A NUMBER of Factors Influence Tyre Performance and Behaviour in Wet Conditions

A NUMBER of factors influence tyre performance and behaviour in wet conditions, including geometry of rubber, temperature, velocity and floor conditions. The folks at the SOLIDEAL test facility in Belgium conducted a study in which Solideal SM and treaded resilient tyres were tested in a variety of surfaces and conditions, including dry and wet brushed concrete, and dry and wet smooth concrete. According to SOLIDEAL, the report concluded that smooth tyres have better grip than treaded tyres on dry, clean floors, as they have a larger contact area. On wet floors, tread patterns become important, especially on high speeds (over 100km/ph due to the water evacuation and aquaplaning). On low-speed applications and wet floors, travelling up to 15km/h, a smooth tyre even has better grip than a treaded tyre, as all the water is squeezed out of the interface tyre/road, again due to the high contact pressures, says SOLIDEAL. On dirty floors (mud, loose surfaces) however, a tread pattern becomes essential in evacuating the loose materials. When choosing the right tyre for your forklift application, SOLIDEAL advises, in the case of low-speed applications on normal harden pavements, the grip does not rely on the tread pattern, due to high contact pressure (± 0.8-1.0Mpa). The company’s Solideal SM is said to offer maximum tyre life, due to the reduction of treaded tyre wear characteristics such as lug tear, uneven wear (heal and toe) and leading edge contact damage. Therefore, the SOLIDEAL SM tyre will reportedly achieve as good or better performance in most general forklft applications/conditions compared to the treaded equivelant. For even longer tread life, the SOLIDEAL SM widebase version can achieve up to three times that of the standard offering. Source: myfen.com.au