Tyre

The rubber part of the wheel which contacts the ground. The construction can be bias-ply, bias-belted, or radial. The plies are made of rayon, nylon, and polyester. Belting can be fibreglass, steel, or kevlar. The rest of the tyre is hard rubber.

Cross-section through a tyre and wheel rim.

Aspect Ratio

The ratio of section height to section width multiplied by 100.

Carbon Black

Used as a filler, to provide a uniform colour, and to increase wear resistance.

Contact Patch

Area of a tyre that actually touches the road.

Silica

Used as a filler in the tyre rubber to improve life and to reduce rolling resistance.

Sipes

Narrow slits in the tread blocks that allow the tread block to flex and so increase grip. They also pump water away and so improve wet-weather grip.

Tyre Bead

That portion of the tyre that bears against the rim flange. The bead has a number of turns of steel wire in it to provide great strength.

Tyre Gauge

An instrument for determining the pressure in a tube or tyre.

History
1839 Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber later used for tyres.
1845 Robert William Thompson produced the first pneumatic tyre
1888 John Boyd Dunlop produced the first pneumatic tyre for bicycles
1904 Carbon added producing black tyres.
1904 Goodyear and Firestone started producing cord reinforced tyres
1908 Frank Seiberling: grooved tires with improved road traction
1922 Dunlop: steel cord thread in the tyre bead
1943 Continental: patent for tubeless tyres
1946 Michelin introduced the radial tyre
1947 BFGoodrich introduced the tubeless tyre

See also: Independent Suspension, Rolling Resistance, Run-Flat Tyre, Slick Tyre, Tubeless Tyre, Tyre Bead, Tyre Tread Pattern, Wheel.

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Subjects: Mechanical Engineering