The invention provides for a heavy truck tire having a sub-casing, a belt package and a rubber tread, the tread comprising a center zone separating two shoulder zones. The upper shoulder layer consisting of an upper shoulder rubber compound being different from a lower shoulder rubber compound, wherein: the upper shoulder rubber compound has a G*50 of at least 1.3 Mpa and a max tan(δ) of at least 0.12; the lower shoulder rubber compound has a max tan(δ) not greater than the max tan(δ) of a center rubber compound in the center zone being intended to come into contact with the ground; and the center rubber compound has a max tan(δ) of at most 0.09.

Tire having improved wet grip performance and improved resistance to breaking or chipping along with good fuel economy. The tire includes a tire component (preferably, a tire tread) formed of a vulcanized rubber composition. The vulcanized rubber composition is obtained by vulcanizing a specific unvulcanized rubber composition. The unvulcanized rubber composition comprises (a) a rubber component composed of natural rubber, polybutadiene rubber, and two different types of styrene-butadiene rubber, (b) a filler that includes silica, and (c) a silane coupling agent that incorporates a —C(═O)—S— moiety.

A support assembly for a vehicle includes at least two spherical tires travelling on a road surface and rotating relative to the road surface and the vehicle and a drive system magnetically driving rotation of the tires relative to the drive system itself such that no portion of the drive system physically contacts the tires or the road surface. The tires each have an outer tread layer comprising a material having a first stiffness when dry and a second stiffness when wet, the first stiffness being greater than the second stiffness.

A rubber composition is based on at least an elastomer, a reinforcing filler, a crosslinking system and a crumb rubber, the said crumb exhibiting: an acetone extract of between 8% and 50% by weight; a chloroform extract such that the ratio of the chloroform extract to the acetone extract, expressed as percentage by weight, is less than 1.5, the chloroform extract exhibiting a weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of less than 10000 g/mol; and a content of plasticizer of greater than 8% by weight in the composition of the crumb.

A pneumatic tire includes bead cores, a carcass ply, an inner liner, and a tread having a volume of the low density region of 35% or more at elongation by an applied stress of 1.5 MPa, a volume of the void portion of 7.5% or less at elongation by an applied stress of 3.0 MPa and a hardness of 65 or more and the crosslinked rubber composition of the present invention having a volume of the low density region of 35% or more at elongation by an applied stress of 1.5 MPa, a volume of the void portion of 7.5 or less at elongation by an applied stress of 3.0 MPa and a hardness of 65 or more are excellent in abrasion resistance.

The present invention relates to a tire tread comprising a tread cap comprising at least one tread cap rubber compound, at least three circumferential grooves, wherein at least portions of the sidewalls and the bottom of each of said grooves are formed by a circumferential groove reinforcement, and wherein a first groove reinforcement of a groove laterally next to the equatorial plane of the tire comprises a first reinforcement rubber compound which has a higher hardness than the tread cap rubber compound, and wherein a second groove reinforcement of a groove with a larger lateral distance to the equatorial plane of the tire than the first groove, comprises a second reinforcement rubber compound which has a higher hardness than the tread cap rubber compound and a lower hardness than the second reinforcement rubber compound.

Provided are a rubber composition for tires that shows a balanced improvement in properties such as fuel economy, processability, heat aging resistance, abrasion resistance, wet-grip performance, performance on snow and ice, and handling stability, and a pneumatic tire formed from the rubber composition. The present invention relates to a rubber composition for tires, containing: a highly purified, modified natural rubber having a pH adjusted to 2-7; carbon black and/or a white filler; and a silane coupling agent represented by the following Formula (S1): ##STR00001##
wherein R.sup.1001 represents a monovalent group selected from —Cl, —Br, —OR.sup.1006, —O(O═)CR.sup.1006, —ON═CR.sup.1006R.sup.1007, —ON═CR.sup.1006R.sup.1007, —NR.sup.1006R.sup.1007, and —(OSiR.sup.1006R.sup.1007).sub.h(OSiR.sup.1006R.sup.1007R.sup.1008), wherein R.sup.1006, R.sup.1007, and R.sup.1008 are the same as or different from one another and each represent a hydrogen atom or a C1-C18 monovalent hydrocarbon group, and h represents a number whose average value is 1 to 4; R.sup.1002 represents R.sup.1001, a hydrogen atom, or a C1-C18 monovalent hydrocarbon group; R.sup.1003 represents R.sup.1001, R.sup.1002, a hydrogen atom, or the group: —[O(R.sup.1009O).sub.j].sub.0.5— wherein R.sup.1009 represents a C1-C18 alkylene group, and j represents an integer of 1 to 4; R.sup.1004 represents a C1-C18 divalent hydrocarbon group; R.sup.1005 represents a C1-C18 monovalent hydrocarbon group; and x, y, and Z are numbers satisfying the following relationships: x+y+2z=3, 0≦x≦3, 0≦y≦2, and 0≦z≦1.

A tire comprises a directional tread (10), said tread comprising a central axis (12) and two edges (14A, 14B) a tread width W being greater than or equal to 140 mm, said tread (10) comprising a plurality of patterns (13) which succeed one another in the circumferential direction, each pattern having a pitch P, the patterns (13) delimiting a plurality of oblique grooves (16A, 16B), each oblique groove extending from one of the edges (14A, 14B) of the tread as far as the central axis (12). In a central part of the tread centered on the central axis (12) and of a width corresponding to 80% of the width W of said tread, all or some of the oblique grooves (16A, 16B) of the plurality of oblique grooves have a prescribed slenderness ratio, and all or some of the patterns comprise at least one sipe and have a prescribed sipes density SD.

A method of modeling a tire includes providing a tire having a first tire design, rotating the tire under a vertical load, and measuring a plurality of forces at a plurality of selected conditions. The method further includes using a computer to plot the plurality of forces against the plurality of conditions, using the computer to plot a plurality of moments against the plurality of conditions, and using the computer to fit a first force curve to the plurality of plotted forces at the plurality of conditions, such that the first force curve is asymmetric. The method also includes using the computer to fit a first moment curve to the plurality of plotted moments at the plurality of conditions, evaluating the first force curve and the first moment curve, and making a second tire design based on the evaluation of the first force curve and the first moment curve.

A tire with a radial carcass reinforcement, having a crown reinforcement, itself capped radially by a tread connected to two beads by two sidewalls, the tread containing at least two layers of blended elastomeric compounds that are radially superposed and have a voids ratio that is lower in the central part than at the axially outer parts. A first layer of blended elastomeric compounds of the tread is made up of a first blended elastomeric compound forming a part extending at least into the region of the equatorial plane and of at least two axially outer parts formed of a second blended elastomeric compound, the first blended elastomeric compound having a macro dispersion Z-value higher than 65 and a maximum tan(δ) value, denoted tan(δ)max, lower than 0.150, and the elongation at break in a tearability test of the second blended elastomeric compound at 100° C. having a value at least 10% higher than that of the elongation at break of the first blended elastomeric compound in a tearability test at 100° C.