Reduce Tire Manufacturing Cost
Modern tire manufacturing involves complex process chains where raw material costs account for 60% of total production expenses, while energy consumption during vulcanization and curing cycles adds another 15-20%. Current production lines typically require 45-60 minutes per tire, with significant variations in quality and consistency across batches.
The fundamental challenge lies in reducing material and energy costs while maintaining the precise mechanical properties that determine tire performance and safety.
This page brings together solutions from recent research—including thermoplastic elastomer alternatives to conventional rubber, modular mold designs that reduce maintenance costs, single-step manufacturing processes using horizontal centrifugal casting, and customizable production systems that optimize inventory management. These and other approaches focus on practical ways to lower production costs while maintaining or improving tire quality and performance specifications.
1. Hydrothermal Cracking and Fractionation System for Tire Material Recovery and Reuse in New Tire Production
THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO, 2025
Recycling end-of-life tires into new tires with high efficiency by converting the waste tires into valuable feedstocks for tire production. The tires are hydrothermally cracked to separate oil, water, and solids. The oil is fractionated to extract wax and process oil. The wax is refined and the process oil is steam cracked to make tire components like elastomers, resins, and additives. The solids contain fillers like carbon black and silica. The recovered fillers, wax, and process oil are then used to make new tires, with at least 50% of the tire weight coming from recycled tire materials.
2. Development of an Intelligent Instrumented Tire for Real-Time Hydroplaning Risk Estimation
alexandru vilsan, corina sandu, gabriel anghelache, 2025
<div>This study introduces an innovative intelligent tire system capable of estimating the risk total hydroplaning based on water pressure measurements within tread grooves. Dynamic represents important safety concern influenced by depth, design, and vehicle longitudinal speed. Existing systems primarily assess using wedge effect, which occurs predominantly in deep conditions. However, shallow water, is far more prevalent real-world scenarios, effect absent at higher speeds, could make existing unable to reliably risk. Groove flow a key factor dynamics, it governed two mechanisms: interception rate pressure. In both cases, groove will increase as result increasing speed for constant depth. Therefore, grooves also approaches critical Unlike conventional systems, proposed design utilizes amplitude shape measured signals from Experimental results indicate that peak increases with hydroplaning. Furthermore, overall signal be By addressing limitations current offers robust solution real-time estimation across diverse driving conditions.</div>
3. Developing smart tire pressure monitoring system: A performance evaluation of ESP32-C3 with ESP-NOW communication
reftito indi muhammad, giva andriana mutiara, muhammad rizqy alfarisi - Conscientia Beam, 2025
This study aims to develop a low-cost and energy-efficient Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) that provides real-time monitoring of tire pressure temperature using IoT-based wireless communication. The system was built the MS5803-14BA sensor, ESP32-C3 microcontroller, ESP-NOW protocol. Performance tested through laboratory real-world scenarios compared two commercial TPMS systems (Level A B). proposed achieved 95.91% accuracy, closely aligning with Level (99.87%) slightly outperforming B (95.35%). It showed highest sensitivity (10.00%) while maintaining stable readings (6.45%). In contrast, exhibited greater fluctuation (9.68%). protocol enabled reliable, low-power data transmission without interference. developed delivers high accuracy in detecting conditions real time demonstrates superior power efficiency environmental stability, making it strong alternative traditional RF-based solutions. can be integrated into smart vehicles or fleet management platforms, enhancing safety alerts enabling predictive maintenance. Future enhancements will include broader IoT connectivity, impro... Read More
4. Coextrusion Process Utilizing Gear Pump-Driven Elastomer Feed for Enhanced Material Placement Precision in Tire Components
COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN, 2025
Coextrusion process for making tire components like treads and sidewalls with better control over material placement and reduced scrap rates compared to conventional coextrusion methods. The process involves feeding each extruder with an elastomer compound from a gear pump instead of directly from the barrel feed. This allows independent control over the flow rates of each compound as they converge in the extrusion head. It provides better positioning and interface consistency between the coextruded parts compared to feeding directly from the barrel.
5. Motorcycle Tire with Curved Tread Profile and Specified Land Ratio Zones
SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES LTD, 2025
Motorcycle tire with tread design to reduce wear step formation. The tire has a curved tread profile. The land ratio, or width-to-height ratio, of each zone between the tread edges and ground contacting surface is specified. This prevents excessive wear step formation at the edges of the tread by optimizing the wear distribution. The curved tread shape and controlled land ratios suppress the step wear that can occur in the center of the tread due to its shape.
6. Vehicle Tire with Functionalized Carbon Nanoparticle-Enhanced Rubber Matrix
HAYDALE COMPOSITE SOLUTIONS LTD, 2025
Tyres for vehicles with improved grip, wear resistance, and low weight. The tyres contain a rubber matrix with functionalized carbon nanoparticles like graphene and carbon nanotubes. The functionalization improves dispersion of the carbon nanoparticles in the rubber. This provides better grip, structural and chemical properties, and abrasion resistance compared to unfunctionalized carbon nanoparticles. The functionalization involves treating the carbon nanoparticles with chemicals like nitric acid to modify their surface.
7. Non-Pneumatic Wheel with Annular Deformable Tread and Rotating Radial Stop Discs
VENTURI LAB SA, 2025
A non-pneumatic wheel design for use on rough terrain like the Moon or Mars. The wheel has an annular tread layer that can deform to match the ground surface. Stop discs project radially outward from the hub. The tread layer has an inner surface that contacts the stop discs to limit radial deformation. This prevents excessive tread layer sliding and damage. The stop discs can rotate against the tread inner surface to accommodate large deformations. The wheel structure includes radial reinforcements connecting the tread to the hub. The stop discs rotating feature allows the wheel to deform significantly on rough terrain without damaging the stops.
8. Tire Tread with Concave Block Faces and Radial Height Distribution for Heavy Construction Vehicles
COMPAGNIE GENERALE DES ETABLISSEMENTS MICHELIN, 2025
Tire tread for heavy construction vehicles that improves grip, especially on muddy terrain, while also increasing wear resistance. The tread has blocks with concave contact faces and a distribution of radial heights between the inner and outer portions that allows better penetration and anchoring. The concave contact faces have at least three pairs of sides forming angles greater than 180 degrees. This shape provides better grip and traction compared to convex contact faces. The radial height of the outer penetration portion is 0.1-0.6 of the total block height.
9. Pneumatic Tire Tread with Dual-Compound Thermal Conductivity and Defined Groove Geometry
SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES LTD, 2025
Pneumatic tire with improved grip and durability at high speeds. The tire has a tread with at least two rubber compounds with different thermal conductivities in the ground contacting surface. This allows efficient heat dissipation during high-speed running to prevent excessive heat buildup. The tire also has specific dimensions and groove geometry to further enhance grip and durability.
10. Polydiene Rubbers with Alkoxy Silyl Group Functionalized Comonomer Units
ARLANXEO DEUTSCHLAND GMBH, 2025
Polydiene rubbers with improved properties for tire applications, made by polymerizing diene monomers with functionalized comonomers containing alkoxy silyl groups. The functionalized comonomers have repeating units derived from the functionalizing comonomer. The functionalized rubber polymers have better interactions with fillers and improved tire properties compared to non-functionalized diene polymers.
11. Rubber Composition Incorporating Phosphoric Acid-Modified Cellulose Nanofiber and Carbon Black
TOYO TIRE CORP, 2025
Rubber composition for pneumatic tires with improved durability without sacrificing elongation. The composition contains a diene-based rubber, carbon black, and phosphoric acid-modified cellulose nanofiber. Adding the modified cellulose nanofiber to the rubber composition enhances rubber strength without reducing elongation compared to using just carbon black. This provides better tire durability without compromising tire flexibility.
12. Rubber Composition with Modified Diene-Based Rubber and Phosphoric Acid-Modified Cellulose Nanofiber
TOYO TIRE CORP, 2025
Rubber composition for pneumatic tires that improves durability without sacrificing elongation. The composition contains a diene-based rubber, modified diene-based rubber, carbon black, and phosphoric acid-modified cellulose nanofiber. The modified diene-based rubber improves rubber strength, while the nanofiber further enhances strength. The composition allows reducing filler like silica to improve elongation. The composition can be used in vulcanized rubber parts of tires.
13. Pelletizable Fiber Blends with Short Fibers and Low-Wax Binder for Direct Polymer Integration
DOWCO LLC, 2025
Pelletizable fiber blends containing short fibers and a binder that can be directly added to polymers or rubbers without melting the pellets to disperse the fibers. The pelletized fiber blends improve fiber dispersion during polymer processing, reduce fiber clumping, and provide better interfacial bonding between fibers and the matrix. The blends have less than 1% wax to prevent sticking during pelletization. The pellets can be used to prepare composites with improved physical properties like tensile modulus, elongation, tear strength, and abrasion resistance compared to unpelletized fiber blends.
14. Conjugated Diene-Based Polymer with Controlled Molecular Characteristics and Modification for Rubber Compositions
LG CHEM LTD, 2025
Modified conjugated diene-based polymer for rubber compositions with optimized properties like modulus and tensile strength. The polymer has specific viscosity, molecular weight, and molecular weight distribution ranges. It is prepared by controlled polymerization conditions. The polymerization step involves using an organometallic compound and stopping at low conversion. The modified polymer is then reacted with a modifier. This provides a rubber composition with improved properties like modulus and tensile strength compared to unmodified diene polymers.
15. Micronized Rubber Powder Activation via Silane and Silica Treatment for Enhanced Vulcanization and Dispersion
ATLANTIS RUBBER POWDERS BV, 2025
Upgrading micronized rubber powder (MRP) for large-scale reuse in tires by chemically activating the powder to improve performance. The activation involves treating the powder with silane during grinding to prevent sticking and using silica as a dusting agent. This functionalizes the powder surface to enhance vulcanization and dispersion in rubber compounds. The activation step involves contacting the powder with silane, silica, peroxides, or other activators. This allows using lower amounts of MRP in tire formulations compared to unactivated powder, which improves properties like tear strength, abrasion resistance, and dynamic performance.
16. Recombinant Resilin Cross-Linking via Ammonium Persulfate and Heat with Solvent Exchange for Property Modulation
BOLT THREADS INC, 2025
Improved compositions and methods for cross-linking recombinant resilin proteins to make biodegradable elastomers with tunable properties for applications like automotive parts, shoes, and gaskets. The compositions are made by exposing recombinant resilin to ammonium persulfate and heat to cross-link without enzymes or photoinitiators. The cross-linked resilin can be further processed by solvent exchange to replace the aqueous cross-linking medium with nonaqueous solvents like glycerol, propylene glycol, or DMSO to tune properties like elastic modulus, hardness, and fatigue resistance. This allows tuning cross-linked resilin compositions for specific applications without degradation from impurities.
17. Tow Dolly Cross Rail Assembly with Arched Configuration and Telescoping Center Bar
CURTIS COLLINS HASSELL, 2025
Tow dolly cross rail assembly with positive camber that reduces tire wear and improves stability when towing vehicles. The cross rail has an arched configuration with an upward-sloping center bar. This creates positive camber on the dolly tires at the outer ends of the bars. It prevents the tires from leaning inward when loaded, keeping them vertical. The arched shape helps prevent sagging and dynamic loading issues compared to flat cross rails. The center bar slides and telescopes to adjust rail length for different vehicle sizes.
18. Lignin-Rubber Masterbatch with Esterified Lignin for Carbon Black Replacement
NANJING TECH UNIVERSITY, 2025
Fully bio-based, highly filled lignin-rubber masterbatch for replacing carbon black in rubber. The masterbatch is prepared by mixing modified lignin with rubber. The lignin is modified by esterification with acetic acid and oleic acid to improve compatibility with non-polar rubbers. The modified lignin has reduced hydroxyl group content compared to unmodified lignin. The esterification reaction provides hydrophobic groups to decrease lignin polarity. This improves lignin dispersibility in the rubber matrix.
19. 3D Printing-Based Method for Fabricating Tire Tread Patterns Using Curable Elastomer Reverse Molds and Thermosetting Resin
THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO, 2025
Rapidly prototyping tire tread patterns using 3D printing to reduce costs and time compared to conventional mold making. The process involves creating a reverse mold of the tread pattern using a curable elastomer like epoxy. This mold is then filled with a thermosetting resin like cyanate ester to make the tread molding element. The thermosetting resin provides the necessary durability for vulcanization in tire production. The curable elastomer allows fine tread groove details to be 3D printed. This allows rapid prototyping of tire tread patterns using 3D printing instead of machining or mold making.
20. Rubber Composition Containing Polybutadiene and Styrene-Butadiene with Silica and Organosilane
THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER CO, 2025
Rubber composition for tire treads that provides improved wet performance while maintaining snow and wear characteristics. The composition contains specific amounts of polybutadiene, styrene-butadiene rubber, silica, organosilane coupling agent, processing oil, resins, and curing agents. The rubber formulation balances wet traction, snow traction, and wear resistance through the selected rubber components and curing package.
Through the optimization of materials, manufacturing methods, and design strategies, the tire business persistently discovers novel approaches to fulfill the requirements of tire manufacture at a reasonable cost. The advancements covered here show the tire industry's continuous efforts to reduce production costs without sacrificing important characteristics like performance, durability, and safety.
Get Full Report
Access our comprehensive collection of 53 documents related to this technology