Car tyres with reduced energy consumption

The objective of this publication is to present the changes that are currently made to the tyre structure in order to reduce its rolling resistance including the rubber compound, tread pattern and tyre support structure. Based on a broad literature review the authors present a history of changes introduced in the construction of tyres aimed at reducing their share in the energy losses needed to overcome the resistance of rolling wheels in the car's movement (at present it reaches even 50%). They indicate a significant conflict resulting from the rubber properties using the data sets available on the labels of summer and winter tyres in which the improvement of wheel adhesion leads to increased rolling resistance. In the next part, the basic factors determining the rolling resistance of tyres are approximated, focusing on those related to their construction. The influence of the rubber loss factor is described which values at different deformation frequency (turning the wheel 101-102 Hz and its braking at 104-105 Hz). It determines the interaction of the rubber with the road surface. Various ways of actions are shown to reduce the losses occurring during the deformation of the tyre: the use of silica as a rubber filler and the introduction of nanotechnology to control the rubber crosslinking process, reducing the volume of rubber used to build the tyre coating, simplifying the tread pattern and changing the tyre diameter size to a larger one (treatment used in electric cars). Particular attention was also paid to the weakness of the changes, i.e. the increase of the noise generated by the more elastic coating of the tyre and the possible directions of counteracting this phenomenon were signalled.