A team from Virginia Tech The company has been chosen for a project worth 1.5 million dollars that will investigate the use of additive manufacture in tire retreading.
The project, which was created as part of the REMADE Initiative, a U.S. Department of Energy public-private partnership aimed at accelerating America’s transition towards a circular economy will be supported by Michelin and researchers at Arizona State University. Tim Long, professor and director of Arizona State’s Biodesign Center for Sustainable Macromolecular Material and Manufacturing will provide expertise in synthesis of high-performance elastomers that are suitable for 3D printing.
The project aims at tackling wear and improving the efficiency of commercial vehicles such as tractor-trailers, which transport materials and consumer goods. Retreading is usually done on commercial tires when they wear out. This involves buffing away the old surface and adding a new one. This process is estimated to waste nearly nine pounds of material per tire and could reduce fuel efficiency. Around 14.5 million tires are retread annually.
The team at Virginia Tech is being led by Chris Williams, L.S. Randolph Professor in Mechanical Engineering, and aims to use 3D scanning, 3D printing, and industrial robotics to develop a new manufacturing process that selectively deposits Long’s materials along the tire surface to meet the performance requirements of the tire industry.
“We are really excited to undertake this challenging project, which integrates advances in polymer science and manufacturing including 3D scanning, 3D printing, and industrial robotics,” said Williams. “If all goes well, the resulting retreading technology could result in annual reductions of about 90 metric kilotons of tire waste and 800 metric kilotons of CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions across the retreading industry.”
The funding is a cost-sharing arrangement between Virginia Tech and the REMADE institute. The development and evaluation of the bonding materials, along with the methods for applying and curing them on the tire, will draw upon Virginia Tech’s experience in polymer science, particularly its Macromolecules Innovation Institute (MII) Williams is affiliated with the Polymer Science Hub, a hub for polymer research.
Robert Moore, director of MII, added: “On behalf of MII, we are very proud that the REMADE Institute has recognised that this team of our faculty and students is uniquely skilled to take on the profound challenges of this project — from the basic science needed to create new materials capable of seamlessly mating with complex tire surfaces to engineering principles that will ensure durable tires that meet strict safety requirements.”