Coreform wins Department of Energy grant to improve tire tread simulation

The Department of Energy has awarded a significant grant to Coreform, a three-time Inc. 5000 company, to develop computer simulation processes that will increase the use of simulation in the advanced tire industry. “Greater use of predictive simulation analysis for advanced tire tread designs will reduce the cost of product development and accelerate the adoption of both electric and self-driving cars,” notes Coreform Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Sederberg. “We anticipate this project will help the tire industry develop new and innovative tread patterns to reduce noise and improve energy efficiency.”

Tire wear currently accounts for as much as 4 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to experts. However, developing new tire designs has remained a problem. Innovative tire design improvements often include such small features that existing computer simulation software can take up to 8 weeks to complete a single analysis. Since tires require testing across a range of issues, from tread wear to noise production and temperature changes, these lengthy analyses are too expensive and time-consuming for frequent use. In today’s production pipelines, next-generation tire designers have to resort to physical testing of prototypes. All of this makes it take longer and cost more to improve tire designs for modern requirements.

Greg Vernon, Director of Engineering at Coreform, says Coreform’s approach will use isogeometric analysis to allow tire manufacturers to test new designs much more quickly. “This project will allow tire manufacturers to test new ideas more quickly. Down the road, that will mean fewer particulate emissions, longer life, and better energy efficiency for all of us.”