3/30/15

In This Session
2015 Webinar 2 •  Review: How a car turns a corner
•  Design variables
•  Inflation pressure
Making Tires •  Tire construction
•  Tread rubber
Anybody can build a computer or a 747, •  Cord materials
•  Tread pattern
tires are tough to manufacture.
•  Manufacturing
•  Questions
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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

Review: How a Car Turns a Corner The Tires Are Turning the Car
•  Steering input creates a slip
angle at the front tires
resulting in a lateral force
that starts to turn the car
•  The rear tires stop the car
from rotating with a slip
angle and lateral force
•  The combined lateral forces
of the tires act at the CG
accelerating the car toward
the center of the arc of the The  sidewall  distor.on  you  see  is  evidence  of  the  lateral  
path forces  generated  by  each  .re  
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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

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History Tires Have Conflicting Design Requirements

•  Wooden wheels in use for 5,000 years
•  R. W. Thompson patented the Aerial Tire in England,
1846, vulcanized rubber not yet available
•  Balloon tire REinvented by John Dunlop in 1888 for
smooth and more efficient rolling of his son’s tricycle
•  Bicycle and tire development progressed together
•  Solid rubber tires melted from hysteresis heating, 1928
solid truck tire limited to 15 mph when fully loaded
•  Must be flexible but stiff enough to transmit cornering
and braking forces
•  Curved shape has to conform to flat road surface
•  Tread - has to be soft for traction but wear well
•  Solution is a tread compound bonded to the outer
diameter of a pressurized, hollow composite of stiff,
strong fibers in a soft rubber matrix
•  Air pressurization is a great solution but people don’t
maintain proper inflation pressure
•  Tire industry still looking for a non-pneumatic design
•  Michelin Tweel, closed-cell foam? No. TPMS!

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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

Flexibility Makes It Work Design Variables

•  The conflict between a •  A few design variables
surface of double define the size of the
curvature, and a flat plane contact patch at a given
was an important factor in vertical load
the decisions of designers •  Rim diameter-brake
to employ cords clearance
embedded in rubber for •  Outer diameter-fender
the structure of a tire. clearance
•  Section height
•  Deflection of rubber
between cords allows •  Tread width
conformation to a flat •  Internal pressure
surface determines CP area and
prestresses cords

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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

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Inflation Pressure Supports the Load Types of Construction

Sidewall-Cord Differential Tension
•  Bias-ply, cord angle determines shape
•  Post-WWII roads in Europe allowed sustained high speeds, new type
of tire needed
•  Breaker plies and belts flatten the tread area decreasing distortion for
less heat generation, allowing better wear at sustained high speeds
and a wider tread with less rubber thickness at shoulders
•  Radial-ply, belted construction requires different manufacturing
method/equipment, US companies added belts to bias-ply tires

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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

Plies & Belts Generate Shape Construction Variables

•  Cord angle determines shape in bias-ply tire
•  Belt constrains tread diameter allowing wider tread with •  Stiffer belt area generates
same lateral force at a
thinner rubber, less distortion
smaller slip angle - less
•  Belts reduce distortion, heat generation induced drag
•  Non-belted race tires have
a concave tread surface
when uninflated - less stiff
tread area than belted
•  Radial tires - higher forces
with smaller CP deflection
•  Radial tires more efficient,
but less forgiving at the limit

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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

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Aspect Ratio History

Lower aspect ratios generate big CP and
quick response but also poor wet grip and
impact vulnerability for tire and wheel
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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015
Basic Construction Components
•  Body plies supply the
basic structure
•  Beads anchor the plies,
hold the tire on the wheel
•  Fillers and inserts add
stiffness or flexibility to
specific areas
•  Belts reinforce the tread
area, restrict the OD
•  A butyl liner holds
inflation gas
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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

Radial-Ply Construction Details Steel-Wire Belt Construction

•  Radial sidewall plies •  Rubber doesn’t stick

•  Belts with small angles to steel, so wire is
brass plated
•  Stress-relief
components •  Stress relief devices
everywhere at stiff/soft boundaries
•  Steel is heavy, but
lower cost than Kevlar

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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

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Radial with Wrapped Cap Fatigue Strength, Failure Modes

•  Metals: cyclic stress, cracks propagate from weak points,
•  Not true radial,
wire coat hanger example
plies have an
angle •  Tires: bond failure in cord/adhesive/rubber system, void
propagates, tread comes off
•  Tape-wound belt
•  Any void in ply rubber fills with air at inflation pressure
cap, probably
nylon •  Firestone/Ford SUV problem similar to a plane crash,
several simultaneous problems-mostly managerial
•  Nylon shrinks
•  In racing, failure can be delayed after damage, restarts
when hot, controls
on cold tires, low pressure
tire diameter
growth at speed •  Tire failures due to manufacturing defects are extremely
rare, modern tires very reliable and getting better

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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

Rubber Choices Stopping Distance on Wet Asphalt

•  Rubber systems exhibit very different characteristics
•  Component parts in tires need specific properties Rubber Rebound Hardness Braking
•  For example, truck tires require reliability, long wear, low % Shore A ft.
rolling resistance vs. low cost, wet traction for car tires BR 62 62 180
NR/BR 46 57 163
EPDM 32 63 160
SBR/BR 33 55 158
SBR 34 52 151
Butyl 9 40 130

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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

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Cord Materials Filament, Thread, Yarn, Cord

•  J. B. Dunlop made a pneumatic tire with Irish flax in
1888, cotton replaced flax
•  Steel, Kevlar, and fiberglass are mainly belt materials,
the rest generally are used in carcass plies
•  A metal “spinneret” extrudes several polymer
fibers and spins them into thread
•  Threads are twisted into yarn, yarn twisted into
cords
•  Number of elements, twisting left or right, loose
or tight provides trade-offs of strength, flexibility,
stiffness, fatigue resistance
•  Polyester variations dominate for sidewall plies

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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

Tread Design Trade-Offs Hydroplaning

•  Treadless tires give best dry
traction due to uninterrupted •  Wedge of water in front of tire can’t
support, Mario story later get out of the way, moves into the
•  Tread provides flow path for contact patch lifting the tire off the
water, raises unit pressure road surface
•  Need lateral blocks at •  No grip, no control
shoulders for strength •  Tread channels and road texture
•  Wear decreases water flow, allow water flow out of contact
solutions include key-hole slots patch
and high hysteresis rubber co-
extruded in tread •  Worse with more water, more
•  Multiple block lengths increase speed, wider tires, smoother road,
frequency range of noise, same less tread
level, less objectionable •  Gator-Back pattern, Kenny
•  Ice is all about sipes, 2,500! Roberts
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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

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Mario Andretti Discovered Slicks Delelopment Continues

•  New Michelin tire for the European
•  Tread pattern thought to market eliminates need for winter tire
•  “summer tire-level dry-weather
be magic. 1960s performance with winter tire
•  Mario, “That’s air there, attributes”
•  Dry braking almost as good as a
that’s not rubber.” summer tire
•  Went faster on •  Wet braking and lateral grip in the
ungrooved tires, slicks wet better than an all-season tire
•  Snow traction matches snow tires
•  No real engineering of •  Wear as good as a summer tire
tires, really, until •  High-silica, low-hysteresis
recently undertread compound for low rolling
resistance
•  More flexible top tread layer for more
grip year-round
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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

Trade-offs and Compromises Tires Are Difficult to Design and Manufacture

•  The pneumatic tire might be the most complicated and useful device
made on earth
•  Tires allow a vehicle to turn a corner at speed
•  Without tires we’d all have to live within walking distance of a rail
line, that would be a different world
•  Anybody can build a computer or a 747, tires are tough to
manufacture
•  Tires are not a fully engineered product, but designed and
developed by trial and error, in small steps, with great difficulty
•  A finished tire is a bonded unit made up of complex composites, not
easy to inspect
•  Rubber changes with time, temperature, stress cycles, etc.
•  Tire manufacturing videos on youtube.com

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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

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Teaser: What Does a Front ARB Do? The Racing & High-Performance Tire
Subtitled: Using the Tires to Tune for Grip
& Balance
Available on insideracingtechnology.com for
$55 postage paid to U.S. addresses
I sign all books bought directly from me
Also available on sae.org and amazon.com
to domestic and international addresses
Web site: insideracingtechnology.com
Email: paul@tvmotorsports.com

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Copyright Paul Haney, 2015 Copyright Paul Haney, 2015

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