Abstract
Tyre rolling resistance is a key performance index in the tyre industry that addresses the environmental concern. Reduction of tyre rolling resistance is a major challenge so as to lower the fuel consumption, which could be achieved by changing both design as well as compound formulation. In this paper, rolling resistance of 205/60R15 as well as 155/70R14 passenger car radial tyre with nanocomposite based tread compounds were evaluated using finite element (FE) analysis. The energy dissipation in the tyre was evaluated using the product of elastic strain energy and the loss tangent of materials through post processing using a rolling resistance code. The elastic strain energy was obtained through steady state rolling simulation of tyre using Abaqus software and the loss tangent was measured in the laboratory by viscoanalyzer. A good correlation of rolling resistance was observed between simulation and experimental results. Nanocomposites used in this study were prepared based on solution styrene butadiene rubber and polybutadiene rubber blends with either organoclay and carbon black or organoclay and silica dual fillers. Carboxylated nitrile rubber, a polar rubber, was used as compatibilizer to facilitate the clay dispersion in rubber matrix. Compared to general carbon black or silica tread compounds, substantial improvement of rolling resistance was predicted by FE simulation with nanocomposite based tread compounds containing dual fillers organoclay-carbon black or organoclay-silica.
