Continental will be represented with four technical presentations at this year’s Tire Technology Expo conference to be held from March 4 to 6 in Hanover. Jorge Almeida, Head of Sustainability at Continental Tires, and Prof. Burkhard Wies, Head of Applied Research and Innovation at Continental Tires, will open the conference with a presentation on the company’s sustainability strategy.
The focus of the presentation is on reducing the environmental footprint of tyres during their use phase. Continental will also hold two further expert presentations on the opening day and one the day after. These include an analysis of tyre wear particles under real conditions, the presentation of an innovative testing device for measuring energy losses in rubber samples and the introduction of a more environmentally friendly adhesion technology for textile reinforcement materials known as COKOON.
“Continental is pursuing eager sustainability ambitions. But in the rapidly evolving tyre industry, we also know that certain overarching issues can only be solved collectively. Cross-divisional research projects, exchanges of expertise and the pooling of know-how form the foundation for this. The Tire Technology Expo conference is therefore extremely important to us,” says Wies.
The emissions that occur during the use phase of a tyre due to driving include both tyre and road wear particles. Reliable, standardized and particularly accurate measurement methods are needed for their comprehensive research. Such methods are essential for a better understanding of the environmental impact of wear particles and, based on this, for developing new solutions to further reduce them. To this end, Continental has jointly conducted a study with the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany. The aim of this project titled “Online Analysis of Airborne Tire Wear Particles During their Formation and Differentiation from Particles of Other Origins” (OLRAP in German) was to develop a method that can quantify tire wear particles under a variety of conditions – including driving style – during their formation. Dr. Benjamin Oelze, Group Leader Test Method Development Tire Wear at Continental Tires, will center his presentation around the results of this research project, which was funded by the German Ministry of Science and Culture.
Rebound resilience provides information about hysteresis losses in rubber samples. This property is important for the tyre industry because it corresponds to the energy loss that occurs during contact between the tyre and the road – an important factor in measuring and reducing rolling resistance. Materials with high rebound resilience lose less energy in the form of heat, which contributes to improved fuel efficiency and lower carbon emissions. In his presentation, Prof. Jorge Lacayo-Pineda, the Continental expert for the evaluation of new materials, will introduce an innovative rebound testing device that is able to display a dynamic mechanical analysis of the hysteresis curve within milliseconds.
The projects and technologies presented by Continental at the Tire Technology Expo contribute to the reduction of driving-related tire emissions, while also advancing knowledge relating to more sustainable processes and jointly solving individual, overarching issues. The ambitions of Continental Tires are diverse: the company aims to significantly reduce its emissions and further advance the development of concrete solutions through scientifically validated means. This includes the ambition to achieve carbon-neutral production at all of its tyre plants worldwide by 2040.
Source: Continental
