Science behind tire treads?

[TaiFong]

Recently, I've become interested in how tire manufacturers design tire treads. It's interesting to me how precisely changing the design of the grooves in street tires can add or take away grip, along with the type and grade of the rubber compound of course.

Does anyone have any resources where I can read up on this subject? I've looked on howstuffworks.com, but they don't go very in-depth with their tire article. Thanks!

[Gabkicks]

I think i remember seeing some forms of autosport having custom tire treads like wrc. i saw a vid of Subaru's team adjusting the tread of the tires after some testing. Same with when the Option Z was getting preped for that race in america.

[speedfreak227]

look up some materials engineering pages for scientific explainations. i'd loan you some text books but i doubt you're in town.

http://www.matweb.com/index.asp?ckck=1
http://www.intota.com/multisearch.asp?strSearchType=all&strQuery=rubber+vulcanization
(http://www.intota.com/multisearch.asp?strSearchType=all&strQuery=rubber+vulcanization)
speedfreak227

[Fonnybone]

Along those lines...i noticed at a young age that the thread on tires wasn't
even, the patterns grow and shrink and i only understood later how it
is this way to help cancel out some unwanted frequencies that would be
generated if the tires had an even, fast repeating pattern, it can also help
reduce booming/droning (spelling..) at constant highway speeds.

So a factor in a tire thread's pattern is also sound/harmonic tuning.
These little rubber donuts have a lot more technology in them than meets
the eye ;)

[Frankmd]

It is not really about tire threads, but since you are interested in tires, I think this topic has some interesting information for you :)

http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=2753

[TaiFong]

Thanks for the help guys, as usual. :)

[Fonnybone]

Hey, HowStuffWorks is a great site!

I use it myself. It may vulgarise things to make it easier to understand, but that's the point ! It's still factual and can help you
understand, well, how stuff works.

Recently i've noticed a boom of Wikipedia. I'm not sure how long this has been around, but since i found this (a few months ago),
i haven't stopped using it, sometimes spending hours on end reading and learning stuff. I love learning :)
It's basically an online encyclopedia, it's IMMENSE and you can find info on just about anything from Einstein, Area51, to Michael Jackson's Neverland. I just HAD to try "Tire", well, what do you know they have that too !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tires

One thing i like about Wikipedia is how it also includes some history, it can help understand things much better sometimes.

[tristancliffe]

you spelt tyre wrong :p

[Fonnybone]

you spelt tyre wrong :p

Although i know you are just teasing me, i'd like to point out that
both are valid. You guys are always backwards anyways :p

[TaiFong]

Although i know you are just teasing me, i'd like to point out that
both are valid. You guys are always backwards anyways :p

Yeah seriously. Not only do I like TIRES, but also enjoy looking at pretty COLORS, and driving on the right side of the road.

Just kidding...have a sense of HUMOR!

:monkey::woohoo:

PS: Wikipedia is awesome, I concur. I didn't even think to check there.

[Metalstar]

I think we have it right in this case :)

Its not possible for us to get confused when saying, "i was tired at work today", you guys will assume that I was run over or something . . . . . . obviously . . . . .

[KiDCoDEa]

Note that the section on Darth Vader (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darth_Vader) is longer than the section on Beethoven (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darth_Vader).

hehe that cracks me up... geeeeeeeeks.
reminds me of conan o'brien.

[DasBoeseC]

...do you mean that video where a dog interviews those SUPER-NERDS waiting for their Mom to pick them up? :D ;)

[J.B.]

YOU LOOK LIKE SOME KIND OF SUPER-NERD!!! (http://gamefiles.blueyonder.co.uk/blueyondergames/trailers/ROFL.STARWARS.NERDS.wmv) :)