PDEng: Rubber Friction Tests at University of Twente

Tyre traction plays a crucial role in safety on roads, as the tyre is the only contact area between the vehicle and the road. Tyre manufacturers test the braking distance of tyres intensively on different surfaces and at conditions to ensure safety of their products. Prediction of the friction ability of tread compounds at an early stage of tyre development is very important.

Friction between tread rubber and dry clean road surfaces consists of two components: adhesion (shearing in the area of real contact) and a hysteretic part from the pulsating deformation of the tread rubber evoked by asperities of the road surface. In case of wet friction, the adhesion part can be removed or significantly reduced due to a hydrophilic contact especially at low sliding speeds. Recently B.N.J. Persson and coworkers published articles about the importance of adhesion, of the effect of water squeezed out of the interface and of the type of contact on rubber friction. This includes theoretical explanations and models based on these insights and special measurements, like measurement of adhesion between a rubber sample and a glass ball. These measurements so far were done on existing equipment at Apollo Tyres Global R&D.

The challenge of the design project is to redesign two types of equipment, to be able to measure various types of surfaces and tread compounds. The latter includes a wide range of different resins, which can affect adhesion and therefore friction. This type of measurements will help to better understand the effect of compound composition on rubber friction and tyre breaking performance.

The mission of this design project is to: “Design of robust and reliable test equipment and methods for measurement of rubber friction.”

In the course program you get a customised education package consisting of, among others, courses in decision-support system design, systems engineering & design, theoretical background on rubber and friction, and experimental methods.

Further details:
PDEng: Rubber Friction Tests at University of Twente