KOSEN 한인과학기술자네트워크

아시다시피 포드 엑스플로러에 사용되었던 브리지스톤/파이어스톤 타이어가 문제를 일으켰지요. 타이어 불량은 곧바로 인명사고로 연결되기때문에 타이어 회사들마다 신기술 개발에 역량을 집중하고 있습니다. 브리지스톤/파이어스톤 역시 신기술(?)을 이용해만든 타이어가 문제를 일으킨 것이지요. 사실 각 타이어 회사의 웹사이트를 방문해보시면 "신기술" 개발을 자랑하고 있지 않는 회사가 거의 없을 정도입니다. 하지만 새타이어의 선택은 신중할수록 좋습니다. tire 신기술에 관한 기사를 소개합니다 (1999년 5월). Materials science and engineering의 중요성을 일깨워주는 흥미있는 기사입니다. ============= TIRE TECHNOLOGY TREADS CAREFULLY - Revolution Comes Slowly IS THE TIRE OF THE future already here? You can buy one that rides quietly, has excellent grip, low rolling resistance for increased gas mileage, can run fiat, and will last for the life of your car--but not all for the same wheel. The challenge for tiremakers and suppliers is to combine all of these properties into a single tire that will cost no more than today's best technology. The basics of tiremaking have changed little since radial tires were launched in the 1960s. In a complex, multistep process, a blend of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), polybutadiene, and natural rubber, along with additives and carbon black and silica fillers, is formed over a carcass made from high-strength fibers and steel cord. The rubber, however, is the focus of most technology development. "The tire is a complex composite part, but the rubber is where the most action is," says Bill Barbin, director/compound technical projects at Goodyear Tire and Rubber. "Our customers are looking for improvements in traction, rolling resistance, tread wear, and the ability to run fiat. Our challenge is to be able to improve each property without having to trade off something else." The most recent innovations have been the switch from emulsion to solution grade SBR, a more regular polymer, and the adoption of silica fillers to produce low-rolling-resistance "green" tires. They made their mark in Europe, where fuel costs are higher, but are spreading to the U.S., where automakers are using them to boost the gas mileage of the latest generation of giant sport utility vehicles. Besides run-flat tires, which require improved elastomers in their tougher sidewalls, tiremakers are also introducing tires with partly colored sidewalls made chiefly from ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber. Opportunities for chemicals suppliers include sealing gels and lubricants used with run-flat technology, as well as nonstaining stabilizers used with colored tires. "We are looking at how to enhance our elastomers to meet the requirements of longer life while maintaining durability," says Roger Jones, manager/tire product applications design at Bayer, which supplies both elastomers and rubber chemicals. "The challenges are maintaining air retention and preventing tires from hardening as they get older. Some of this can be achieved by chemically modifying the elastomers." Tiremakers and suppliers admit that a step change in a tire's chemical technology is likely as tires combining existing elastomers and rubber chemicals reach their natural limit. Industry experts say the next challenge is to develop a tire in which the various components react with each other, rather than existing as a composite mixture. "It won't be enough to have just conventional SBR, polybutadiene, and additives," says Jean-Louis Locatelli, worldwide materials director at Pirelli. "We are looking for dedicated polymers with functional groups that react directly with other components in the tire. The next generation of tire will probably involve rubber terpolymers that will combine directly with silane groups that are part of thc silica filler." >안녕하셔요.. > >1. 국내외의 타이어 신기술 동향에 대하여 알고 싶습니다. > (한타나, 금호에서 Run-Flat Tire를 개발했는데, 이것 이외의 신기술은 없는 것이지..?) > >그럼 부탁드립니다.