Continental has developed an "Online analysis of airborne tyre wear particles" (OLRAP) system that captures and characterises tyre and road wear particles at the point of origin to inform tyre development.
A vacuum device mounted behind a driven wheel and particle sensors detect fine airborne particles and distinguish whether they come from tyres, road surface or brakes.
A multisampler separates particles produced during cornering from those generated while driving straight and correlates particle size and concentration with speed, longitudinal and lateral acceleration, surface and weather conditions; Continental also developed measurement techniques with the Technical University of Braunschweig.
Continental says the data on particle size and quantity feeds into its tyre development programme to optimise design and compounds, and Michelin published a similar vacuum measurement system in 2024; the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation and Continental say driving behaviour most influences wear and Euro 7 will introduce EU tyre-wear limits from 2028.
This summary is based on coverage by AutoCar.
Read the full article at AutoCar.
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