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NEWS
Bridgestone SmartWay approved casings will be able to be retreaded once the company puts its retreads through the new EPA test procedure
(l to r)Jan Driessen, Brenno Benaglia, Hans-Jürgen Drechsler, Jose Gomes, Ruud Spuijbroek, Salvador Perez
8 Retreading Business
EPA Outlines SmartWay Verification Program for Retreaded Tyres
Whilst Europe faces tests and homologation of retread tyres, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established a verification programme for retreaded truck tyres. Once a retreaded tyre receives EPA certification, fleets using those tyres will be compliant with CARB regulations for low-rolling- resistance tyres (though not wet grip or pass by noise yet).
A letter and instructions from Karl Simon, director of transportation and climate division of EPA, outlined how the new programme for the “establishment of a verification program for tyre retread technologies for use on line-haul Class 8 trucks” will work.
The EPA outlined the testing procedures manufacturers of retreaded tyres must use to demonstrate fuel efficient performance of their product. The EPA will begin accepting applications for verification of retread products immediately. According to the EPA, "verified low-rolling-resistance retread products must provide reductions in fuel consumption of at least 3per cent as compared to the most popular retread products now in use."
At this stage there are no approved retread products on the SmartWay approved low-rolling-resistance,
fuel-efficient tyres.
There have long been problems in establishing a standard for retreading as the retread performance is impacted by the casing and also by the tread. The difficulty that arises is which to measure, the casing, the tread, or both. Tyre manufacturers and retreaders have provided EPA with data on their retreads, but they often used different test methods. Left to sort the data out for itself, EPA concluded it needed better consistency across the tests and the results in order to make a decision.
Whilst measuring the rolling resistance contribution of the tread alone is difficult enough, measuring casings is equally complex.
Without a precise definition of a retreaded tyre in this context, the default position is that a SmartWay casing should be the basis for a SmartWay retread. That, however, would allow any tread - even a deep lug tread - to be used on a SmartWay casing, and thus be considered a SmartWay retread. That was obviously not the desired outcome.
A committee of tyre manufacturers was formed in 2010 from within the Rubber Manufacturers Association to develop a single test method and a reporting system. Larry Tucker, marketing manager
for commercial tyres at Goodyear, and a member of the RMA committee examining this situation, said that EPA was looking for a way to define a tyre that meets its greenhouse gas reduction objectives.
"We had to decide on which test method, what wheel position, and what testing criteria would be needed to provide accurate data on rolling resistance by wheel position, by tread design, and by casing," he said. "It will be our responsibility to give the EPA the data it needs to make informed decisions in setting the target values."
The EPA describes the newly defined test casing as "an American-made Yokohama Super Steel RY-617 in size 295/75R22.5." It will be used for all treads with conventional-width tyres used in dual configuration. The test casing chosen was selected by the industry panel.
The test protocol requires three new unused casings to be prepared for retreading in a normal manner, but tread curing
must be conducted at the "worst case" (time and temperature) condition allowed by the manufacturer.
Additionally, for retreads used on single-wide tyres, manufacturers may use an alternate casing made from a current EPA-verified new single-wide tyre. The test procedure allows results obtained from products with the same tread pattern and rubber compound as a product verified with the test casing to be applied to the tread model sized for the single-wide casing.
Tests are to be conducted using a standard 8.25-in. test rim with the test tyre turned against a 2-meter drum (or a mathematical equivalent) using the ISO 28580 method at 85 per cent of the maximum load rating of the tyre. The resulting rolling resistance coefficient is recorded and reported in the manufacturer's data submission to EPA.
EPA's testing procedure opens the door to using retreaded tyres on any casing -- not just SmartWay approved casings.
New BIPAVER Appointments
BIPAVER held its Annual General Meeting on June 6, during Reifen 2012 exhibition, where a number of changes were made to the Board.
Jan Driessen stepped down as President of the Federation but remains on the Board as the Immediate Past president. He is replaced as President by Jose Silva Gomes, Managing Director of the Portuguese retreader Recauchutagem Nortenha. Meanwhile, BIPAVER’s newest Board Member is Salvador Perez Vasquez from Industrias del Neumatico
(Insa Turbo) in Spain. He replaces Brenno Benaglia from Marangoni, who has stepped down from the Board. The main news during the meeting was the final approval of the Retyre project, which officially
commenced on April 1, 2012. A first meeting of the project was to be held at BAST in Germany on May 3rd. The project of collecting casings for the test programme was, at the time of the meeting, 80 per cent complete. There was a change to the steering committee of the project with Thorsten Schmidt of Gummiwerk Kraiburg joining.