Self-Healing Rubber and Low-Noise Tech to Improve Tires

Apparently, it's a good month for tire technology. Researchers on two different continents independently announced technologies that promise to improve tires and the future of car travel. One technology significantly decreases tire noise, while the other may put an end to flat tires, thanks to a new self-healing rubber.

Drive-by noise cut by up to 10 dB

California-based Falken Tires has created new engineering, in conjunction with parent company Sumitomo Rubber Industries, that targets vibrations to reduce tire noise, according to a report in TheEngineer.com. The secret to the new technology is a modest layer of ether-polyurethane foam applied to the inner surface of the tire. This reduces vibration in the air that's trapped inside the tire.

Generally, these vibrations travel up through the vehicle and contribute to the whirring sound of tires on pavement. Currently other tire manufacturers use a similar layer of foam, but the company claims a special design improves vibration abatement. It also claims that noise outside a vehicle can be reduced up to 10 dB, while noise inside the vehicle can be cut up to 4 dB. And as science continues to reduce noise from aerodynamic effects, every decibel adds up.

Rubber, heal thyself

Amit Das, a researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research in Dresden, Germany, published work with his team that may mean an end to many flat tires. The team has developed technology that allows rubber to heal itself. Working with commercial grade rubber, the scientists have created a carbon and nitrogen additive that allows the rubber to reform broken bonds. This means that vulcanized rubber, when torn, can regain both its durability and elasticity.

You can learn more about the team's work in their published findings in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, and you can also watch this short video.