An Analysis and Evaluation of the Damage and Durability Performance of Steel Belted Radial Ply Passenger Tires That Have Experienced Severe Impacts

It is widely known and well understood that a pneumatic tire can be vulnerable to irreparable damage as a result of severe road hazard impacts while in service. A wide variety of vehicle and laboratory test procedures exist to evaluate the effect on tire/wheel assemblies from impacting a road hazard such as a pothole. An example of a standardized procedure is SAE J1981, the primary purpose of which is to evaluate wheel performance. However derivations of this procedure have been used to evaluate tire performance, and to specifically characterize failure modes in tires. This Paper discloses a series of frontal impact tests on tire/wheel assemblies, combined with a series of nondestructive tests, culminating with controlled, fatigue endurance tests, to identify the damage and ultimately confirm the failure modes in steel belted radial ply tires.