In 1969, J. A. Davisson, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.,
presented the Buckendale Lecture at the SAE Annual Meeting. This
paper, "Design and Application of Commercial Type Tires,"
was a comprehensive summary of the state of the science of
commercial truck tires.
Included in the paper were tire design factors, performance
properties, and application requirements of commercial truck
tires.
In the following 19 years, many changes have taken place in the
design and application of commercial vehicles. Truck tires have
experienced significant evolutionary change over this period.
Radial truck tires were in the initial phase of application in
the United States in 1969. Today they comprise 60 percent of the
total market and have expanded widely in both size and
application.
Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) has become integral to tire
development and production processes, thus enhancing the tire
engineer's effectiveness and responsiveness.
In this paper, tire engineering factors, performance properties,
and application requirements are discussed. The interrelationship
of these subjects is discussed specifically for radial heavy duty
truck tires from the perspective of today's tire engineer