Tag: tyre wear
Sumitomo Rubber using AI to increase whole-life tyre performance
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. has developed a new technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to estimate the properties of the rubber used in its tyres and also detect the structural changes that occur during use. It calls this technology ‘Tyre Leap AI Analysis’.
Expert questions tyre role in marine pollution claims
Professor Richard Thompson OBE, who leads the International Marine Research Unit at the University of Plymouth, has questioned claims made by the Marine Conservation Society relating the role played by tyre wear in marine microplastic pollution.
Tyres & microplastics highlighted in Friends of the Earth report
According to a new report undertaken by Eunomia Research and Consulting for Friends of the Earth, up to 19,000 tonnes of microplastic pollution could be entering UK waterways every year from vehicle tyres. The report, titled Reducing Household Contributions to Marine Plastic Pollution, listed tyres in its ‘top ten’ list of items of concern, commenting that interventions and innovation, as well as governmental, business and scientific collaboration, may be required over the coming five years to solve the issue.
ETRMA: Science & evidence-based choices essential to achieve legislative targets
The subject of tyre and road wear particles (TRWP) was also broached at the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association’s (ETRMA) Board of Directors meeting. The Board stressed the importance of political debate – both on this issue and about the wider topic of sustainable mobility – adopting a strong scientific approach, based on facts and solid knowledge. Franco Annunziato, president of the ETRMA, called attention to the “value of having law-making, guided by robust science and based on evidences, as the only way to achieve the legislators’ targets.”
Tyre wear particles – minor problem for the industry or potential ‘tyregate’?
The UK government identifies tyres as potentially responsible for up to ten per cent of the microplastics in the world’s oceans, and some research conducted abroad suggests this proportion could be much higher. A study from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) indicates that 28.3 per cent of all primary microplastics may come from tyre/road wear (this figure rises to 46.2 per cent when the IUCN includes both natural and synthetic rubber in its scenario), and earlier this year a marine biologist from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research singled out tyres as a “major influence” upon the presence of microplastics in our oceans. Taking such research at face value, it is feasible that the ‘dieselgate’ scandal could be followed at some stage by ‘tyregate’. Yet the tyre industry asserts that tyre/road wear isn’t the environmental and health risk some claim it to be. Continental’s Nikolai Setzer recently discussed this side of the argument.
USTMA urges NHTSA to remove UTQG, old tyre laws
The US Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) is urging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to cut what it described as “outdated, unnecessary or ineffective” federal tyre regulations.
Bridgestone researchers claim to have reduced tyre wear by 60%
Bridgestone recently gave a presentation to the Japanese Cabinet Office on the subject of its "ImPACT" resource saving, strength increasing tyre polymer research project conduction in association with Tokyo University. The project, which seeks to bring government, industry and academia together are to: developing high-strength materials, making each component thinner and lighter; and to improve fuel economy and save resources through weight saving and increased durability as well as reduced fuel consumption. Initial results suggest the scientists “succeeded in the development of materials that [offer]…a 60 per cent reduction in wear rate.”