A wheel for a vehicle (e.g., a construction vehicle, an all-terrain vehicle, or other off-road vehicle) or other device, in which the wheel includes a non-pneumatic tire that may be designed to enhance its use and performance, including to be able to be used longer and/or in more challenging conditions, such as by being more resistant to cracking or other damage which could lead to premature failure (e.g., due to manufacturing artifacts and/or rocks and other hazards that can cut, chip, or tear during use). The non-pneumatic tire includes an annular beam configured to deflect at a contact patch of the non-pneumatic tire and an annular support extending radially inwardly from the annular beam and configured to support loading by tension. An elastomeric material of at least one of the annular beam and the annular support may have selected properties, including greater crack propagation resistance when subject to tensile stress.

A tread of a tire includes a plurality of blocks including a center block located on an equator plane and a side block located outward of the center block in an axial direction. Each of the plurality of blocks includes a land surface that forms a part of a tread surface. In the tread surface, a total area of the land surfaces is smaller than a total area of a portion other than the land surfaces. A complex elastic modulus at a maximum strain amplitude of 1% and a temperature of 70° C. of each block is not less than 10.0 MPa. A 300% modulus at a temperature of 75° C. of each block is not greater than 6.0 MPa.

The present invention is directed to a functionalized polymerization initiator of formula I

##STR00001##

where R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are independently hydrogen or C1 to C8 alkyl; R.sup.3, R.sup.4, and R.sup.5 are independently C1 to C8 alkyl or C6 to C14 aryl or a structure of formula II

##STR00002##

where R.sup.6, R.sup.7 are independently C1 to C8 alkyl or C6 to C14 aryl.

The belt layer (50) of the pneumatic tire (10) includes one inclined belt (50 A) having an inclined cord inclined with respect to the tire width direction, and a circumferential belt (50 B) disposed outside the tire radial direction of the inclined belt (50 A) and having a circumferential cord (52) wound along the tire circumferential direction. The inclined cord and the circumferential cord are formed of a predetermined organic fiber. The tread thickness (T1) of the rubber forming the tread portion (20) along the tire radial direction at a tire equatorial line (CL) is 5 mm or less.

Provided are a tread rubber composition which provides a balanced improvement in wet grip performance and resistance to low-temperature brittleness, and a pneumatic tire including a tread at least partially containing the rubber composition. The present invention relates to a tread rubber composition containing a styrene-butadiene rubber and having a tan δ peak temperature of −10° C. or higher and a brittleness temperature of −40° C. or lower.

Provided are tread rubber compositions providing a balanced improvement of fuel economy, wet-grip performance, and ice-grip performance, and pneumatic tires including treads at least partially containing the compositions. A tread rubber composition satisfying relationships (1) and (2): |(−30° C. E*)−(−10° C. E*)|≤150 [MPa] (1) wherein “−30° C. E*” denotes the complex modulus measured at −30° C., an initial strain of 10%, a dynamic strain of 0.5%, and a frequency of 10 Hz, and “−10° C. E*” denotes the complex modulus measured at −10° C., an initial strain of 10%, a dynamic strain of 0.25%, and a frequency of 10 Hz; 1.5≤0° C. tan δ/30° C. tan δ≤3.0 (2) wherein “0° C. tan δ” denotes the loss tangent measured at 0° C., an initial strain of 10%, a dynamic strain of 2.5%, and a frequency of 10 Hz, and “30° C. tan δ” denotes the loss tangent measured at 30° C., an initial strain of 10%, a dynamic strain of 2%, and a frequency of 10 Hz.

A tire includes a block 30. The block 30 includes a land 36b, a transverse groove 48b, a longitudinal groove 50b, and a side surface 38b. The land 36b is flat. The transverse groove 48b is recessed from the land 36b. The transverse groove 48b has inner and outer ends 52 and 54 in an axial direction of the tire. The inner end 52 of the transverse groove 48b is open on the side surface 38b. The outer end 54 of the transverse groove 48b is not open on the side surface 38b. The transverse groove 48b is localized in the inner region of the block 30 in the axial direction.

The present invention is directed to compounds represented by the formula: Formula (i) wherein R.sub.1 comprises a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 to 2 carbon atoms; wherein R.sub.2 comprises an alkylene group, an arylene group, or a heterocyclic group; and wherein M comprises a monovalent metallic cation such as sodium, lithium, or potassium; or a multivalent metallic cation such as zinc, nickel, iron, titanium, or cobalt; or an ammonium or alkyl ammonium cation derived by addition of proton (s) to a nitrogenous base.

##STR00001##

This invention relates to a silane-functionalized resin composition having a polymer backbone, wherein the polymer backbone is selected from at least one of C.sub.5 homopolymers and copolymer resins, terpene homopolymer or copolymer resins, pinene homopolymer or copolymer resins, C.sub.9 homopolymers and copolymer resins, C.sub.5/C.sub.9 copolymer resins, alpha-methylstyrene homopolymer or copolymer resins, and combinations thereof, and wherein the polymer backbone is substantially free of styrene copolymer; and a silane, where the ratio of the mole percent of the silane to the mole percent of the polymer backbone in the composition is in the amount of 0.04 to 3.0 as determined by H-NMR.

Composite particles may be produced by drying slurries containing silica particles and graphenic carbon particles in a liquid carrier. Elastomeric formulations comprising a base elastomer composition and the silica-graphenic carbon composite particles are also disclosed. The formulations possess favorable properties such as increased stiffness and are useful for many applications such as tire treads.