Tire Wear Particle Hot Spots – Review of Influencing Factors

Automotive tires have played an important role in land-based transportation and will probably continue to do so for many years to come. During their service lifetime, parts of the outer protector layer are worn off and discarded into the environment. A typical passenger car emits about 120 micrograms of rubber per meter but the exact current value depends on a multitude of influencing factors and varies greatly. We review available data on the wear rate (or inverse expected lifetime) of automotive rubber tires and extract qualitative estimations on how the most important parameters alter the deposition rate on a given road section. Local hot spots of increased tire wear particle occurrence can be identified from these parameters. It is concluded that generally subjecting tires to milder usage conditions can reduce tire wear by substantial amounts. Reducing vehicle speeds is identified as the most effective general measure.