At Tire Technology Expo 2024, Michelin unveiled advances aimed at deepening the understanding of tire and road wear particles, presenting the first research results to the scientific community and industry stakeholders.
Over the past two decades, Michelin has been dedicated to mitigating tire abrasion and conducting extensive research on wear particles. In line with this commitment, the company has developed SAMPLE, a system designed to analyze small particles emitted by tires. It captures, sorts, counts and characterizes particles with precision and reproducibility, paving the way for the development of biodegradable tire wear particles.
As questions surrounding tire and road wear particles continue to emerge, reliable, reproducible and standardized measurements are essential for gaining insights into their environmental impact. Michelin’s study has quantified the contribution of these particles to atmospheric pollution, with initial results revealing that approximately 1.3% are PM10 and 0.16% are PM2.5, crucial data for Michelin’s research efforts and official bodies tasked with estimating urban pollution levels.
To advance understanding in this area, Michelin has made its system for analyzing emitted light particles available to the tire industry and the European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA). ETRMA will conduct a comprehensive measurement campaign in collaboration with an independent third party, spanning approximately 18 months.
Michelin’s approach aims to complement the Euro 7 standard recently adopted by the European Commission, which will establish regulatory tire abrasion thresholds to reduce particle emissions in Europe.
In late 2023, Michelin also announced the establishment of BioDLab, a collaborative laboratory with CNRS and the University of Clermont Auvergne, dedicated to understanding the biodegradation of wear particles and developing solutions for their bio-assimilation.
For more news from Tire Technology Expo 2024, please click here.
