Michelin advances tire wear particles research with new analysis system

Clermont-Ferrand, France – Michelin has advanced its capabilities to study tire & road wear particles (TRWPs) with the development of a new light particle analysis system.

The technology makes it possible to “capture, sort, count and qualify particles as close as possible to the tires with high levels of precision and reproducibility,” Michelin announced 14 March.

To be presented this week at Tire Technology Expo in Hanover, Germany, the analysis system is intended to support the development of tires with wear “particles bio-assimilable by nature.”

Tire wear particles are on average the size of a human hair (100 µm) and form a complex mixture comprising, in equal parts, a combination of tire rubber (50%), as well as minerals and other road elements (50%).

The French group carried out a study on tire particles using the analysis process, which it said has been made available to the European Tire & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA).

The study, acccording to Michelin, made it possible “to better quantify the number of particles which contribute to atmospheric pollution.”

These included fine particles, or particle matters with the diameters of between 10 µm and 2.5 µm (PM10 and PM2.5).

These figures, Michelin claimed, “have never been verified with such precise experimental measurements until today.”

The first results of the study showed that among the particles emitted by a tire, on average 1.3% are PM10 and 0.16% are PM2.5 and are likely to be found suspended in the air.

For Michelin, such precise quantification is important to increase its understanding of the links between the tire, the road and driving behaviour.

Further afield, it said, official organisations can use the data to estimate urban pollution and develop air-quality measurement simulation models.

With the technology made available to ETRMA, the trade body will carry out “a larger-scale measurement campaign with the help of an independent organisation,” Michelin added.

The study, according to Michelin, will be launched in 2024 for a duration of approximately 18 months.

Michelin said its approach will be complementary to the Euro7 vehicle emissions standard, which was adopted by the European Parliament earlier this month.

The set of standards aims to make it possible to define regulatory thresholds for tire abrasion in order to reduce the quantities of particles emitted in Europe.

The regulation will be based on a recent test method introduced by the UNECE, based on which tire weight loss due to abrasion will be expressed in milligrams per kilometre per tonne of load on the tire. (ERJ report)