Editorial Type:
Article Category: Other
 | 
Online Publication Date: 01 Jan 2014

Investigations of Road Wear Caused by Studded Tires

,
,
,
, and
Page Range: 2 – 15
DOI: 10.2346/tire.14.420101
Save
Download PDF

ABSTRACT

The use of studded tires has been a subject of controversy from the time they came into market. While studded tires contribute to traffic safety under severe winter conditions by increasing tire friction on icy roads, they also cause damage to the road surface when running on bare roads. Consequently, one of the main challenges in studded tire development is to reduce road wear while still ensuring a good grip on ice. Therefore, a research project was initiated to gain understanding about the mechanisms and influencing parameters involved in road wear by studded tires.

A test method using the institute's internal drum test bench was developed. Furthermore, mechanisms causing road wear by studded tires were derived from basic analytical models. These mechanisms were used to identify the main parameters influencing road wear by studded tires. Using experimental results obtained with the test method developed, the expected influences were verified. Vehicle driving speed and stud mass were found to be major factors influencing road wear. This can be explained by the stud impact as a dominant mechanism. By means of the test method presented, quantified and comparable data for road wear caused by studded tires under controllable conditions can be obtained. The mechanisms allow predicting the influence of tire construction and variable operating conditions on road wear.

Keywords: Studded tire; road wear; wear mechanisms; abrasion
FIG. 1
FIG. 1

Top view (left) and side view (right) of an exemplary surface texture of test specimens used for road wear measurements.

FIG. 2
FIG. 2

Schematic illustration of the KIT inner drum test rig.

FIG. 3
FIG. 3

Arrangement of the test specimens in the test rig.

FIG. 4
FIG. 4

Reproducibility of the road wear measurements for different overrun counts.

FIG. 5
FIG. 5

Influence of the stud mass on road wear.

FIG. 6
FIG. 6

Influence of traction force on road wear.

FIG. 7
FIG. 7

Influence of the driving speed on road wear.

FIG. 8
FIG. 8

Influence of the wheel load on road wear.

FIG. 9
FIG. 9

The phases of stud–track interaction under traction conditions.

FIG. 10
FIG. 10

Contact conditions and velocity difference between stud and track at the leading edge of the contact patch.

Contributor Notes

1  Institute of Vehicle System Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
2  Continental Reifen Deutschland GmbH, Jädekamp 30, 30419 Hannover, Germany
3 Corresponding author. Email: johannes.gueltlinger@kit.edu
  • Download PDF