PhD-position Towards the next generation of tires: Development of micro-abrasive resistant tire treads

Car tires are very important and complex parts with high safety and reliability requirements, responsible for maintaining the contact between a vehicle and the road. Tires are subject to wear due to the tire – road interaction, causing the emission of micro particles in the environment with pollution as well as potential health risks. Given the amount of tires that are in use, this results in very large amounts of rubber particles ending up in the environment. These rubber particles have a long degradation time, resulting in a significant environmental load. Reducing tire wear will therefore have a very significant environmental effect.

Although large steps have been made in a deeper understanding of tire-road interaction in the development of better elastomer compounds for tires, so far, the underlying mechanisms of tire wear (micro-abrasion) are not well understood. This is an important limiting factor in developing novel tire compounds with lower wear rates.

This project addresses the topic of tire wear from a novel tribological perspective focused on gaining a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Further, the industrial partners involved, covering the complete value chain, will enable the team to make significant impact in the reduction of tire wear and the related environmental load.