What are modern tyres made of?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Under the skin: What are modern tyres made of? (msn.com)

[davidif]

I wonder what the tyres properties are like i.e.. grip levels and wear rates as compared to traditionally constructed tyres?

[Haliotis]

Depending on type of service required, rubber compounds can have many different ingredients in them.  Vehicle tyres are probably the most critical for what is demanded of them during their working life. Apart from the obvious physical properties, any use of alternative materials will be expected to meet or improve the characteristics of today’s tyres. Things such as ozone resistance (remember early tyres being susceptible to surface cracks?), and avoidance of permanent deformation in the case of prolonged standing, and exposure to inclement weather conditions are an important factor.  Tyres on low mileage vehicles will be at most risk, since these even now can still have ample le tread left when age has already caused them to deteriorate so as not to be really safe to operate.  Some of the proposed materials do give cause for concern.

[Bper]

If anyone is interested regarding modern tyres this article from Dunlop is interesting and explains.

https://www.dunlop.eu/en_gb/consumer/learn/how-tires-are-made.html#:~:text=Tyres are made from up,belts%2C beads and other components.&text=Natural and synthetic rubber combine,core component of your tyre.

[Cyker]

What gets me is it's been maybe 30 years and they STILL haven't made the air-less tyres they showed me on Tomorrow's World as a kid work!  

[Haliotis]

I worked for Dunlop (later to become BTR) for 31 years.  Our support team consisted of engineers and rubber technologists.  Although we were not part of a division that produced tyres, I have watched the building of a motor vehicle tyre prior to it going into the press for vulcanisation.  The actual building of the tyre is a complex and extremely skilled job, when you consider the accuracy required to build up the various layers and locating the steel beads, so that finished vulcanised tyre, with all its component parts, is perfectly formed in order to do the job for which it is designed.

When one considers the different chemical formulae of rubber components ( not just tyres, but for all the wide range of rubber products in industry, I think it will be many years - if ever - before all rubber products (and some of their components are oil based) can be developed to be constructed from environmentally-friendly sources.

[Haliotis]

14 minutes ago, Cyker said:

What gets me is it's been maybe 30 years and they STILL haven't made the air-less tyres they showed me on Tomorrow's World as a kid work!  

Cyker, I once bought a pair of airless tyres for my bike.  The ride was harsh - road bumps produced jarring and they were not very good in the wet. After a time, braking hard caused them to slip in the rims - i.e., the wheel came to a stop before the tyre. 

[Cyker]

That doesn't sound fun at all!  

Where they actually just solid rubber tyres??

One of the problems with airless tyres, is they realized air is actually really really good stuff - It's deformable, cushioning, doesn't wear out, can act as a heat sink and spreader, and weighs almost nothing. Its only real disadvantage is it doesn't want to stay in the tyre and will escape at any given opportunity.

It turns out trying to duplicate all the other stuff without compromising the last is a lot harder than anyone thought...!

The one thing I don't understand with modern tyres is why they don't have some sort of puncture-seal layer in them as standard. Having used Puncturesafe in the past, it's amazing stuff - Does a fantastic job of sealing punctures with no user intervention required, with its only downside being that it's a liquid, and as it can move around it can cause imbalance issues in the wheel at certain speeds. However, the tyre manufacturer sealants are a fixed layer in the tyre which don't move, so they should give the same advantages without the imbalance, yet they are almost impossible to find on sale anywhere in normal sizes!

 

[Haliotis]

Hi Cyker.  Those bike tyres - outer skin similar to conventional tyre.  Inner filling was a sort of softer foam, but still relatively hard stuff, which I suppose it had to be so that the tyre profile was not badly flattened by the weight of bike and rider where it was in contact with the road.     I once had to visit a shop which was in an arcade down a cobbled roadway.  The vibration made my teeth chatter as if on a freezing day!

Puncture-proof car tyres - The standard gunge (which I hate), and which is supplied with my C-HR, is a liquid that sets in the tyre and the wheel has to be rotated to spread it around the tyre.  And it (a) only seals a small pierced hole, not cuts, and (b) once used, the tyre issues scrap because the sealant prevents later vulcanisation for proper repair later at a garage.

The  Puncturesafe that you mentioned leaves me puzzled as to how it can rapidly set at the point of where a puncture occurs.   Regarding the slant being a fixed layer inside the tyre, would that not reduce its resilience to deformation under the thrust of a sharp object, and the sealing layer simply be pierced along with the section of the tyre?

I have already made enquiries at my Toyota dealership concerning the fitment of a space saver wheel and accessories to replace the present gunge and inflator set up.

[Cyker]

re. Puncturesafe, don't know how it works - The stuff I had was a blue gel similar to the consistency of children's game show gunge, but worked really well at sealing punctures - Despite having several while trialling it, I never took them to be repaired while I had the stuff in because there was no pressure loss, and were it not for the terrifying wheel imbalance at high speeds (Literally the whole car and esp. steering wheel was shaking at certain speeds!  ), I'd likely still be using it!

The tyre manufacture sealants work in a similar but slightly different way - Once punctured, the air pressure of the tyre would push the sealant layer into the gap, sealing it with minimal loss as the goop seems to be like a thick tar that is 'self healing' where it's punctured.

Some of the bizarrely rare demo videos I've found:

 

 

[Benzowner]

I always thought rubber was a sustainable product 😂

[Haliotis]

1 hour ago, Benzowner said:

I always thought rubber was a sustainable product 😂

Rubber (latex) sap is drawn from Hevea trees, and is sustainable.  For use in tyres, about 47% is latex and 22% is carbon black.  Carbon black can be obtained by partial combustion of petroleum, and can also be recovered from waste tyres.  Various other additives also go into the making of tyres.

Latex itself is sustainable - carbon black less so, particularly if drilling for oil was to cease.  The presence of carbon black in tyres is important for the purposes of improving wear, and for being a good dissipator of heat - vital in the prevention of car tyres overheating. 

So, it is obvious, because of the harsh environment that a car tyre has to withstand, plus the essential safety factors involved, that the current materials used for tyre production are of vital importance, and the ability to  manufacture tyres with eco-friendly materials is a very challenging one.

This is why the antics of the “Just Stop Oil” movement are so foolish - add to this the fact that oil is broken down in the cracking plants to produce many byproducts, some of which are used in medicine and the pharmaceutical industries, and anyone capable of thinking things through can see that much in-depth research over many years will be necessary before oil can be eliminated from daily use.  And, if ICE engines are completely phased out whist other petroleum products remain essential, methods would have to be found to safely dispose of yet another source of toxic compounds.

[mpm235]

On 12/13/2023 at 5:29 PM, Haliotis said:

Rubber (latex) sap is drawn from Hevea trees, and is sustainable.  For use in tyres, about 47% is latex and 22% is carbon black.  Carbon black can be obtained by partial combustion of petroleum, and can also be recovered from waste tyres.  Various other additives also go into the making of tyres.

Latex itself is sustainable - carbon black less so, particularly if drilling for oil was to cease.  The presence of carbon black in tyres is important for the purposes of improving wear, and for being a good dissipator of heat - vital in the prevention of car tyres overheating. 

So, it is obvious, because of the harsh environment that a car tyre has to withstand, plus the essential safety factors involved, that the current materials used for tyre production are of vital importance, and the ability to  manufacture tyres with eco-friendly materials is a very challenging one.

This is why the antics of the “Just Stop Oil” movement are so foolish - add to this the fact that oil is broken down in the cracking plants to produce many byproducts, some of which are used in medicine and the pharmaceutical industries, and anyone capable of thinking things through can see that much in-depth research over many years will be necessary before oil can be eliminated from daily use.  And, if ICE engines are completely phased out whist other petroleum products remain essential, methods would have to be found to safely dispose of yet another source of toxic compounds.

Great post. well said Sir! Just Stop Oil are degenerate buffoons.