When run flat tires were introduced, they represented an advancement in safety and confidence for the drivers of vehicles which had them installed. Upon a puncture, the vehicle could be driven up to 80 kilometres per hour for up to 80 kilometres, saving the need to change a tire on the side of a roadway in potentially dangerous conditions, and generally providing enough emergency range to get to the nearest service centre for a replacement.
Trouble is that after a puncture, the damaged tire's sidewall became deformed, and would heat up faster than the interior of a car parked in the sun on a hot day. By reducing that heat generation, engineers would be able to create a more durable run-flat tire.
And so they have. Bridgestone Corporation has developed a new "cooling fin" technology which takes advantage of the deformed sidewall and uses disturbances in the airflow created by protrusions in the rubber to cool the sidewall down. Until now, run flat tires were only available on passenger cars, though the advancement has made it possible to create them for certain CUV's, SUV's and minivans, says Bridgestone.
photo:Philippe Champoux
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Trouble is that after a puncture, the damaged tire's sidewall became deformed, and would heat up faster than the interior of a car parked in the sun on a hot day. By reducing that heat generation, engineers would be able to create a more durable run-flat tire.
And so they have. Bridgestone Corporation has developed a new "cooling fin" technology which takes advantage of the deformed sidewall and uses disturbances in the airflow created by protrusions in the rubber to cool the sidewall down. Until now, run flat tires were only available on passenger cars, though the advancement has made it possible to create them for certain CUV's, SUV's and minivans, says Bridgestone.
photo:Philippe Champoux