Tire Technology Expo: Talking the talk

The Tire Technology Expo 2023 conference will kick off with coverage of some ‘big-ticket’ issues, not least sustainability and the increasing focus on tire wear as a potential source of ‘microplastics’ pollution – a recurring topic throughout the three-day meeting.

Among the highlights in the opening session, Pierre Fraisse, vice president technical operations, passenger car and light truck tires, at Michelin, will present a paper on how the company’s lifecycle analysis (LCA) criteria can guide the development of optimised tire designs with minimised impacts on the environment.

In a later session, another Michelin speaker, Frederic Biesse, fellow for tire physics and modelization, will present ‘A dive into tire road wear particles’ (TRWPs). With TRWPs being studied intensively across Michelin’s research centres, the presentation offers an opportunity to learn about the group’s latest findings on this important topic.

Elsewhere, Cabot Corp. vice president, global marketing & strategy, Aatif Misbah will detail the company’s ’Sustainability roadmap for net zero carbon blacks’ by 2050. The discussion will also cover product and technology innovations on the journey to sustainable reinforcement solutions for rubber applications.

Also on day 1, a conference stream, titled ‘Science of rubber compounding’ has attracted some forward-facing papers, not least a talk by prof Anke Blume of the University of Twente on ‘Future tires for Mars exploration’.

Aluminium-based tires have been fitted on the rover vehicles that have been exploring the surface of Mars since early 2021. To transport sensitive equipment in a safer way, Blume will point to the potential use of elastomeric tires based on a VMQ/BR blend that can withstand the challenging environmental conditions on the ‘red planet’.

How do different silicas alter the performance of tire treads? This question will be discussed by Zuzanna Andrzejewska, material specialist, Apollo Tyres Global R&D BV, based in The Netherlands. Studies of the effects of newly introduced silicas with various specific surface areas and structures on mechanical and dynamic properties will feature.

The performance of a bio-based processing oil in real tire applications will be detailed by Carlo Silvestri, senior technical advisor at Nynas AB. A follow-up to a Nynas report on real winter tire tests in 2022, the paper will focus on the performance of the oil in a summer UHP tread compounds.

Self-healing butyl rubber formulations will be the topic of a paper by Öznur Bilge Kavac?k, compound development engineer at Brisa Bridgestone Sabanc? Tyre Manufacturing and Trading Inc. based in Turkey. The talk will cover findings on the effects of temperature and time experimental parameters on the self-healing behaviour of bromobutyl rubber in the presence of functionalised silica-based nanoparticles.

In the day 1 tire reinforcement stream, Noor Hossain, manager, sustainable business development, Teijin Aramid BV will explain how the company is developing physical and chemical recycling routes to produce tire-grade recycled Twaron yarn. Hossain will highlight the challenges involved in retrieving aramid from end-of-life tires. His paper will also be a call-to-action for industry-wide support in tackling tire textile waste.

Among the presentations over the second two days, Daigo Matsuoka of Asahi Kasei Europe will introduce a new generation of S-SBR designed to meet the latest automotive industry demands. The paper will also reveal Asahi’s development of a new SEEB rubber technology to address current requirements such as low rolling resistance and longer product life.

Another Asahi paper, from development engineer Eshwaran Subramani Bhagavatheswaran, will discuss sustainability-related developments including asixth-generation SSBR technology offering reduced rolling resistance and wear – and hence low microplastic emissions.

Similarly, ‘SSBR for improved tire abrasion resistance and reduced microplastics formation’ is the title of a paper by Sven Thiele senior R&D leader process & product development SSBR at Synthos Schkopau. Thiele will address the design of new grades with improved wear and durability characteristics employing SSBR architecture and functionalisation to enhance  the key performance properties of passenger car tires.

Elsewhere, Goodyear principal engineer Stefan Koeppen will discuss how laboratory rolling resistance tests according to ISO or SAE procedures do not consider several of these factors and how intelligent tires can support analyses of the effects of ambient temperature and other variable operating conditions on this area of performance.

Meanwhile, Dubravko Dolic, head of applied analytics and AI at Continental Tires will highlight the demanding requirements of applying AI to bring machine learning and analytics to the production line. The presentation will cover Continental’s work in this area, with examples of AI developments for mixing, extrusion and final finishing processes.

Delegates will get a progress update on developments in the global recovered carbon black (rCB) industry from Martin von Wolfersdorff of Wolfersdorff Consulting Berlin. His talk will encompass a range of topics including: specifications, projects, technologies, regulations, the state of industrialisation and large tire recycling ecosystems.

On a related topic, Dr Cristina Bergmann, business development director process oils, Ergon International will discuss the ‘Characterisation and valorification of pyrolysis oils for use in tires’. The paper will address ways to use these novel materials to produce polymers, process oils, or other additives dedicated to tire applications.

Electric vehicles (EVs) will be the focus of a series of presentations, including an Apollo Tyres paper, titled ‘Redefining the magic triangle for the EV’, focused on the increased “contradiction and complexity” around meeting stringent requirements around rolling resistance, traction, NVH and wear performance. 

The Apollo Tyres paper will be jointly presented by Sandeep Moses Rabinder, divisional head – OE product development engineer – R&D PV, and Hitesh Joshi, head – PV R&D (Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa)

Meanwhile, in a talk titled ‘From road profile to prediction of rolling tire-induced noise’, Siemens research manager Theo Geluk will explain how a virtual, early-stage NVH performance optimisation approach, at tire- and vehicle-level, can address tire rolling noise issues in EVs.