Innovation Future Tire Lab

With the Green Deal, the European Commission is aligning industrial production with the concept of a circular economy. In the future, resources used should circulate in closed biological and technical cycles, and industrial societies should not generate new emissions.

AI-based inspection systems and smart memory materials

The transformation of our economy will affect every industry, because the Green Deal primarily means abandoning a linear understanding of production, use, and disposal. Processes optimized over decades must be reviewed. Furthermore, the challenges of this major transformation will lead to a redesign of product ranges in most industrial sectors.

At the Future Tire Lab, THE TIRE COLOGNE 2026, the world’s leading international trade fair for the tire industry, demonstrates how circular materials and smart production processes interlock and enable tire production within the context of the circular economy. In particular, material innovations for circular rubber compounds will be presented, along with their processing for the tire production of the future.

Tire manufacturers are increasingly relying on new formulations for their rubber compounds, aiming to eliminate petroleum-based resources in the long term and instead utilizing new bio-based raw material sources such as silicates from rice husk ash or secondary materials from the paper and wood industries.

Zero waste prevention in production is a key focus, as is the use of additive manufacturing methods (3D printing) and new disposal options (pyrolysis), retreading, and recycling, leveraging the potential of pioneering technologies like robotics and automation. Furthermore, efforts are underway to mitigate the negative environmental impacts of dust generated by tire abrasion.

AI-based inspection systems and sensors for identifying wear patterns facilitate optimized tire maintenance. Smart memory materials in Active Aero Wheels enable intelligent adjustment of the rim design while driving, reducing air resistance and simultaneously providing on-demand brake cooling.

Visitors to the Future Tire Lab can look forward to live demonstrations and witness the 3D printing of a rim and a rubber-like elastomeric tire in a single process step. A Swiss start-up will present a world first: a material technology that enables both the chemical recycling of vulcanized rubber and its natural biodegradability.

www.thetire-cologne.de