(1) Passenger tires (PC)
Passenger tires are the largest varieties of tires in terms of production and sales, and developed countries have accounted for 75%~80% of the number of automobile tires. Its performance quality is diverse, and the product upgrade speed is fast, which has become a symbol of the modern technical level of tires. In recent years, with the improvement of the road environment and the high-speed driving of vehicles, radial tires with excellent speed, wear resistance and energy saving have completely replaced bias tires, and have realized tubeless and flattening. According to the type of passenger car, passenger tires can usually be divided into four categories: car tires, recreational sports vehicle (SUV) tires, utility commercial vehicle (MPV) tires and minivan tires. The required properties are: sportiness (brake drive, driving stability), ride (comfort, quietness), economy (wear resistance, fuel and oil saving), and safety (air pressure retention, run-proof performance). There are summer, winter and all-weather tires in function, and there are also general and high-performance, ultra-high-performance and green tires. The inflation pressure of passenger tires belongs to the range of low pressure and ultra-low pressure, generally 140kPa, and the maximum can not exceed 280kPa. The proportion of high-performance, ultra-high-performance and green tires is constantly expanding, increasingly tending to have a high aspect ratio and large rim diameter, from high-speed safety, environmental protection and energy saving to safety and intelligence, its technical content is rapidly improving.
1) General tires for summer
Ordinary summer tires are generally installed in small and micro economy cars with fuel consumption of less than 1.6 liters. Emphasizing the balance of sportiness, ride and economy, the speed is within the three-level range of S, T, H (180, 190, 210km/h), and the flat ratio is 80~60. The common ones are 185/70R1386T, 195/60R1486H, 185/65R1486H, 205/70R1595T, etc. The tread pattern is mostly used in the form of thin transverse short line blocks with wide strips as the main body, which is suitable for good road surfaces dominated by highways. The tire structure is also relatively simple, and the carcass is composed of 1~2 layers of nylon and polyester chemical fiber cord arranged in a 0° angle. In the past, it was mainly based on nylon, but now polyester cord has a slight upper hand. Most beads are equipped with a fiber reinforcing layer to increase the side rigidity. The belt layer is a double-layer steel cord with a 70~80° cross arrangement of the ribbon structure, and some are also reinforced with nylon cord at the upper part of the steel cord layer to form a tread double reinforced configuration.
2) High-performance and ultra-high-performance tires for summer
The tires are mainly used for luxury sedans over 1.6 liters, SUVs, sports cars, and MPV multi-purpose vehicles, and there are two types of tires: sporty performance and sporty ride performance. In the former, it is necessary to pay attention to the stability of going straight at high speeds and the ease of steering when cornering. The latter also considers ride comfort and quietness at high speeds. The speed class is also much higher than that of ordinary summer tires, which used to be divided into V and Z grades, but now it has been increased to V (240 km/h), W (270 km/h) and Y (300 km/h), and there are also ZR and (Y) classes with speeds of more than 240 km/h and (Y) classes with speeds of more than 300 km/h. The aspect ratio is as high as 55~40 series, and the rim diameter is also relatively increased to 16~18in. The flat ratio of the new ultra-high performance tires has been increased to 5~20, and the rim diameter has been expanded to 20~24in. Such as 2595/25ZR2297Y, 225/30ZR2490W. The tread is also very different from that of ordinary tires, and the sports passenger tires are mostly large block patterns, and the sports and passenger tires also have thin seams of different sizes. For cars with high steerability, asymmetrical tread patterns with different shapes on the inside and outside are often used; When driving at high speeds, use a pattern type with good drainage and a specified direction of rotation. The structure is also more complex than that of general passenger tires, in addition to the carcass is polyester or strong silk cord, the left and right sides of the bead part should be made of nylon cord, and a layer of steel wire cord is added to the inner side to focus on reinforcement. The belt layer is added with a fiber reinforcing layer on top of the steel cord layer, which used to be mostly high-strength nylon cord, and now more aramid, PEN and even POK fibers are used.
3) Winter tires
Winter tires, also known as winter anti-skid tires, are mainly used on winter ice and snow surfaces, and are divided into two categories: studded and non-studded. In the early days, winter tires were usually tied with non-slip metal chains on ordinary tires, but due to the decrease in driving speed and serious noise, they were later changed to studded tires. Studded tires are a big step forward from chain tires, but they are also noisy and damage the road surface. Therefore, in recent years, the use of non-studded tires has been widely developed, and the tread size and thickness patterns are mixed together for anti-skidding, which has now become the mainstream. The flat ratio of this type of tire is mostly 80~60 series, and the speed grade is generally Q (160km/h), and the new modern winter tires have reached 40 series and H (210km/h). High-end all-weather tires, some of which have been developed to the point where they can also be used in winter snow and ice. Tread pattern patterns have become the hallmark and key to skid resistance in winter tires. In general, in order to improve the driving, braking and cornering performance when treading snow, a high groove area ratio and a deep folded groove line are configured on the basis of a large block pattern, and at the same time, more fine grooves are used to enhance the grip effect on the snow road. At the same time, tires with a pattern that do not deform even when braking with a greater load are applied. At the same time, a three-dimensional pattern has been developed to ensure a larger contact area and improve braking performance. The tread of winter tires requires close contact with the road surface in a low temperature environment to maintain intact softness and resilience. Therefore, air bubbles are often configured in the tread rubber, and their density and shape are controlled to improve the grip of the road surface and the effect of removing the ice film on the ice. Some even mix an appropriate amount of hard particles or various staple fibers into the tread rubber to further improve the traction and grip on the ice.
(2) Truck and light truck tires (TB, LT)
Truck tires refer to the tires used in trucks, buses and tourist buses to carry goods and people. Light-duty truck tires are tires used in light-duty trucks, commercial, travel vans and low-level trailers, and are mostly used for cargo and passenger transportation. The cross-sectional width and inner diameter of a tire are larger than that of a passenger tire and are indicated in inches. The general section width is from 6.00in to 14.00in, and the inner diameter is 18~24in for truck tires, 13~17in for light trucks, and 15in for trailers. The tire inflation pressure is also higher than that of passenger tires, usually reaching 600~900kPa. The production volume of truck and light truck tires generally accounts for 15%~20% in developed countries (5%~7% for light trucks), and 25%~30% in China. In other countries, 80%~90% have achieved tubeless and radial, 20%~30% have begun to flatten, and buses and tourist buses and vans have basically reached the three modernizations. Since the driving speed on the highway has reached 90~130km/h (load) and 90~160km/h (light truck), safety has become the most important condition. At the same time, they also put forward many new requirements for economy, tires are not only wear-resistant and durable, long-term safe use, but also to reduce fuel consumption, reduce exhaust emissions, eliminate vibration and noise, and improve environmental pollution. As a result, truck-duty and light-duty truck tires are moving towards uniform wear resistance, high durability and low rolling resistance. The pattern has shifted from the original horizontal and transverse to the form of horizontal and shun combination and shun, and the proportion of noise-free and silent pattern is constantly expanding. The carcass also needs to be further strengthened, and there is also an expectation that the proportion and frequency of refurbishment after use will increase, and even re-engraved use. Truck and light truck tires are usually inspected after 5 years of use, and replaced if necessary; At the end of 10 years, it must be renewed regardless of whether it is used or not. However, in specific use, due to different uses and conditions, the requirements for tire performance and quality are also different, so there are often great differences, and the use time is not static, and some do not even exceed 1~2 years. North America, Western Europe, Japan and China each have their own characteristics, and these factors must be taken into account when producing and using them according to local conditions to ensure safety.
(3) Construction tires (OR)
Construction tires originally meant Off the road Tire and were called OR or OTR. Now it mainly refers to all kinds of tires used in engineering vehicles and construction machinery, including dump trucks, scrapers, excavators, loaders, bulldozers, graders, rollers, beach cranes, cranes, concrete mixers and their transport trucks and other special tires for engineering construction vehicles. In addition, it even includes tires for forestry harvesting, deserts, swamps, etc., which are extremely complex and have a variety of working conditions, and are basically divided into two types of transportation and operation in terms of the nature of work. The driving speed, the working type tire is below 10km/h, and the transport type tire is 15~65kg/h, in fact, they are used in places ranging from gravel, rock pan, sand to soft soil, swamp and desert, and the conditions are very complex and harsh. In addition to the basic performance required, special attention is paid to additional characteristics such as puncture resistance, puncture resistance, heat resistance, heat dissipation, traction and floating.
(4) Agricultural Machinery Tires (AG)
Agricultural machinery tires include tractors (wheeled, boat, hand-held, miniature), cultivators, management machines, harvesters, rice transplanters, weeders, cultivators, sprayers, seeders, farmland transport vehicles and animal husbandry machines, etc., with more than 100 varieties and specifications. Its characteristics are mainly based on the nature of agricultural machinery operations, such as paddy fields, dry land, fruit trees, pasture and other farming methods, as well as the types of crops and choose to use separately, which is very complex. Generally, it is divided into three categories: general machine tires, special machine tires and agricultural transport vehicles.