Hankook seeks "top-tier" position with new technology centre

For the Technical Centres feature in the Jan/Feb issue of European Rubber Journal magazine, Shahrzad Pourriahi Hankook Tire executive Hyun Bum Cho at the of the company’s new Technodome research centre in South Korea in October

The recently opened Hankook Technodome research centre represents a significant step forward for Korean tire maker Hankook’s R&D infrastructure, according to Hyun Bum Cho, president and chief corporate strategy & finance officer of Hankook Tire Worldwide.

Marking an investment of KRW266-billion (€213 million), the seven-story Technodome has floorspace totalling 96,328m2 and is equipped with over 90 state-of-the-art research labs and a smart-work system. The facility is designed to improve R&D efficiency and productivity of the tire development process.

Technodome is part of Hankook’s plans to achieve sustainable growth and become a global top-tier company, said Cho, who is also chief corporate management officer of Hankook Tire.

Approximately 2.3% of Hankook Tire’s total sales is invested in R&D annually, said Cho, adding that the company expects this level to grow in-line with anticipated increases in its global market-share.

As part of its R&D push, Hankook seeks to attract top global talent, said Cho, noting that the company currently employs 1,000 R&D staff – about 5% of its total workforce – and aims to house 1,000 R&D staff at the Technodome by the year 2020.

The Technodome, he added, employs numerous test engineers as well as researchers who study materials, mechanism, integration of material, tire performance and many other aspects of tires.

“A tire is an outcome of integration of physics, chemistry, material engineering, environmental engineering and many other sciences,” commented Cho. “Also, there are test engineers who participate in every step of testing to prove the research results.”

According to Cho, Techno- dome will take a central role in Hankook’s R&D effort, working in co-operation with technical centres in North America, Europe, China and Japan.

“Global-scale R&D plans will be incubated in cooperation with other global R&D centres of Hankook Tire at Hankook Technodome,” he commented.

The driving simulator, said Cho, does not require an actual driver: “It can assess tire performance simply with vehicle information … and is designed to accumulate and store information on numerous cars and tires from around the world.”

Technodome is also equipped with advanced noise and friction-testing facilities, including an anechoic chamber designed for in-use testing of tires.

Evaluate noise

The chamber, explained Cho, “blocks all the sound from the outside and evaluates every noise that a tire makes. A three-metre sized drum under the anechoic chamber replicates on-road and off-road driving and enables researchers to analyse tire noise in different environments.

Cho went on to note increasing demand for integrated mobility solutions. In response, he said, Hankook is developing intelligent tires that are capable of providing real-time information on a range of criteria, from tire wear to road conditions.

The Hankook Technodome will also serve as a hub for the development of original and applied materials technologies such as new alternative rubber materials and non-pneumatic tire models made out of an advanced unimaterial that is easier to recycle than traditional rubber,” said Cho.