Yokohama cuts tires' aerodynamic drag

ERJ staff report (BC)

Tokyo - The Yokohama Rubber Co. has developed a tire design technology claimed to reduce aerodynamic drag.

A spokesman said “The new technology takes the environmental contribution made by reducing rolling resistance a step further by improving the flow of air around the tires while a vehicle is in motion, in order to raise fuel efficiency.”

Air flows turbulently inside the wheel wells when a vehicle is moving. Some of this air flows out alongside the vehicle, exacerbating drag. Yokohama has addressed this using both aerodynamic simulations and wind tunnel testing.

Aerodynamic simulation methods were developed in 2010 to enable air flow around tires to be model under conditions of actual use (i.e. with tires mounted in the wheel wells and revolving). The scope of simulation is being expanded to include the entire vehicle.

Yokohama unveiled the technology at the 26th Computational Fluid Dynamics Symposium, Tokyo. It will also be presented at the Tire Technology Expo 2013 in Cologne, Germany, from 5 February 2013.

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News release