H.

S a k a i I

Friction and Wear of Tire Tread R u b b e r 2

REFERENCE: Sakai, H., "Friction and Wear of Tire Tread Rubber," Tire Science
and Technology, TSTCA, Vol. 24, No. 3, July-September, 1996, pp. 252-275.

ABSTRACT: Using a fiat-belt tire test machine, this study investigated causal factors in
the wear of tire tread. To ensure the success of the experiment, the accuracy of the testing
device was improved and the trial conditions were kept under close control. As a measure
against sticky particles of worn rubber clinging to the surfaces of the safety-walk and
tires, a uniform amount of mica powder was electrostatically coated onto the tire tread
surfaces. Surface whiteness was measured and controlled automatically to maintain a
constant level. The amount of wear was calculated by weighing the tire on a precision
six-order electrical balance sensitive down to 0.1 g. Consequently, in a relatively short
time it was possible to ascertain measurable rates of wear, and the effects of main factors
on the wear rate (the weight reduction per unit distance travelled) of car tires, the linear
wear rate (the weight reduction per unit distance slid), the energetic wear rate (the weight
reduction per unit energy lost), and friction coefficient were evident.

KEY WORDS: robber, tire, friction, treadwear

T i r e w e a r is an i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r that affects the life o f a tire. T h e r e f o r e ,

the e v a l u a t i o n o f the w e a r r e s i s t a n c e o f a tire is v e r y significant. M a n y reports
on the studies o f tire w e a r h a v e b e e n m a d e in the past [ 1 ] - [ 9 ] . H o w e v e r , an
a c c u r a t e e x p e r i m e n t a l m e t h o d has not b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d yet d u e to the fact
that the w e a r fluctuates l a r g e l y a c c o r d i n g to the r u n n i n g c o n d i t i o n s and due
to the difficult m e a s u r e m e n t o f the w e a r a m o u n t .
In this paper, a fiat-belt-type tire test m a c h i n e was adopted. A l s o , to e n s u r e
the s u c c e s s o f the e x p e r i m e n t , the a c c u r a c y o f the testing d e v i c e w a s i m p r o v e d
and the trial c o n d i t i o n s w e r e k e p t u n d e r c l o s e control. A s a m e a s u r e against
sticky p a r t i c l e s o f w o r n r u b b e r c l i n g i n g to the surfaces o f the s a f e t y - w a l k
and tires, a u n i f o r m a m o u n t o f m i c a p o w d e r was e l e c t r o s t a t i c a l l y c o a t e d o n t o
the tire tread surfaces. T h e a m o u n t o f w e a r was c a l c u l a t e d b y w e i g h i n g the
tire on a p r e c i s i o n s i x - o r d e r e l e c t r i c a l b a l a n c e , s e n s i t i v e d o w n to 0.1 g. B a s e d
o n t h e s e c o n d i t i o n s , first a d e s c r i p t i o n o f h o w factors such as the break-in,

Department of Automotive Engineering Junior College, Osaka Sangyo University, 3-1-1,

Nakagaito, Daito-shi, Osaka 574, Japan.
2 Presented at the fourteenth annual conference of The Tire Society at The University of Akron,
Akron, Ohio, March 21-22, 1995.

252
 SAKAI ON THE FRICTION AND WEAR OF TREAD RUBBER 253

Infrared Infrared tlight Voltage ~totor

Thermoteter Heater Power Source Controller

Co,lec l
th
r

Coating Nozzle

( @ I 11uminometer

Belt Position Test Conditions Forces

\
1
Control ler Control ler ldeasurments
FIG. 1 - - Diagram of tire wearmeasuring systems.

the slip angle, lateral force, load, internal pressure, velocity, temperature,
number of ribs, and the type of tire affect the wear rate when the slip angle
is small is given. Then, the changes in friction coefficient, the linear wear
rate, and the energetic wear rate according to velocity, temperature, and
pressure when the sliding velocity is large are described.

Experimental Devices for Tire Wear

A fiat-belt-type tire test machine with safety-walk (manufactured by Toyo
Steel Belt Co., Ltd.), was adopted to measure tire wear. Figure 1 shows a
diagram of the tire wear measuring system, and Fig. 2 is a photograph of the
test machine.

Improvement of the Slip Angle Measurement Accuracy

Slip angle greatly affects the wear rate of a tire and can be regarded as an
important parameter. By eradicating the backlash of the parts related to the
vertical axis and by increasing the gear ratio, we can set and measure the
slip angle with a resolution of 0.01 deg.

Improvement of the Control of the Lateral Movement of the Belt

When the belt moves laterally and wanders, the actual slip angle fluctuates.
Therefore, the control of the lateral movement of the belt is extremely important.
254 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

FIG. 2 - - Flat-belt safety-walk type tire test machine.

The control, in the past, was a proportional control by the location of the end
of the belt. However, this control method lacks sufficient control accuracy. A
differential control circuit was added to the proportional control circuit, which
enabled the wandering to be brought within a satisfactory range.

Electrostatic P o w d e r Coating Device

As a measure against sticky particles of worn rubber clinging to the surface
of the safety-walk and tires, a uniform amount of mica powder was electrostat-
ically coated onto the tire tread surfaces. Surface whiteness was measured
and controlled automatically to maintain a constant level. A method of spray-
ing talcum powder on the surface of the safety-walk has been used [7].
However, to improve the efficiency and accuracy of this spraying, an electro-
static powder coating was applied to the surface of the tread in this study.
This is one of the major characteristics of this research.
As for the coating powder, talcum and mica powders were tried. As a
result, mica powder (no. 180) was adopted, for which the coating amount is
relatively easy to control. Figure 4 shows a mica powder volume measuring
and agitating stand. This stand is comprised of two parts: the upper part that
drops a certain amount of mica powder after measuring its quantity (0.1-5
g/rnin) and the lower part that agitates it. After being pneumatically transferred
by the dried air, the powder is then sprayed on the tread surface using an
 SAKAI ON THE FRICTION AND WEAR OF TREAD RUBBER 255

FIG. 3 - - Electrostatic coating nozzle a n d detectors area around the test tire.

electrostatic coating method by means of a coating nozzle with a high-voltage

(Iwata Toso Co., 60 kV) static electrode (in Fig. 3). To control the amount
of coating at a level of approximately 10% of white paper, the powder volume
measuring motor is controlled by measuring the degree of whiteness of the
tread surface.
In addition, to prevent the surface of the tread from being charged, the
electricity was neutralized by grounding. Also, scattered powder was collected
by a large-scale dust collector and reused.

Control of the Tread Surface Temperature

Along with the adjustment of the room temperature of the laboratory, the
surface temperature of the tire was measured by an infrared surface thermometer
(Fig. 1) so that we could control the surface temperature of the tire by infrared
lamps (1.5 kW).

Precision Measurement of the Wear Amount

The measurement of the wear amount is an extremely important factor in
determining the resolution of the wear experiment. Because of this, the weight
of the tire with the rim was measured before and after the test, as an indicator
of the wear, by using an electronic six-order precision balance (Shimadzu
Co.: EB-20KHS) sensitive down to 0.1 g. The humidity within the laboratory
affects the measurement of the tire weight. Therefore, measurements were
256 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

FIG. 4 - - Mica powder volume measuring and agitating stand.

taken after drying the tire by using a vacuum drier when the humidity was
high. Rubber gloves were used to handle the tires to achieve accurate measure-
ments. Figure 5 shows the vacuum drier for the tire and the electronic precision
balance used in this experiment.

Wear Rate Experiments for Small Slip Angles

By using the aforementioned equipment, the changes of the wear rate

caused by various conditions when the slip angle is small were measured.
The standard conditions of this test were a load of 3 kN, an internal pressure
of 200 kPa, and a velocity of 20 km/h.

Changes o f the Wear Rate During Break-in

Figure 6 shows the relationship between the distance travelled and the wear
rate when the break-in was conducted with a slip angle of 0.4 deg. As the
break-in run progressed, the wear rate decreased. After a break-in of approxi-
mately 300 kin, the wear rate was reduced to 75% and became almost constant.
Figure 6 also shows that if the tire is not run for three months, approximately
half of the break-in effect will be lost. In this case, an additional break-in of
 SAKAI ON THE FRICTION AND WEAR OF TREAD RUBBER 257

FIG. 5 -- Vacuum type tire dryer and high-accuracy six-order electrical balance, sensitive down
t o O . l g.

Tire: 175/70~13 S~-A

Load: 3 kN Slip Angle 0.4 ~

0.1
25% - -
40%-
300 km q
150 km
~D

3 Month

} I

0 200 400 0 200 400

Running Distance (km)
FIG. 6 - - Effect of break-in running distance on the wear rate.
258 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Tire: 175/70R13 SM-A

Load: 3 kN
15 11.5 I. P r e s . : 200 kP
Velocity: 20 k~/h
Z
x..../

9 SAT
.-1

10 - 1.0 rL)
LF

//Io o.a
I
1.0
S l i p Angle (deg)
FIG. 7 -- Relation between lateral force, self-aligning torque, and wear rate.

approximately 150 km will be required. The break-in distance varies according

to each type of tire. However, Fig. 6 suggests that break-in is very important.

The Slip Angle when the Wear Rate Is the Lowest

Figure 7 shows the relationship between the measured slip angle, lateral
force, the self-aligning torque, and wear rate of a 175/70R13 smooth tire
(SM-A). This tire was adopted in this experiment after a sufficient break-in
run. The relationship indicates that there are many cases in which the slip
angle of the smallest wear rate is different from the point where the lateral
force and/or self-aligning torque are zero.
Most of the tire wear was caused by the slip in the rear end of the tire
contact area. Meanwhile, the lateral force is the result of the integrated friction
force that occurs on the whole of the contact area. Also, the self-aligning
torque is the integration of the friction force multiplied by the distance from
the friction force to the center of the contact area. Therefore, the friction
 SAKAI ON THE FRICTION AND WEAR OF TREAD RUBBER 259

force at the rear end of the contact area affects the self-aligning torque more
than the lateral force. This fact indicates that the point at which the wear rate
is the smallest exists closer to the point where the self-aligning torque is zero
than the point where the lateral force is zero.
The relationship with the geometric origin of the slip angle is omitted in
this paper because it differs depending on the uniformity of tires.

Changes of the Wear Rate due to Slip Angle, Lateral Force, and Lateral
Force Coefficient
Figure 8 shows a plot of the data in a log-log graph. An empirical equation
obtained for the difference between w (wear rate: g/km) and w0 (wear rate at
zero slip angle) is proportional to the nth power of o~ (slip angle) with reference
to [7] (Eq 1). In all of the following data the origin of the zero slip angle
will be set at the points where the wear rate is smallest during break-in.

w - w0 = aa" (1)

By using the above result, the following empirical equation for smooth tires
(SM-A) is obtained:

w = 0.004 + 1.3c~" (2)

Within the range of the slip angle of ___2deg, the lateral force is proportional
to the slip angle. Therefore, when the load is constant, we can obtain the
next empirical formula that the wear rate is proportional to the power of three
i n / ~ (lateral force) or ky (lateral force coefficient = lateral force/load) to set
the cornering stiffness of this tire at Ky = 1.244 (kN/deg),

w = 0.004 + 0.675F~ (3)

w = 0.004 + 18.2k~ (4)

In Fig. 8, the wear rate is converted from weight loss per distance travelled
to groove depth reduction per distance travelled, assuming that the tire tread
area is 2000 cm 2 and the specific gravity of the rubber is 1. The figure
suggests that the minimum wear rate values are close to those of commonly
used tires under normal usage.

Influence of Camber Angle on Wear Rate

The dashed lines in Fig. 8 show the values for cases when a positive camber
angle, which is twice as large as the slip angle, was set on the smooth tire
SM-A. The figure indicates that if we set the camber angles in a direction
to make the distribution of ground contact pressure uniform, the wear rate
decreases.
260 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Wear Rate
mm/km gr/km

0.05 10
(5/100)
w - O . 004=1.3 a :3
\
W--W 0

0.005 1
(5/1000)

0.0005 0.1
(5/10000)
//I Tire: 175/70R13
' SM-A
/ Load: 3 kN
I. Pres.: 200 kP
VelocitY: 20 km/h
I I I IIIl ~ I
0.00005 0.01
(0.5/IOOO0)
1.0
O.
Slip Angle (deg)
FIG. 8 - - Relation between slip angle and wear rate.

Changes in Wear Rate Caused by the Load

A s was indicated before, the lateral force greatly affects wear. Because o f
this, when w e conduct a wear test on an actual road surface using a vehicle,
efforts must be m a d e to equalize the frequency distribution o f the lateral
acceleration in each test run in order to obtain better accuracy.
B a s e d on the same reasoning, it seems suitable to conduct the wear test
under conditions in which the lateral force coefficient ky is constant b y the
adjustment o f the slip angle when w e measure the change o f the wear rate
caused b y the load variation. W e conducted experiments for changing the
 SAKAI ON THE FRICTION AND WEAR OF TREAD RUBBER 261

W--W0

1.0

I. Pres. 200 kP
bO
Velocity: 20 km/h
Temp. 30
e~

QJ 0.1 Tire
SM-A : ky=0.25
w - 0 . 0 1 = 0 . 0 1 0 6 L '~'12
Normal-A : k y=0. 183
w - - 0 . 0 3 = 0 . 0127 L 2. 55
Normal-B : k , = O . 183
w - 0 . 0 3 = 0 . 0 1 9 1 L ~. zt

0.01

10

Load (kN)
FIG. 9 - - Effect of load on the wear rate under the condition of constant lateralforce coefficient.

load under the condition o f a constant lateral force coefficient using the
s m o o t h tire S M - A , and two 175/70R13 tires ( A and B) with n o r m a l tread
patterns. A s a result, in Fig. 9, w e find in the empirical formula, that the wear
rate is proportional to the p o w e r o f 2 - 3 . 5 of the load L when the load values
range from 2 k N to 5 kN:
smooth tire S M - A w = 0.01 + 0.0106L 3"2 ky = 0.25 (5)

normal tire A w = 0.03 + 0.0127L z55 ky = 0.183 (6)

n o r m a l tire B w = 0.03 + 0.0191L z2~ ky = 0.183 (7)

Hereinafter, the values o f the wear rate are the results o f the Root M e a n
Square ( R M S ) o f the m e a s u r e m e n t s after running the s a m e distance on the
plus and minus sides o f each slip angle, in order to prevent the tire f r o m
partial wear.

Changes in Wear Rate Due to Internal Pressure

F i g u r e 10 shows the changes in wear rate caused b y changes in the internal
pressure under the conditions o f a constant lateral force coefficient on the
262 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

0.3

0.2 -

~3
~3

0.1
Tire: 175/70R13 S~-B
Load: 3 kN
ky=0.25

0 I I I
I00 200 300 400

I. Pres. (kP)
F I G . 1 0 - - Effect of internal pressure on the wear rate under the condition of constant lateral
force coefficient.

smooth tire SM-B. The figure indicates that within the range of practical use
(200-300 kPa), the wear rate shows the smallest value. The changes in wear
rate due to variations in internal pressure are smaller than the wear rate
variations due to the lateral force or load.

Changes in Wear Rate Due to Variations in the Number of Grooves

Figure 11 shows the relationship between the lateral force Fy and the wear
rates of the following three types of tread patterns: (1) the smooth tire SM-
B (175/70R13), (2) the straight three-groove smooth tire SM-G3, and (3) the
straight seven-groove smooth tire SM-G7. The figure indicates that the smooth
tire has the smallest wear rate, followed by the straight three-groove tire; the
straight seven-groove tire showed the largest wear rate. The empirical formu-
las are as follows:
 SAKAI ON THE FRICTION AND WEAR OF TREAD RUBBER 263

Load: 3 kN
I.Pres. 200 kP
Velocity: 20 km/h
Temp. 30
1.0

0.1
~ S SM-B
ire
W--Wo
-0.004=0.48 Fy 3,5
M-G3
-0.0045=0.50 F , TM
M-G7
-0.005=0.64 F , "-al

0.01 I I I I t I I I[ [ I

O. 1.0

Lateral Force (kN)

FIG. 11 - - Effect of number of grooves on wear rate.

Smooth tire SM-B w = 0.004 + 0.48F 35 (8)

Straight three-groove smooth tire SM-G3 w = 0.0045 + 0 . 5 0 F 3"~ (9)

Straight seven-groove smooth tire SM-G7 w = 0.005 + 0.64F~ AI (10)

Changes in Wear Rate Due to Velocity and Temperature

In this experiment we measured the changes in wear rate due to the velocity
and temperature under the condition of a constant slip angle of 0.7 deg using
the straight seven-groove smooth tire SM-G7, because it is difficult to adjust
the constant level of the lateral force coefficient exactly. Figure 12 indicates
that the wear rate decreases as the temperature increases and it increases as
the velocity decreases. However, the changes caused by the above factors are
very small and in some cases, their effects were offset by other factors.

Reproducibility of the Test to Measure the Wear Rate

To check the reproducibility of the wear rate test when the slip angle is
small, we conducted a sufficient break-in run on the normal tire D (175/70R13
264 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Tire: SH-67
Load: 3 kN
I. Pres.: 200 kP
0.6 geI.
Slip Angle: 0.7 ~

0.4 __~__~ ,_o___-~----~~

c~
Temp.
0.2
Temp. (C)
30 ~ 45 ~ 60~
0 J i M I i
5 10 20 40
Running Velocity (km/h)
F1G. 1 2 - - E f f e c ~ o f v e ~ c i ~ a n d ~ m p e r a m r e on w e a r ra~.

with normal tread pattern). Then, we repeated the same wear experiment on
this tire twice. Table 1 gives the distance travelled and the results of the
above experiments. Figure 13 shows the relationship between the lateral force
coefficient and the wear rate. (First, we measured the cornering stiffness of
the tire before and after the test. Second, we assumed that this stiffness
changed in proportion to the wear amount. Third, we obtained the lateral
force coefficients from these sfiffnesses and the slip angle.) By observing the
aforementioned procedure, we can reduce the error range. However, due to
the large grade of empirical equations, the tolerance of the lateral force coeffi-
cient would affect the result greatly.

T A B L E 1 --Reproducibility of the experiment to measure the wear rate

under conditions of small slip angle.

Cornering Lateral
Test Slip Angle Run. Dis. Wear Rate W - Wo Stiff./Load Force
No. (deg) (km) (g/km) (g/kin) ( l/deg) Coeff. ky

1 0 400 0.006 (wo) 0 -- --

2 _+0.4 150 0.071 0.065 0.322 0.129
3 -+0.6 60 0.187 0.181 0.325 0.195
4 _+0.8 25 0.483 0.477 0.328 0.262
5 _+ 1.0 [0 1.01 1.00 0.331 0.331
6 0 400 0.006 (wo) 0 -- --
7 _+0.4 150 0.071 0.065 0.331 0.132
8 -+0.6 60 O. 194 0.188 0.334 0.200
9 -+0.8 25 0.568 0.562 0.337 0.270
10 -+ 1.0 10 1.15 1.14 0.340 0.340
 SAKAI ON THE FRICTION AND WEAR OF TREAD RUBBER 265

- Tire: Normal-D
Load: 3 kN
- I. Pres.: 200 kP /
W--W 0 Temp.: 35o C /
Velocity: 20 k m / h /

1.0

9~.

0. i Test No.

77~20~
.6_32 .2 kr 3 ' ' 8

0.01 I LJIIl J I t , t,,,]

0.1 1.0
Lateral Force Coef. k,
FIG. 13 - - Reproducibility of the experiment to measure wear rate.

The left side of Fig. 14 is a microscopic photo of the surface of the central
part of the tread that was tested on general roads under normal conditions.
The right side of Fig. 14 is a photo of the same part of the tread surface after
this wear test with the mica powder coated on it and with a slip angle of
+_0.5 deg. There are no large differences between the results of the two cases.
However, it was noticed that the tire in the latter case is covered with a
slightly finer texture.

Differences in the Wear Rate Due to the Types o f Tire

Figure 15 shows the difference in the wear rates among the following three
kinds of tires: (A) a 175/70R13 tire with four grooves and a design with
many cuts, (B) a 175/70R13 tire with four grooves and a design with many
cuts, and (C) a 185/60R13 tire with four grooves and a design with few cuts.
The following empirical formulas are applicable to each tire:

tire A w = 0.005 + 62.8k~ 4 (11)

266 TIRE SCIENCE & T E C H N O L O G Y

FIG. 14 - - Microphotographs o f the tread surfaces; left: normal run on public road, right." run
on tire test machine with mica powder at +0.5 deg slip angle.

Load: 3 kN
W -- Wo I. P r e s . : 200 kP
V e l o c i t y : 20 km/h

1.0

Tire
Normal-h
w-0.005=62.8 k ya. 40
Normal-B
9 w-0.006=29.2 k ~.o7
~0.1 Normal-C
w-0.005=33.2 k~a'58

0.01 . . . . . I I f p T irlJl
0.1 1.0
Lateral Force Coef. k y

FIG. 15 - - The wear rate o f normal tires A, B, and C.

 SAKAI ON THE FRICTION AND WEAR OF TREAD RUBBER 267

T A B L E 2 - - Wear indices,fbr normal tires A, B and C calculated by Eq 15,

Severity of Road Course Gentle Normal Hard

Standard Deviation a (g) 0.08 0.10 0.12

Normal tire A (g/km) 0.0286 0.055 0.0989

Normal tire B 0.0268 0.0473 0.0782
Normal tire C 0.0139 0.0248 0.0430

tire B w = 0.006 + 29.2k~ ~ (12)

tire C w = 0.005 + 33.2k~ 58 (13)
The wear rates of the tires A and B in Fig. 15 are not exactly equal to
those in Fig. 9 because the wear levels of those tires are not even.

Wear Index
When a vehicle is travelling on a particular road, the frequency distribution
of the lateral acceleration of ky varies depending on the road conditions and
the driving situations. However, in this paper, it is assumed that it can be
represented by the following normal distribution function:
p = (l/or 2 ~ ) exp(-kZ/2cr 2) (14)
It is also assumed that the lateral acceleration is equal to the lateral force
coefficient and that the three values of the standard deviation cr are 0.08,
0.10, and 0.12 g depending on the following three types of driving: (1)
gentle driving with relatively small lateral acceleration (roads with few
curves), (2) average driving (average roads), and (3) comparatively rough
driving (roads with many curves). Based on these assumptions, if we take
the wear rate w = w0 + a ~ , we can obtain the following equation for the
wear index Wi:

Wi = (2/~ 2 ~ ) (wo + a~) exp(-k2y12~2)dky (15)

Table 2 provides the calculated wear indices for the aforementioned tires.
This table indicates that there are only small differences between tires A and
B in the case of gentle driving (~ = 0.08). However, the differences become
wider in the case of rough driving (or = 0.12). As these facts show, the
frequency distributions of the lateral force, which are affected by the type of
driving, influence the wear index.

Effects of the Safety-Walk Wear on the Wear Rate Measurement

The safety-walk also wears, which affects the measurements of the wear
rate of tires. However, in this test, the slip angle was less than 1 deg and
268 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

comparatively small. Therefore, we could ignore most of the influences of

the safety-walk wear on the tire wear rate for distances up to about 5000 km.
The comparative experiment of several tires with a travel distance of 1000
km per tire is possible. However, if the distance is longer or the slip angle
is higher, we must conduct the experiments taking into consideration the
effect of the safety-walk wear.

Experiments on the Wear Rates and Friction when the Slip Angle and
the Variation of Sliding Velocity are Large
The tire used in this experiment is a smooth tire SM-C (175/65R14) with
an SBR tread. The load, lateral force, velocity, and the tire surface temperature
were measured when cornering at a slip angle of 15 deg. The presence of
the lateral force causes one side of the tread in the contact area to lift, which
destroys the uniformity of the ground contact pressure distribution [10] and
causes the partial wear of the tread shoulder. Therefore, we set the standard
condition of this experiment as follows: a load of 2 kN, an internal pressure
of 200 kPa, and a camber angle of 3 deg in a direction that makes the wear
uniform.

Definition of the Wear Rates

When a smooth tire is rotating with a slip angle of 15 deg, we can confirm
by the wear pattern shown in Figs. 16 and 17 that the entire area of the
ground contact surface is sliding in the lateral direction. Therefore, the rela-
tionship between the sliding velocity of the tread rubber v and the travel
velocity of the tire V is as follows [11]:

v = V sin 15 ~ (16)
The relationship between the sliding distance s and distance travelled by the
tire S is as follows:

s = S sin 15 ~ (17)
Also, if we set the load as Fz and the lateral force generated as Fy, the
friction coefficient # can be expressed by the following equation:

I.Z = Ky/Fz (18)

If we set E as the energy consumed by friction when the tire slides a
distance s and Fy as the friction force (lateral force), E can be expressed by
the following equation:
E = Fys (19)
With reference to Moor's [1] definitions, the abraded weight reduction per
unit distance travelled (w/S) is defined as the wear rate (g/km), the abraded
 SAKAI ON THE FRICTION AND WEAR OF TREAD RUBBER 269

F I G . 1 6 - - Particles of worn rubber on the tread surfaces of tested tires; top: coated with mica
powder; bottom: noncoated.

FIG. 1 7 - - Microphotographs of the tread surface of tested tires; left: coated with mica powder;
right: noncoated.
270 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

weight reduction per unit slide distance (w/s) as the linear wear rate (g/m),
and the abraded weight reduction per unit energy lost (w/E) as the energetic
wear rate (g/kNm).

Effects of the Mica Powder

We conducted the experiment using the smooth tire SM-C under the follow-
ing conditions: an internal pressure of 200 kPa, a load of 2 kN, a slip angle
of 15 deg, and a velocity of 3.2 km/h. Two types of tests were conducted:
(1) a smooth tire coated with the mica powder and (2) a smooth tire not
coated with the mica powder. Then, we compared the friction coefficient and
the linear wear rate and the variation in their values.
When the tire is coated with the mica powder, the friction coefficient
decreases by approximately 4% and the linear wear rate decreases by approxi-
mately 8% while reducing the variation of their measured values compared
to when the tire is not coated. The photos of the worn tire surface for the
above tests are shown in Fig. 16. As the lower photo in Fig. 16 shows, sticky
particles of wear dust attached themselves to the surface of the tread where
the mica powder was not coated. Those particles were rather difficult to
remove. In contrast, the upper photo in Fig. 16 shows that when the tire
was coated with the mica powder, small granules of worn rubber attached
themselves to the surface of the tread. However, they were easily removed.
In the case of the tire where the mica powder was not coated, it seems
that the readhesion of the worn rubber dust prevented the progress of the
wear. Also, in the case of the tire where the mica powder was coated, the
mica powder changed the worn rubber dust into nonsticky small particles,
which suppressed the variation of the measured values.
Figure 17 shows microscopic photos of the wear surface. In the left photo,
in which the internal pressure was 200 kPa and the mica powder was coated,
the whole area of the tread is covered with linear scratches in the lateral
direction. In contrast, when the mica powder was not applied, we can observe
regular abrasion patterns in the longitudinal direction in addition to lateral
linear scratches. These abrasion patterns were discovered more clearly at the
lower sliding velocity, higher temperature, and lower contact pressure.

Changes in the Linear Wear Rate and the Friction Coefficient Due to the
Sliding Velocity
Figure 18 shows the changes in the linear wear rate and the friction coeffi-
cient due to the changes in the sliding velocity from 0.015 to 4 m/s (running
velocity from 0.2 to 52 kin/h) under the conditions of a slip angle of 15 deg,
a load of 2 kN, and an internal pressure of 200 kPa. Above the velocity at
which the friction coefficient is highest in this figure, squealing noise was
generated due to the stick-slip motion [10]. The friction coefficient, within
this range, was obtained from the mean of the lateral force values.
 SAKAI ON THE FRICTION AND WEAR OF TREAD RUBBER 271

Temo C '- 43~ 50~ 58~ 78~ 93~ 110~ ]

-( ) " ' , 1.2

0.4 i 1.0

0.8
0.3 wo

06
0.2
0.4
r
r 0.1 Ave. Contact Pres. 260 (kP)
.5 O. 2

0 i f , , , I f , I 0
9 015 . 0 3 . 0 6 .125 .25 .5 1 2 4

Slip Velocity (m/s)

FIG. 18 - - Variations of the friction coefficient and the linear wear rate (weight reduction per
unit distance slip) as a function of slip velocity.

This figure also indicates that both the linear wear rate and the friction
coefficient reached their peak values at a sliding velocity of about 0.5 m/s,
and the changes in the linear wear rate according to sliding velocity are larger
than those of the friction coefficient.

Changes o f the Energetic W e a r Rate D u e to the Sliding Velocity

Figure 19 shows the change of the energetic wear rate, which is obtained
by dividing the wear amount by the work that is consumed in the sliding (the
slide distance • lateral force) due to the velocity. This figure indicates that
the energetic wear rate is approximately proportional to the change in the
friction coefficient. The velocity range for general use is located in a velocity
field smaller than the sliding velocity, which reaches its peak value in Fig.
19. Therefore, we can say that within that range, the higher the velocity, the
greater the energetic wear rate. This fact appropriately represents the physical
wear characteristics of rubber. From the facts we observed, to lessen tire
wear, it is necessary to reduce the energetic wear rate (wear efficiency) as
well as to reduce the energy consumed. Namely, it becomes a prerequisite
to make the sliding velocity as low as possible.

Changes in the Energetic W e a r Rate Due to Temperature

Figure 20 shows the changes in the energetic wear rate and the friction
coefficient due to the tire surface temperature. F r o m this figure, we can see
272 TIRE SCIENCE & T E C H N O L O G Y

Temp.(C) * 43 ~ 50 ~ 58~ 78~ 93~ 110~

~ I ].2

0.2 1.0

Q
0.8 _

0.6
0.1 E n e r g e t i c Wear Rate
0.4

Ave. Contact P r e s . : 2 6 0 (kP)

0.2

0 i t ) i r f t t 0
.015 .03 .06 .125 .25 ,5 1 2 4
Slip Velocity (m/s)

~ G . 19 - - VaHatwns ~ ~e ene~etic wear ra~ (we~ht r e ~ c ~ n per unit energy Mss) and
~ictioncoefficientasa~nct&n ~ s l ~ v e l o c i ~ .

1.2

z
0.2 1.0

r
0.8 o
f...9
e-,
9

E n e r g e t i c Wear Rate 0.6 ~

~9
0.1
~3
0.4 ~
Ave. C o n t a c t Pres. : 260 (kP)
S l i p V e l o c i t y : 0.23 ( m / s )
0.2

0 , I I I I t I I 0
35 ~ 40 ~ 45 ~ 50 ~ 55 ~ 60 ~ 65 ~
Temperature (C)

FIG. 20 - - Variations of the energetic wear rate and friction coefficient as a function of surface
temperature.
 SAKAI ON THE FRICTION AND WEAR OF TREAD RUBBER 273

1.4

1.2
z

0.2 1.0
r
9
0.8
r~
9

~9 o.6 ~
Energetic Wear Rate
0.1
;=
~9
Temp. : 50 ~ (C) 0.4
e- Slip Yelocity: 0.23 (m/s)
0.2

0 I ! I I __ 0

100 200 300 400

Ave. Contact Pres. (kP)
FIG. 21 -- Variations of the energetic wear rate and friction coefficient as a function of contact
pressure.

that both value changes are approximately proportional to each other. The
decrease in the values with the temperature rise was caused by the moving
of the whole curve indicated in Fig. 19 to a direction of higher velocity
along with the increase in temperature by the relation to the W L F transfor-
mation [1].

Changes in the Energetic Wear Rate Due to Contact Pressure

Figure 21 shows the changes in the energetic wear rate and the friction
coefficient when the averaged contact pressures [12] were changed by ad-
justing the internal pressure from 50 to 300 kPa with a constant deflection
(equivalent to 2 kN load, 200 kPa internal pressure). This figure indicates
that with an increase in the averaged contact pressure, the friction coefficient
becomes smaller and the energetic wear rate becomes larger.

The Difference Between Asphalt Roads and Safety-Walk

The projections on the surface of the safety-walk are sharper and more
numerous than those on the asphalt road [13], which produces a concentration
of stress and severe contact conditions. This seems to contribute to an increase
in the energetic wear rate as shown in Fig. 21, in which its value increases
as the value of the contact pressure increases.
However, as Fig. 21 shows, even with multiple increases in the contact
274 TIRE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

pressure, the energetic wear rate increases only by approximately 20%, which
suggests that even if there are differences in the surface conditions of the
asphalt road and the safety-walk, their influence is not great enough to change
the wear location.

Summary and Conclusions

In this paper, the influences of various factors on tire wear discovered in
tire wear experiments using a flat-belt type tire testing machine were dis-
cussed. For a limited range of tires, the following results were obtained.
W h e n the slip angle is small, the break-in run reduces the wear rate and
after approximately 300 km, the value becomes 75% and stays constant,
which indicates that the break-in run is indispensable for the wear experiment.
The wear rate of a car tire changes in proportion to the 3rd to 4th power
of the slip angle, the lateral force, and lateral force coefficient.
W h e n the lateral force coefficient is constant, the wear rate of a tire changes
in proportion to the 2nd to 3.5th power of the load.
When the lateral force coefficient is constant, the wear rate takes a minimum
value within a range of an internal pressure of 2 0 0 - 3 0 0 kPa and larger values
outside of this range.
W h e n the travel velocity increases, the wear rate increases slightly; when
the temperature increases, the wear rate decreases slightly.
W h e n the slip angle and the variation of the sliding velocity are large, the
changes of the linear wear rate and the friction coefficient due to the sliding
velocity take their peak values at a sliding velocity of 0.5 m/s.
The changes o f the linear wear rate due to the sliding velocity are larger
than that of the friction coefficient due to the velocity.
The changes in the energetic wear rate due to the sliding velocity and
temperature are nearly proportional to that of the friction coefficient due to
the sliding velocity and temperature.

References
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