Truck Tyres
Shandong Linglong Tyre Company’s share price reached a record high of 53.80 yuan on 10 February 2021 just before the Chinese New Year. The price drew back in the days afterwards, but the peak represents an all-time high for Linglong that is over 40 per cent higher than the company’s previous record of 38.18, which was set on 22 July 2016.
Does the hyper-elasticity of retreaded tyres impact their behavioural quality? Uday Gudsoorkar and Rupa Bindu, two researchers working within the department of mechanical engineering at the Dr DY Patil Institute of Technology in Pune, India sought to answer this question and more by using computer-aided finite element analysis. Their paper “Computer simulation of hyper elastic re-treaded tire rubber with ABAQUS”, which was published in November 2020 in Materials Today: Proceedings used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies to measures forces across the tread belt in a compute simulation. These virtual samples were then compared with laboratory examples. According to the paper, the researchers’ findings are “promising to predict the behaviour of re-treaded tyre rubber” and can be “used to improve the product [retreaded truck tyres] and its utility in small tyre re-treaders, customers and policymakers.”
Michelin has added 315/80 R22.5 X Multi Energy Z (multi position) and X Multi Energy D (drive) fitments to its regional truck tyre range. As a result the manufacturer’s range focused on fuel-saving now offers two of the most popular sizes in the UK and Irish heavy truck market. The manufacturer said the tyre targets regional or national haulage operations with a high priority on sustainability, the new sizes are available now, alongside the popular 315/70 R22.5, first launched in 2018, for the original equipment and replacement markets.
SSH Recycling Ltd has submitted a planning pre-application to Renfrewshire council in a bid to build a tyre devulcanization and processing plant in Linwood, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
The project is what the company describes as “the first of its kind in the UK” and is intended to “solve the entirety of Scotland’s waste tyre problem, using revolutionary new technology to recycle or reuse every component part of the tyre”. However, SSH’s process will support the devulcanisation of treated rubber in order to create synthetic rubber sheet, conveyor belts, shoe soles or rubber mats.
Continental has completed its Scandinavia range of winter truck tyres with the addition of a 22.5-inch tyre line. The Conti Scandinavia HS3 steer axle tyre and Conti Scandinavia HD3 drive axle tyres are now available and will be joined by the Conti Scandinavia HT3 trailer tyre in June.
Pirelli’s “power is nothing without control” strapline is well-known and apt. But, as we move further into the era of electric vehicles, should we be thinking: speed-ratings mean nothing without considering torque? In July 2003 my predecessor Peter Gardner published “Let’s torque speed ratings”, an editorial article that followed suggestions from within the tyre business that we reconsider what we mean by those letter values so-often tagged onto the end of tyre sizes. The discussion was specifically prompted by Stephen Marsh (then of Stapleton’s Tyre Services) who made the point that the power transference properites of millennial engines is as important as the absolute speed capability of tyres. In other words, when recommending products, the tyre business should be just as concerned about a vehicle’s torque demands as its top-speed capability.
TyreWatch, the tyre monitoring technology company, is using the latest JOSAM Cam-aligner wheel alignment system to diagnose and correct mis-aligned vehicles which the company says, represent 33 per cent of the UK logistics industry.
Supplied by JOSAM’s UK distributor Automotive Equipment Solutions UK (AES UK) the JOSAM Cam-aligner is a compact, mobile system which uses patented camera technology together with the ‘centreline principle’ to determine the position of axles and individual wheels in relation to the square of the vehicle.
In the US The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and ConMet announced a strategic collaboration to create combined digital solutions that will “better connect commercial truck fleets to the health of their tyres and wheel ends”. Billed as leveraging big data and utilising predict analytics, ConMet’s existing SmartHub is positioned as a stepping stone en route to autonomous vehicle technology.
Essex-based aggregates business G&B Finch was established in 1969. The company is a family-run business which provides aggregate and haulage services to firms in the construction industry. It also supplies ready mixed concrete and a range of sustainable waste disposal facilities, including inert soils, non-hazardous and hazardous soils and tarmac.
The company’s 50-strong fleet of commercial vehicles runs almost entirely on Michelin, having found the tyres to deliver the best longevity and endurance of any truck tyre on the market.
Hankook Tire’s US subsidiary is working with advanced smart tyre technology and predictive data analytics company Revvo Technologies on a pilot programme that will integrate Hankook SmartFlex tyres with Revvo’s product suite to provide critical tyre-specific data. Data generated, such as real-time alerts, will benefit Junk King, North America’s top-rated eco-friendly junk removal and hauling company.
In addition to working towards expanding capacity for all-steel truck tyres at its Nizhnekamsk Truck Tyre Factory (NZGSh) by a further 1.2 million units a year, Russia’s Tatneft Group is giving the plant the capability to produce up to 33,000 large-sized industrial and agricultural tyres annually. This project is being financed with a 10 billion ruble (£99 million) loan.
Less than two weeks before the new 10-year-old tyre ban takes effect and two weeks after DVSA updated its definition of the rules, the Department for Transport (DfT) has released new guidance on how to understand the legislation as well as a summary of the corresponding penalties.
On Saturday the Kamaz-Master factory team once again achieved a category win in the toughest rally in the world, the Dakar. As well as coming first in the 12-day rally-raid for the 18th time, team members also occupied the other spots on the podium. Official tyre partner Goodyear is thrilled with the result.
Michelin’s commercial vehicle tyre dealer network in the USA has grown to more than 400 locations across the country. Michelin North America has announced that Purcell Tire & Rubber Company (Purcell Tire) is joining the Michelin Commercial Service Network (MCSN) and Michelin Retread Technologies, Inc. (MRTI) and Oliver Rubber Company, LLC (Oliver) retreading networks.
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Ivan; Pexels
Mulgrew Haulage
SSH Recycling
Bruno, Germany; Pixabay
AES
ConMet
Michelin
Tatneft
DfT