Effect of Polymer, Road Surface, and Driving Conditions on Wear Surface Characteristics of Tire Treads

Abstract

Treads made with emulsion styrene‐butadiene copolymer (SBR), solution SBR, polybutadiene (BR), and a 60/40 emulsion SBR/BR mixture were built as four‐way tread sections on G78‐15 belted bias tires, which were driven over both concrete and gravel‐textured highways and on a small, circular, concrete test track. The tires were front mounted. When driven on concrete highway, all except the BR tread had either crumbled‐ or liquid‐appearing surfaces, thought to have been formed by mechanical degradation or fatigue. When cornered on concrete, these materials formed small cylindrical particles or rolls. The BR tread had a smooth, granular‐textured surface when driven on concrete highway and a ridge or sawtooth abrasion pattern when cornered on concrete. All the materials appeared rough and torn when run on gravel‐textured highway. The differences in wear surface formed on BR tread and the other three are thought to be due primarily to the relatively high resilience of BR.