As the mining industry continues to evolve and to meet the increasing demands of resources, so must the tires equipped on haul trucks. As we continue to assist mine sites in maximizing their productivity, we’re taking such feedback and finding ways to engineer better products for customers. Here are some of the trends our mining tire engineers are seeing and how this may affect you and your operation.
- Tire manufacturers are shifting from developing performance-centric compounds to different ways of manufacturing tires sustainably and efficiently.
While it’s still a priority for tire manufacturers to refine performance-driven compounds to improve mine site’s TKPH, but due to the increasing need to provide more products in a sustainable way, the
y have to consider other ways to deliver performance products sustainably and efficiently. Manufacturers begin to venture outside of the traditional mixing procedures of rubber compounds, which involve mixing the compounds and the ingredients for the rubber mechanically, into mixing everything in a liquid form.
- How does this new “liquid phase mixing” methodology benefit end users such as mining operations?
By conducting this new way of manufacturing, tire manufacturers are able to create a more homogenized mixture of the materials and dissolve them in a more distributed way within the rubber mix.
Since heat buildup is one of the major concerns in mining tires as that TKPH factor is what drives a specific compound to use, a tire’s ability to have lower rolling resistance is key. Essentially, lower rolling resistance equals better heat resistance, and better heat resistance equals to higher wear resistance and longer tire life. This process yields consistency in wear, cut and heat performance, which are some of the most important attributes for tough applications in mining.
- Other than new ways of manufacturing and mixing compounds and rubber mix, what other mining tire trend is happening?
In addition to having a more efficient and sustainable way of manufacturing and mixing compounds and rubber, tire manufacturers are also further refining tread patterns.
Tread pattern plays a vital role in performance as a simple tweak can change a tire’s ability to dissipate heat or guard against abrasion, especially for mining equipment. Some tread patterns are specifically better than others
depending on a mine site’s application needs and TKPH value. But in general, with the increasing demand for tires to dissipate heat faster in haul truck applications, tire manufacturers are stepping up their game on tread patterns outside of just compound technology.
Interested to learn more? Our Director of Engineering discusses these trends in detail in our podcast below:
