The project “Technology platform for tire abrasion and the identification of its emissions in road traffic (TERIS)” is making significant strides in the development of tires and rubber compounds. With the achievement of the first milestone and the associated project review, the first important step has been successfully completed. This was also confirmed by the advisory board—composed of industry experts—that typically oversees such projects.
New Standards for Laboratory Analysis and Prediction of Tire Wear
The combination of different collection and measurement methods allows for the precise analysis of both suspended and settling particle fractions. In parallel, tribological models were developed that experimentally and theoretically elucidate the relationship between load parameters, the properties of materials, surface structure, and particle formation. This enables real-world abrasion processes to be specifically replicated in the laboratory.
A test chamber specialized in accelerated aging makes it possible to precondition samples in a targeted and reproducible manner under environmental stress, thereby also investigating the influence on abrasion behavior.
A major advancement is the development of an optical detection system that uses artificial intelligence to precisely recognize and classify surface structures. The approach has already been validated using substitute materials and will be applied to real rubber samples in the next phase.
The consortium has also designed a test bench concept that combines the generation of rubber abrasion under multiaxial loading, targeted particle collection, and the integration of optical sensors into a single laboratory setup.
A combination of weathering and chemical analysis of the resulting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from tire abrasion enables the assessment of the environmental impact of particles.
The results provide the basis for an accelerated, practical, and well-founded evaluation of new rubber compounds in the laboratory. Tire manufacturers, testing services, and environmental agencies are thus provided with tools that enable them to specifically reduce emissions, evaluate new products more quickly, and meet the requirements of the Euro 7 standard.
Realistic tire wear and degradation behavior under environmental stress
At Fraunhofer IWM, the focus was on refining tribological wear models and concepts for the development of friction surfaces, which can be used to simulate—and also modify—particle formation for reference purposes. To this end, a tribologically parameterizable wear test was designed using plate material against which model friction surfaces with different statistical or parametric structures are rubbed. The focus of this work is on understanding the generation of particle emissions—similar to those from tires on the road, but without rolling tires or a road surface. Depending on the load, lubricant films, rolled-up particle agglomerates, sedimenting particles, as well as suspended particles and fine dust, were observed. Initial results confirm that multiple mechanisms are at play and that, consequently, no linear relationship between particle emission (in terms of quantity and particle size) and speed, contact force, and temperature is to be expected. Particles of all sizes were collected and analyzed.
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Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM