Predicting the effect of operating parameters on the radial tire treadwear using response surface method

Tire treadwear is a familiar problem found in tires. There are several factors that affect the treadwears in tires like tire geometry, operating conditions, tire materials, etc. The current work aims at investigating the effect of three operating condition variables viz., inflation pressure (30-36 psi), speed (20-60 kmph) and distance (100-300 km) on the response (treadwear). The study is based on tire specimen made of same brand and specification to eliminate the variations in the tire specific properties like material, geometry, etc. Central composite design form of response surface method is employed to create the experimental design, develop the regression model and optimize the variables. The speed is proved to be the highest influential variable on the response. The verification of the model shows that there is a high degree of correlation between the analytical and experimental results with a mean standard error of 3.245%.