For this reason, repair limits for damages at tire shoulder should be controlled more strictly for tires of B737-800 airplane. A large deep foreign object damage (FOD) cut found on the center tread rib is ruled out to be the cause of the tire tread throw according to the sequencing crack method called T-junction procedure in wreckage analysis. Tire FOD cut simulation test was carried out to confirm this viewpoint about FOD cut.

The Rhetoric of Interorganizational Conflict: A Subgenre of Organizational Apologia

Theorists focusing on organizational apologia or crisis response have developed broad typologies describing strategies available to organizational actors in a crisis situation, but have failed to describe specific strategic patterns as in other genres. A recent essay explains this situation based on the existence of two somewhat contrasting purposes in organizational apologia (image maintenance and image repair), and argues the best approach is to identify subgenres within the larger category. The present essay uses the Ford/Firestone tread separation crisis to build a case for the existence of a subgenre of interorganizational conflict, a subgenre in which two organizations functioning as strategic partners are each threatened. The essay concludes by arguing a crisis involving strategic partners, in which neither is willing to assume sole responsibility for the crisis, will develop through three predictable stages.

Effectiveness of Electronic Stability Control on Maintaining Yaw Stability When an SUV Has a Rear Tire Tread Separation

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) has the potential of improving yaw stability and reducing the occurrence of a crash when a vehicle experiences a rear tire tread separation. Two instrumented 4-door, RWD SUV’s equipped with ESC were tested to evaluate the effectiveness of their ESC systems on maintaining yaw stability under these circumstances. The test vehicles were evaluated with the tread and outer steel belt removed from the right rear tire. Tests were run with the ESC engaged and then repeated with the ESC disengaged. All runs were completed with the tires inflated to the manufacturer’s recommended pressure. An analysis of the data collected shows that there are significant differences in the steering input required to generate a loss of control response with and without ESC enabled. Results of Sine with Dwell testing demonstrate a significant reduction in vehicle spinout response with the ESC engaged. Over three times more steering input was required before the vehicle exhibited a spinout response with ESC enabled when compared to the ESC disabled vehicle. This will likely have a positive effect on a driver’s ability to maintain control when faced with a rear tire tread separation under real world circumstances.

Rubber aging in tires. Part 1: Field results

Oxidative aging of skim and wedge rubber inside the tire results in a loss of peel strength and tensile properties of these rubber materials, which has been found to increase the likelihood of tread separations in certain tires. In order to develop an accelerated laboratory tire aging test, we have carried out extensive field and laboratory studies of rubber property change in tires. This paper describes the analysis of rubber oxidation in a specific set of tires collected from the field. In particular, we determine the rate of property loss under worst-case environmental conditions and analyze the implications of variability in aging results. The analysis is used in a companion paper to develop acceleration factors for different laboratory tests.

Adequacy of the tensile/elongation test as a quality control criterion for vehicle tires

Most tire failures in Saudi Arabia result in severe vehicle crashes. Tire failures, such as tread separation and blowouts, are the most notable events that occur on a daily basis. This paper deals with the elongation and tensile strength of the tire rubber as quality control criteria in evaluating vehicle tires. Specimens from six different tire brands were subjected to laboratory tests to investigate the tensile strength and elongation of the tire rubber. The laboratory results and the statistical field survey data were compared to determine the possibility of using the tensile strength of rubber as a quality control criterion. The thermal oxidative durability of the investigated tires during aging were also estimated through the loss in their strength.

타이어의 벨트 부착력과 내구성능 간의 상관성 연구

A pneumatic tire is made up of many flexible filaments of high modulus cord of natural textile, synthetic polymer, glass fiber, or fine hard drawn steel embedded in and bonded to a matrix of low modulus polymetric material. Adhesion property of these materials is very important in tire durability safety because belt-leaving-belt tread separation reduces the ability of a driver to control a vehicle, whether or not the separation is accompanied by a loss of air. In this study adhesion test of carcass-belt-tread is conducted on material properties of 5 PCR tire model, which are on sale in domestic market and analyzed adhesion properties. For those tire models FMVSS 109 indoor high speed durability test is conducted to analyze the correlation between adhesion force and high speed performance of tires and found the correlation between the two test results.

Tire condition and drivers’ practice in maintaining tires in Saudi Arabia

Tire blowouts and tread separation are a very hot safety issue in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Recent statistics compiled by the special forces for road security in the kingdom revealed that in the year 2001, 13% of the traffic accidents they attended to resulted from tire failure. This paper aims to assess the extent to which drivers are aware of the correct procedure for selecting and maintaining tires on their vehicles and evaluate the in-use condition of these tires. This was fulfilled via a field study in which a random sample of vehicles was stopped to check the condition of their tires and at the same time to interview their drivers on tire-related issues. It was concluded that drivers need proper education on how to select, use, and maintain tires. Hopefully, this will reduce the percentage of under-inflated tires and other incorrect practices found in this study.

Force Characteristics of Tire Tread Delamination

Abstract Belt-leaving-belt tread separations in radial tires have been pointed out as a cause of vehicle accidents. This paper presents the results of measurements on the level of forces generated during a tread delamination. This study showed that tires that had been cut to generate a belt-leaving-belt separation always generated a leading edge flap and that the interaction of this flap with the vehicle body is responsible for the tractive force generation. The research also showed that the total impulse generated by a belt-leaving-belt separation represents a small fraction of the total vehicle momentum at highway speed.

Failure analysis of tire tread separations

In-service catastrophic radial tire failure is often a separation of the tread and outer steel belt from the tire casing and inner steel belt. These separations generally occur in the field at high temperature and high speed. This paper presents a catalog of surface characteristics that define the various types of rubber cracking that take place during a tire belt-leaving-belt separation. A mechanism that explains the generation of the rapid tearing surface is used to detail the variation found in forensic examinations.

Strikes, Scabs, and Tread Separations: Labor Strife and the Production of Defective Bridgestone/Firestone Tires

This paper provides a case study of the effect of labor relations on product quality. We consider whether a long, contentious strike and the hiring of permanent replacement workers by Bridgestone/Firestone in the mid-1990s contributed to the production of an excess number of defective tires. Using several independent data sources we find that labor strife in the Decatur plant closely coincided with lower product quality. Count data regression models based on two data sets of tire failures by plant, year and age show significantly higher failure rates for tires produced in Decatur during the labor dispute than before or after the dispute, or than at other plants. Also, an analysis of internal Firestone engineering tests indicates that P235 tires from Decatur performed less well if they were manufactured during the labor dispute compared with those produced after the dispute, or compared with those from other, non-striking plants. Monthly data suggest that the production of defective tires was particularly high around the time wage concessions were demanded by Firestone in early 1994 and when large numbers of replacement workers and permanent workers worked side by side in late 1995 and early 1996.

Strikes, Scabs and Tread Separations: Labor Strife and the Production of Defective Bridgestone/Firestone Tires

This paper provides a case study of the effect of labor relations on product quality. We consider whether a long, contentious strike and the hiring of permanent replacement workers by Bridgestone/Firestone in the mid-1990s contributed to the production of an excess number of defective tires. Using several independent data sources we find that labor strife in the Decatur plant closely coincided with lower product quality. Count data regression models based on two data sets of tire failures by plant, year and age show significantly higher failure rates for tires produced in Decatur during the labor dispute than before or after the dispute, or than at other plants. Also, an analysis of internal Firestone engineering tests indicates that P235 tires from Decatur performed less well if they were manufactured during the labor dispute compared with those produced after the dispute, or compared with those from other, non-striking plants. Monthly data suggest that the production of defective tires was particularly high around the time wage concessions were demanded by Firestone in early 1994 and when large numbers of replacement workers and permanent workers worked side by side in late 1995 and early 1996.

TIRE MAKERS TURN TO POLYURETHANE

MINDFUL OF FIRESTONE'S recent tire problems, Goodyear and Michelin are working on new-generation polyurethane technology that may be the key to making tires less prone to tread separation and blowout. Goodyear has signed an agreement to jointly develop an all-polyurethane car tire with Amerityre, a six-year-old Boulder City Nev., company that now makes polyurethane bicycle tires but has produced demonstration car and light-truck tires. According to Richard A. Steinke, Amerityre's president and CEO, a mixture of polyol, methylene diphenyl isocyanate (MDI), and a proprietary package of four additional ingredients can be injected into a mold containing a tire bead and reinforcement fabric and then spun to ensure a perfectly round tire Unlike conventional tires made by bonding several layers, monolithic polyurethane tires not subject to belt separation could be made on automated equipment to allow more rapid tire production at costs comparable to tires made today, Steinke says. The tire has a number of skepti...

FIRESTONE'S TIRE PROBLEM

Firestone has admitted that design and manufacturing problems contributed to tire failures resulting in 148 U.S. traffic deaths. But some industry experts go further and suggest that the manufacturing problems led to poor chemical bonds between the rubber components and steel belts, which led to the tread separation problems those tires have experienced. The tires—the Firestone ATX, ATXII, and Wilderness AT—were primarily used as original equipment on Ford's sport-utility vehicle, the Explorer. Firestone says the tires were made at the company's Decatur, 111., plant. Initial reports of the Firestone problem surfaced in May when Ford recalled Firestone tires used on the Explorer in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Saudi Arabia. In early August, Firestone, with prompting from the government watchdog National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), recalled 14.4 million tires in the U.S. Tire making is a complicated process, one observer tells C&EN. Lots of variables lead to anomalies, and the pub...