Importance of wet grip for winter tyres
Transcription
Importance of wet grip for winter tyres
english section Goodyear Dunlop Workshop Importance of wet grip for winter tyres This year’s Goodyear Dunlop Winter Tyre Workshop had the motto “Wet Grip of Winter Tyres”. The tyre manufacturer invited several press representatives to the ADAC Driving Safety Centre Grevenbroich. Apart from some expert presentations the programme also included some driving demonstrations. E xperts are constantly pointing out how important appropriate tyres in summer and winter and the condition of the tyres, e.g. tread depth, are in order to guarantee safe driving. Although it could be expected that each car driver should have become aware of this in the meantime, statistics reveal that both the type of tyres and their condition can among others play a crucial role in accidents. Specialized tyre trade should continuously raise customers’ awareness in consultations that tyres have a huge impact on safety. Lars Hannawald gave a presentation on an analysis of data based on real accidents happening in winter on behalf of the traffic accident research at TU Dresden. One of the results of the analysis was that during the winter season from October to March passenger cars were nearly double as often involved in accidents on wet roads as during the half-year summer season. According to the expert, the share of grip-relevant situations in traffic accidents on wet roads reached 81 per cent in winter. “This high share illustrates the huge importance of wet grip of tyres in order to reduce the risk of accidents “, said Lars Hannawald. According to results of the study, there was additionally a higher number of accidents on wet roads in winter than in summer. Thus, wet grip features of winter tyres play a crucial role. “In addition to this, more than one in five passenger cars causing an accident with personal injury was only equipped with summer tyres in the six months of winter“, explained the expert. The following tendency was summed up by the expert: “If people are on the road with wrong tyres, they will more often cause an accident.” Compound technology Apart from tread design compound technology has a substantial impact on the best possible wet grip of winter tyres. “Meanwhile, components of modern winter tyre compounds like polymers, fillers and plasticizers have become far more efficient and can more easily be processed“, illustrated Saburo Miyabe, tyre developer at Goodyear Dunlop. Functionalizing polymers reduce inner friction of a tyre and thus improve rolling resistance; silica as filler, plant-based oils and traction resins as plasticizers are to provide improved wet braking and wet grip. During the past twenty years technology has continuously developed. As performance could be increased from a Golf III with 44 kW to a Golf VII with 90 kW, con- sumption was decreased from about 7 litres/100 kilometres to about 5 litres/100 kilometres and tyre size rose from 175/70 R13 to 205/55 R16, the compound technology of Goodyear UltraGrip tyres also fundamentally changed from 1994 to 2014. Workshop participants could check in a hands-on activity that the tread compound based on the technology in 1994 has not only been Lars Hannawald gave a presentation on an analysis of data based on real accidents happening in winter on behalf of the traffic accident research at TU Dresden The UltraGrip 9 in a braking comparison with a UG9 produced with a 20-year-old compound technology. 94 AutoRäderReifen - Gummibereifung 1 | 2015 further developed until 2014, but has also caused significant performance differences on wet roads, e.g. concerning wet braking. They could compare the wet braking behaviour of the latest UltraGrip 9 with an UltraGrip 9 produced with an old compound in a wet braking test. As stated by Goodyear, a vehicle equipped with modern winter tyres was able to stop at a speed of 80 after about 33 metres; a vehicle with tyres of a 20-year-old compound technology needed about 41 metres for a stop. Moreover, there are many variations among the wet braking performance of winter tyres concerning the different EU Tyre Label classes. “More than 90 per cent of all the winter tyres being on offer belong to label classes C or E”, clarified Thomas Salzinger at TÜV Süd. “Nevertheless, when comparing a tyre with an average value of class C with the wet grip of a tyre at the lower limit of the second-most relevant label class E, the braking distance on wet roads showed variations of more than 20 per cent. Based on emergency braking at a speed of 100 km/h this could be 10 metres or even more.“ If the speed of a vehicle is reduced from 80 to 20 km/h, there will still remain a speed of 38 km/h for the vehicle with E tyres.” Higher versus lower grip Owing to this higher impact speed of more than 20 km/h, the risk of injuries for vehicles occupants will be considerably higher“, added Peter Schimmelpfennig at crashtest-service.com GmbH. Crash tests carried out with impact speed of 20 and 38 km/h revealed that vehicles with an increased impact speed had extremely higher damage to property“. Many workshop participants listened to the presentations at the ADAC Driving Safety Centre Grevenbroich. While a vehicle equipped with high-grip tyres crashed into a truck only had “insignificant” car body damage in the front part, damage was far more serious after a crash at a speed of 40 km/h. Safety systems like air bags did not offer any advantages as they are often not released when having a rear-end collision with a commercial vehicle as the deceleration value is too low. Moreover, follow-up costs were higher after a rear-end collision with a truck, if vehicles were equipped with low-grip tyres. In addition to this, the safety of further road users could be endangered. Workshop participants could gain first-hand experience on a skid pad how a too low tread depth – two millimetres in the test – influenced driving behaviour on wet roads. Lars Hannawald showed as well in his study how important the condition of tyres – in this case their tread depth – was in accidents: “One in five cars involved in an accident had a tread depth below the recommended one, one in thirty below the legally mandatory tread depth.” Furthermore, there is a significantly higher risk of causing an accident because of skidding on wed or snow-covered roads in the half-year winter season. According to the study, even one in six vehicles equipped with ESP caused an accident on snowy or ice-covered roads. Thus, the efficiency of active vehicle safety elements – apart from ESP also ABS or a braking assistant – is highly influenced by the type of tyres. As a consequence, specialized tyre trade or garages should raise car drivers’ awareness that they should not exclusively rely on assisting systems, but appropriate tyres too. (akl) A vehicle could start skidding on wet roads because of a tread depth of only two millimetres. english section Case Study from Continental “Tires for the Future – We develop sustainability” The topic “sustainability” is of high importance for the tyre manufacturer Continental. As a consequence, several the most different experts work together in research and development, in testing and in production in order to get the tyres for the future being even more energy-saving and environmentally friendly concerning production, use and recyclability. Because of this all the components of a tyre are continuously scrutinized and, if necessary, replaced by more environmentally friendly materials. M ore sustainable processes are also to be implemented in production: Rubber waste is reused in production in a recently developed process, which even means that parts of worn truck tyres could be used in retreading. Tyres for hybrid vehicles Special tyres for hybrid vehicles are the latest products of the tyre manufacturer. According to company information, they have a 30 per cent lower rolling resistance compared to conventional tyres. Hybrid vehicles equipped with these tyres will have to rely less on its engine and thus the driving distance via electric drive will get much longer. “New vehicle concepts for emobility will open enormous development possibilities – not only for the tyre design”, said David O’Donnell, Head of International Research and Development at Continental. The Conti.eContact represents a special tyre line for e-vehicles in the range of the tyre manufacturer. The radius of e-vehicles is supposed to be maximized with higher and smaller tyre sizes 195/55 R 20, which are characterized by a 30 per cent lower rolling resistance compared to conventional tyres. The further developed tyre with completely new materials is the first Continental summer tyre the manufacturer labels with the EU Tyre Label rating A for wet grip and rolling resistance. Technical highlights The Green Chilli rubber compound is meant to join maximum grip and minimum rolling resistance at the highest level of safety and handling. The tread design with new Hydro sipes focuses on ideal water drainage and thus the best possible wet braking performance. According to company information, the flexible and aerodynamically improved Aero Flex sidewalls will also reduce rolling resistance and fuel consumption. Further- 96 AutoRäderReifen - Gummibereifung 01 | 2015 Continental presents its case study “Tires for the Futu more, the ContiSilent technology of the new Conti.eContact will decrease the interior noise level. Tyres from dandelion Moreover, Continental works together with Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology/IME) concerning “tyres from dandelion“. This cooperation aims at the use of natural rubber extracted from the root of dandelion as economically usable replacement for natural rubber from the rainforest. These plants could even grow on land, which is not suitable for food production. As a consequence, cultivation in Central Europe, which means a “plantation next to the tyre plant”, would economically and ecologically make sense and reduce CO2 emissions due to shorter transport distances. Monoculture re – We develop sustain ability”. of rubber trees in rainforest areas could be decreased and tyre bakers could slightly be less dependent on fluctuations at the international natural rubber market. According to group information, the advantage will soon be very comprehensible, when considering that between ten and 30 per cent of rubber in a passenger car tyre come from the rubber tree called “Hevea brasiliensis“. The case study “Tires for the Future – We develop sustainability” from Continental can be downloaded via the following link: http://www.continental-reifen.de/www/ download/reifen_de_de/themen/news/ download/dl_2014_08_01_green_tires_ (akl) pdf_de.pdf The Tire Cologne Kick-Off Event Communication as answer to complexity At the beginning of October, Koelnmesse launched its information campaign for the first THE TIRE COLOGNE 2018. Responsible people together with German Federal Association of Tyre Trade and Vulcanizing Handicraft (Bundesverband Reifenhandel und Vulkaniseur-Handwerk e.V. /BRV) invited representative of the tyre industry to an information event at the trade fair grounds. The future trade fair team presented the range of services of Koelnmesse and illustrated the chances of the tyre industry at the new trade fair location. I t is very important for us to start an active communication with all the representatives of the industry at an early point. This information event was the starting point“, Christoph Werner, Vice President at Koelnmesse, explained the event. “Owing to this exchange, we will be able to meet the exhibitors’ requirements concerning THE TIRE COLOGNE in a tailor-made way.” Based on the motto “Communication as answer to complexity!” Koelnmesse presented the full range of its services and the plans for THE TIRE COLOGNE based on theme islands. In 2018, about 70,000 square metres of exhibition area in halls 6 to 9 as well as the Congress-Centrum with 14 rooms will be available. The halls are unsupported, flooded with light, at ground level and dispose of a height of 11 up to 15 metres. Exhibitors and visitors can look forward to the fifths biggest trade fair grounds in the world located in the biggest European business area. Koelnmesse and BRV consider themselves well prepared with 90,000 hotel beds in the region and the three biggest German airports within a radius of only 150 kilometres for the relocation of the tyre industry. Koelnmesse has indeed already several times proven its expertise concerning the relocation of bigger trade fairs, like leading industry trade fairs e.g. dmexco, FIBO and gamescom. According to responsible people at the trade fair, the events were able to increase the number of visitors by between 50 to even more than 150 per cent and with regard to exhibitors by between 25 and 200 per cent after the relocation to Cologne. The team for THE TIRE COLOGNE will strategically focus on internationalization. Apart from activities in Germany, presentations at trade fairs and talks with multipliers in foreign countries are planned as from 2015. International advertising and public relations activities will continuously be increased Koelnmesse presented the range of its services and plans for THE TIRE COLOGNE based on theme islands. until 2018. As a consequence, Koelnmesse will make use of its international network, which consists of local representatives in more than 100 countries ready for personal contacts with exhibitors and identification of visitor target groups. Several services will be at the disposal of exhibitors, visitors and press representatives in Cologne: From booking hotels with fixed special rates, online Matchmaking 365 for dealing with inquiries and coordinating appointments to databases of novelties and images during the trade fair. About 50 representatives of the industry made use of the invitation to Cologne. After the presentation of the theme islands, the invited guests could be convinced of the know-how and the services of the trade fair company: the INTERMOT Köln, which took place in nearly the same halls as the THE TIRE COLOGNE will, invited to a visit after the event. (kle) There will be more chances in Cologne according to Peter Hülzer, Managing Director at German Federal Association of Tyre Trade and Vulcanizing Handicraft (Bundesverband Reifenhandel und VulkaniseurHandwerk AutoRäderReifen - Gummibereifung 01 | 2015 97