Goodyear tire pressure technology to debut

qiangzi

Thursday, September 20, 2012

) d' c: A' I7 U2 aAkron, OH - The commercial application of Goodyear’s Air Maintenance Technology will make its debut at the 2012 Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung (IAA) Commercial Vehicle Show in Hanover, Germany. Over the past year, researchers at Goodyear Tire & Rubber have been working on a new Air Maintenance Technology application that can aid in fuel savings and CO2 reductions while potentially improving performance and eliminating need for external inflation pressure intervention. Goodyear’s Air Maintenance Technology mechanism allows tires to maintain constant, optimum pressure without the use of external pumps, electronics and driver intervention. AMT is expected to play a major role in optimizing tread life in the commercial tire market. Tires which are under inflated by ten percent decrease tread life by 9-16%. The life of a commercial truck tire is often extended by retreading. The commercial truck AMT system is being designed to perform after the retreading process. Engineers at Goodyear’s Innovation Center in Akron are credited with the development of the commercial application of this concept and the supporting technology. Prototype tires have been produced in Goodyear’s Topeka manufacturing plant in Kansas. A $1.5 million grant from The United States Department of Energy’s Office (DOE) of Vehicle Technology is helping speed up research, development and demonstration of the AMT system for commercial vehicle tires. A grant from the Luxembourg government for research and development will continue to help fund Goodyear’s efforts in researching and developing the AMT system for consumer tires.