EFFECT OF FILLERS ON WET SKID RESISTANCE OF TIRES. PART I: WATER LUBRICATION VS. FILLER-ELASTOMER INTERACTIONS

From results of testing materials using a new filler, it was recognized that the wet skid resistance of tires is determined not only by dynamic properties of the tread compounds, but also by elastohydrodynamic lubrication, especially on the micro scale. By reviewing the basic concepts of friction under dry and wet conditions, and friction coefficients of possible model materials that are at the worn surface of tire tread compounds and road surface, it is inferred that after skid testing under wet conditions, the top skin of the worn surface contains some bare silica for silica-filled compounds, but the carbon black aggregates remain covered by rubber film. This inference is supported by measuring the surface energies of the fillers, analyzing the properties of filled vulcanizates, and direct investigation of worn surface of the compounds after skid test by AFM. The different surface compositions between silica- and carbon black-filled vulcanizates would lead to different effects on micro-elastohydrodynamic lubrication, hence wet skid resistance, which will be the topic of next report of this study.