Abstract

The achievement of reduced rolling resistance and lower braking distances is important in terms of automotive fuel efficiency and safety. These goals are strongly dependent on the performance of the tread rubber used in the tire, but are contradictory in terms of viscoelastic properties, an issue which needs to be addressed if these goals are to be satisfied simultaneously.The research discussed in this paper involved analyses of the behavior of the contact patch of a vehicle’s tires when the vehicle is cruising and braking. The results show that the two edge sections of a tire in the direction of width make the greatest contribution during braking, and the center section of a tire makes the greatest contribution during cruising. This discovery led to the proposal of a segmented tread configuration. Tires were developed on this basis, using different rubber compounds with optimized viscoelastic properties in the different segments. The distribution of contact pressure on the contact patch was also equalized. The newly developed tires displayed a 5-m reduction in wet braking distance when compared to other tires with identical rolling resistance characteristics.

References

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Author (organization or company)

• Emiko MOGI（Automobile R&D Center）
• Tetsuya MIZONE（Tochigi R&D Center）
• Hiroyuki HASE（Automobile R&D Center）
• Koji NISHITANI（Automobile R&D Center）

Publication Information

Article of Honda R&D Technical Review Vol.19 No.1 (103 - 110)

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Citation Information