Wear 394–395 (2018) 87–95

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Investigation of ultra fine particulate matter emission of rubber tires T

a,⁎ a a b
Michael-Jan Foitzik , Hans-Joachim Unrau , Frank Gauterin , Johannes Dörnhöfer ,
Thomas Kochb
a
Institute of Vehicle System Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kaiserstr. 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
b
Institute of Internal Combustion Engines, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kaiserstr. 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this study, we focus on the ultra fine particulate matter emission of rubber tires and investigate it with the
Ultra fine particulate matter inner drum tire test bench of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. We examine if a tire emits particulate matter
PM0.1 and explore under which running conditions it emits most significantly. We concentrate on the emission of ultra
Tire wear particles fine particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter between 5.6 nm and 560 nm of common friction winter
Non-exhaust particles
tires, exemplary chosen, under multiple driving conditions. To investigate the tire's particulate matter emission
Rubber abrasion
we vary the speed during straight and curved driving as well as the wheel load and the longitudinal forces during
straight driving at our test bench. At the same time we measure the particle size distribution behind the tire's
tread with a particle size analyzer and evaluate the measurements in respect to the driving conditions. Further,
mathematical regression models are used and presented to gain a correlation between the concentration of ultra
fine particulate matter emission and the varied driving parameters for an estimation of their influences. The
results indicate that the tested tire emits ultra fine particulate matter significantly at driving conditions with
increased slip angles and increased longitudinal forces. Additionally, the results show that moderate driving
reduces the tire's emission of ultra fine particulate matter. Therefore, one can use the presented results to initiate
further, adapted measurements and to initiate an optimization of the tread's compound to reduce its particulate
matter emission.

1. Introduction anthropogenic sources such as traffic, private households, electricity

Particulate matter (PM) air pollution, PM10 (particles with an
aerodynamic diameter smaller than 10 μm [1]) and ultra fine PM0.1
(particles with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 0.1 μm [1]), is a
very relevant topic that is frequently discussed at almost every media
channel. It affects everyone and nearly everything confronted with it.
Deposits of these fine particles adhere on the majority of all surfaces
and pollute them [2]. The effects on the health of human beings, other
living creatures and the wider environment have not been fully in-
vestigated yet, which leads to a general feeling of insecurity [3]. There
is an agreement that the effects of inhalation of particulate matter can
include asthma, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases, cardiovas-
cular diseases, premature delivery, birth defects and premature death
[4]. In 1999, the guideline 1999/30/EG of the European Union was
introduced articulating limits for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ni-
trogen oxides, lead and particles in the air to prevent a future dete-
rioration of the air quality [5]. Since the sources of these fine and ultra
fine particles are widely spread, inter alia originating from natural
sources such as emissions of volcanoes, oceans and fires as well as from
plants and agriculture [6], research is done concentrating on single
aspects of the particulate matter air pollution. This paper investigates
the particulate matter air pollution of particles with an aerodynamic
diameter equal to or less than 560 nm that are produced by abrading
rubber parts of the traffic sector, in general by rubber tires. The German
Federal Highway Research Institute (Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen,
BASt) estimates the amount of rubber abrasion of the traffic sector in
Germany in 2009 to have been 110,000 t/year with components of
rubber and polymer substances (42%), black carbon (34%), mineral oil
(17%) and other (7%) [7]. Approximately 16% of the black carbon
content of PM10 can be traced back to rubber abrasion [8]. A large
fraction of the remaining tire abrasion might be transferred to the
world's oceans as micropalstics since Norwegian and Swedish re-
searchers point out that particles found in the sea seem to originate
from rubber tires [9,10]. In order to reduce external influences on the
measurements presented in this paper and to concentrate on particulate
matter emission of rubber tires alone, tests are performed at an en-
capsulated tire test bench IPS (Innentrommel-Prüfstand) that is an inner
drum test bench at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology shown in

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: michael.foitzik@kit.edu (M.-J. Foitzik).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2017.09.023
Received 17 July 2017; Received in revised form 25 September 2017; Accepted 25 September 2017
Available online 06 October 2017
0043-1648/ © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
M.-J. Foitzik et al.
Fig. 1. Line diagram of the inner drum test stand, IPS, of Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology. Consisting of: (1) the inner drum with an inner diameter of 3.8 m, (2) the
tested tire, (3) the wheel drive and the measuring hub, (4) the track surface: safety walk
type 1.
[Adapted from [19]].
Fig. 1.
1.1. Relevant work
Fukahori and Yamazaki examined the mechanism of rubber abra-
sion in [11–13] on a theoretical basis since 1994. Their research con-
centrates on the formation of an abrasion pattern on the surface of
rubber samples, but it does not include any abraded particles.
In 2008 and 2009 Liang, Fukahori et al. presented in [14,15] a finite
element model describing the elaborated abrasion process of rubber, in
particular the movement of a single ridge due to linear loading of a hard
slider. Since Liang, Fukahori et al. model in [14,15] only the surface of
a rubber element without considering the dissevered debris, their re-
search results exclude particulate matter emission of all forms.
The Landesanstalt für Umwelt, Messungen und Naturschutz Baden-
Würt-temberg took extensive measurements from November 2006 until
March 2007 in the area around Stuttgart to investigate mass relevant
contents in particulate matter pollution of particles with a diameter
smaller than or equal to 10 μm . Therefore, they used two measurement
sites, one at a windward position and one at a leeward position of the
point of interest, and evaluated the difference of the simultaneously
achieved measurements to eliminate the influence of the particulate
matter background concentration [16]. Particulate matter produced by
traffic at the point of interest should only be detected at the leeward
measurement site [16]. An additional separation of the particulate
matter emitted by the tire alone is not possible with the presented setup
since even with chemical analysis of the collected aerosol the distinc-
tion between emitted and re-suspended particulate matter is not yet
possible.
Hussein et al. used in [17] a similar approach, although, they chose
a moving setup. They measured the particulate matter concentration in
front of and behind a car's wheel and determined the tire's contribution
by the difference of the two measurement sites [17]. Both measure-
ments, taken simultaneously, should be similarly affected by the
background concentration of particulate matter including dust and
exhaust emissions from other vehicles, but only one measurement
should be affected by the tire's abrasion and the tire's particulate matter
emission [17]. Hussein et al. observed in [17] a high increase of
88
Wear 394–395 (2018) 87–95
particulate matter emission by changing the vehicle's tires from friction
summer tires over friction winter tires to studded winter tires that was
also verified by Gustafsson et al. in [18]. The increased particulate
matter emission results from the tires' studs since they contribute to the
emission by ablating the track's surface [17–19]. Hussein et al. also
emphasized a rising particulate matter emission correlating with the
test vehicle's driving speed for studded tires [17]. Since Hussein et al.
evaluated the median of selected measurement data recorded on dif-
ferent roads, their determined correlation includes the influence of the
road surface. A clear speed dependency of the re-suspension phe-
nomena is neglected by them in [17] since such an influence was not
derivable from their measurement data of friction tires.
Gustafsson et al. from the Swedish National Road and Transport
Research Institute (VTI) in Linköping used a laboratory approach by
investigating tires' particulate matter emission with a road simulator
that consists of four wheels running a circular track with a diameter of
5.3 m [18]. Gustafsson et al. used this setup to test different tire types
moving at different speeds on different track surfaces and measured the
rising particulate matter concentration. They measured the particle size
distribution of the surrounding air next to the road simulator with an
aerodynamic particle sizer, that was positioned in the simulator hall of
the dimensions 10 × 8 × 5 m3 with a lateral offset of 2 m from the
edge of the pavement. The height of the aerosol inlet was positioned at
2 m from the floor (1 m above the pavement) [18]. A scanning mobility
particle sizer placed outside of the simulator hall was used to measure
the particulate matter background concentration for comparison and
differential evaluation. Gustafsson et al. showed in [18] that the PM10
concentration in the simulator hall rises due to the performed wear
experiments.
1.2. Our contribution
The test setup presented in this work minimizes external influences
by investigating a non-studded winter tire in an encapsulated en-
vironment on a safety walk covered track. The approach with a wear
resistant pavement surface, the conditioned safety walk, should exclude
the wear of the track or at least minimize its influence, which had a
high impact on the experiments of Gustafsson et al. in [18]. Ad-
ditionally, we investigated the tire's ultra fine particulate matter
emission with aerodynamic diameter between 5.6 nm and 560 nm
under different driving conditions and evaluated the correlation be-
tween the emitted particle concentration and the varied driving con-
ditions. Table 1 shows an overview of the varied parameters throughout
the performed driving maneuvers and their maximum relative influ-
ence.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Execution of experiments
2.1.1. The tire test stand
Fig. 1 shows a schema of the inner drum tire test bench, IPS, of the
Institute of Vehicle System Technology at the Karlsruhe Institute of
Technology, which was used to investigate the ultra fine particulate
matter emission of rubber tires under multiple running conditions. The
tested tire runs at the lowest point of a circular track with a horizontal
rotation axle and an inner diameter of 3.8 m. The test rig is enclosed for
thermal stability which leads to a separation from the environment and
an exclusion of external influences on our measurements. The test rig's
tire (driven hydraulically) and the test rig's drum (driven electrically
with a 16 speed transmission) can be powered with 310 kW each that
allows the testing of multiple drive modi. In addition, special segment
bearings enable the variation of the slip angle during measurements by
turning the tire around its Zh-axis.1 This prevents translation move-
ments of the tire's tread. All measurements were done on precondi-
tioned safety walk of type 1 (universal, not deformable, for dry use
M.-J. Foitzik et al.
Table 1
Combination of parameters tested throughout the driving maneuvers and the maximum of the relative influence on the ultra fine particulate matter emission.
Driving maneuvers: Parameter variation:
Speed variation 1 (α = 0°) v = {0, 30, 50, 70}[km/h]
Speed variation 2 (α = f (t )) v = {30, 50, 70}[km/h], α = linear sweep {0, −5, +5, 0}[°]
Slip angle variation α = {0, ±0.5, ±1, ±1.5, ±2, ±2.5, ±3, ±3.5, ±4}[°]
Wheel load variation Pz = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}[kN]
Driving force variation FLongitudinal = {0, 0.01, ±0.5, ±1, ±1.5, ±2, ±2.5}[kN]
Non varied parameters are set constant to
Pz = 4 kN, v = 30 km/h , α = 0° , γ = 0° , pi = 2 bar
only) with a grain size of 80 (mean grain diameter between 150 μm and
250 μm [21]) to reduce the influence of track abrasion since safety walk
is known as a wear resistant surface option. The preconditioning of the
track surface consist of manual processing with an angle grinder to
smooth the surface and to reduce its asperity as well as a 30 min run-
ning-in period which was followed by thorough cleaning. This should
reduce the contribution of the track surface to a negligible level for our
ultra fine particulate matter investigation.
2.1.2. The tested tire
Gustafsson et al. measured the highest particulate matter emission
with studded tires on stone mastic asphalt tracks in [18]. Since we
wanted to exclude external influences like surface wear, we tested a
common passenger friction winter tire of type 205/55R1691 H . The tire
that is not equipped with any spikes should not or only negligibly
abrade the track surface, as it is known from studded tires [19,22]. The
tire's tread pattern is symmetrical, therefore the tire should not show
different particulate matter emissions while running at positive or ne-
gative slip angles. Further information of structure and composition of
the tested Scandinavian tire, as well as detailed information about its
silica rubber compound, is proprietary. To achieve conclusive mea-
surements the used tire was adequately preconditioned and tested
under constant environmental conditions.
2.1.3. The tested driving maneuvers
We tested static and dynamic maneuvers to allow references to real
driving situations. Therefore, we varied the driving speed (v), the slip
angle (α ), the wheel load (Pz) and the driving force (FX) with a mirrored
design of experiments, while measuring the particle size distribution
behind the tire's tread. The speed dependency was investigated with a
straight stationary drive (α = 0°) and a dynamic maneuver in which we
adjusted the slip angle with a linear sweep function. The slip angle's
influence was also investigated with a maneuver simulating a stationary
circular ride for multiple positive and negative slip angles. We could not
perform real circular driving with the used inner drum test stand but we
were able to set the appearing slip angle realistically for such a man-
euver. The camber angel (γ ) was set to γ = 0° at every maneuver. More
information about the performed driving maneuvers is given in Table 1.
Each variation of the driving maneuvers was recorded for 60 s with
a sampling frequency of 1 Hz with a particle size analyzer specified in
Section 2.2. Constant parameter evaluations like speed variation 1 and
wheel load variation, where each state was investigate for full 60 s,
include 120 measurements of the particle size distribution due to the
mirrored design of experiments. The longitudinal force variation, the
slip angle variation as well as the background concentration in-
vestigation evaluate 60 recorded size distributions for each variation.
Only the results of the speed variation 2 (α = linear sweep
{0, −5, +5, 0}[°]) consists of 4 measurements per speed variation since
we evaluate the maxima of the emission during the slip angle sweep.
Hereinafter, we calculate and present the arithmetic average of the
1
According to TYDEX-Format [20].
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Wear 394–395 (2018) 87–95
Max. relative increase
150%
6400%
5000%
75%
6100%
achieved data.
2.2. Analysis of wear particles
The particle size distribution of the aerosol behind the tire's tread
was measured with an Engine Exhaust Particle Sizer (EEPS™, Model
3090, TSI Inc., USA), which was kindly provided by the Institute of
Internal Combustion Engines of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. The
EEPS is calibrated frequently by its manufacturer TSI with different
types of aerosol which are validated by SMPS (Scanning Mobility
Particle Sizer) and CPC (Condensation Particle Counter) measurements.
The readings of the EEPS must not differ by ± 10% for the measured
size, while the measured particulate number may deviate by ± 20%
compared with the SMPS and CPC measurements. The EEPS was used
with a detached dilution unit (thermodiluter) since the particles' con-
centration of the analyzed aerosol is much lower compared to regular
engine exhaust. Due to the fact that we did not expect any thermal
dilution of the sampled aerosol, there was no necessity to prohibit the
aerosol's cool down with the thermodiluter. The particle sizer's flow
rate was set to 10 L/min, which reduces particle sampling losses due to
diffusion. The measuring time was set to 60 s with a sampling frequency
of 1 Hz.
For each sampling, the particle size distribution of the sampled
aerosol volume was evaluated by collecting the particles depending on
their size, ranging from diameters of 5.6–560 nm, in 32 channels and
reading out their change of load over the measuring time. This ap-
proach led to particle size distributions as seen in Figs. 3, 6 and in
Figs. 4, 9, 11 after subtraction of the background concentration. The
particle count for each channel dN / dlogDp , shown at the ordinate of
those figures, was normalized with the actual bin size of each channel,
dlogDp = logDp,u − logDp,l (upper bin boundary minus the lower
boundary), for comparison with distributions acquired with other
measuring devices. Particles with a diameter bigger than 1 μm were
excluded from the analyzed aerosol by an appropriate component set-
ting the 50% cutpoint of the inlet cyclone to 1 μm . The aerosol inlet was
moved from the actually measurement unit, which stands above the
encapsulated circular track, to the tire's tread with a connection of
grounded 3/8″ (9.525 mm) metal medium- and high-pressure tubing
with a length of 3 m. The extended tubing entails the disadvantage of
higher particle deposition through differences in static charge, which
can lead to a further reduction of the measured particle concentration
[2]. Fig. 2 shows the actual aerosol inlet position: centrally 100 mm
behind the tire's tread and 50 mm above the track surface.
3. Theory
Gustafsson et al. elaborated in [18] basic knowledge about de-
pendencies of particulate matter emission of rubber tires. They showed
a relationship between the amount of emitted particulate matter and
the used track since the abrasion of the track is an issue. Their results
prove that the abrasion process is linked to the tires' and the tracks'
properties, and that it is significantly reinforced by studded tires. Their
experiments also indicate a dependency between the particulate matter
M.-J. Foitzik et al. Wear 394–395 (2018) 87–95

Fig. 3. The particle size distribution measured at the IPS behind the tire's tread before
multiple experiments (speed variation, slip angle variation, wheel load variation, long-
itudinal force variation). The presented background concentrations are measured with a
Fig. 2. Position of the aersol inlet at the IPS (marked with arrow), centrally 100 mm rotating drum and rotating but elevated tire. Drum and tire rotate with 30 km/h .
behind the tire's tread and 50 mm above the track's surface. The drawn cylinder part with
opening angle φ represents an assumed volume for particle distribution with a defined
the remaining difference. This approach can lead to small negative
later shell surface.
concentration values, since the measuring uncertainty of the particle
sizer, especially at small concentrations, must be taken into account.
emission and driving speed. Since Gustafsson et al. used a circular
driving test stand (VTI road simulator), we investigated further de-
pendencies between the particulate matter emission and slip angle 4.2. Speed dependency
(including α = 0°), wheel load and longitudinal forces with an alter-
native test stand, the IPS. We concentrated on the tire's particulate The dependency between the tire's particulate matter emission and
matter emission, therefore we used a wear resistant track surface, the driving speed is evaluated with measurements of the particle size
preconditioned safety walk, while assuming that its contribution to the distribution while driving with a slip angle of α = 0° and a wheel load
particulate matter emission is negligible. Further investigations will of Pz = 4 kN . The growing peak's height of the particle size distributions
examine this assumption and will investigate the influence and the at diameters of 9.31 nm and 10.8 nm with increasing speed (30, 50 and
wear behavior of multiple track surfaces. 70 km/h), shown in Fig. 4, suggests a proportional correlation. Fig. 5
presents this correlation which allows a linear regression with a coef-
4. Results ficient of determination of R2 = 0.99. Therefore, we obtained
y = 5.7·x + 160 with x in km/h and y in #/cm3 as a function for the
4.1. Background concentration speed dependency of the peak's height of the particle size distribution
for this special setup. Our linear regression allows the conjecture that
We measured the background particle concentration at the IPS with
a rotating drum and a rotating but elevated tire. The drum and tire
rotated at 30 km/h. Hence, there was no physical contact between the
tire and the inner drum, no particles were generated by tire-surface
interaction. These measurements are labeled as background con-
centration hereinafter and are shown in Fig. 3. The distributions of the
background concentration of the speed and slip angle variation show a
similar bimodal shape with two peaks at particle sizes of 10.8 nm and
16.5 nm. The low number of particles (dN / dlogDp ≤ 500#/cm3 ) shows a
small particulate matter concentration and, therefore, a small back-
ground concentration [23]. The distributions of the background con-
centration of the wheel load and longitudinal force variation differ from
the two previously mentioned ones. The particle size distributions of
the wheel load and longitudinal force variations have one single peak at
particles with a diameter of 34 nm with a concentration of over
1000#/cm3 . These distributions were recorded hours after the other ones
which explains the differing shapes, since the background concentra-
tion can vary over the day. The number of particles at the distribution's
peaks (dN / dlogDp ≥ 1000#/cm3 ) is about twice as high as compared to
the background concentration of the speed and slip angle variation. For
this reason we could not consider this as small background concentra- Fig. 4. The particle size distribution of emitted particles measured at the IPS behind the
tion, and had to integrate it in our evaluation. Therefore, we subtracted tire's tread at multiple speeds (30, 50, 70 [km/h]) for straight driving α = 0° with a wheel
the particular background concentration of each driving parameter load of Pz = 4 kN. The figure shows the distribution's peak gaining on height with in-
creasing speed.
variation from the measured particle size distributions, and evaluated

90
M.-J. Foitzik et al.
Fig. 5. Evaluation of the speed dependency of the concentration of emitted particles of
static driving maneuvers (α = 0°, Pz = 4 kN) . The figure shows the mean values of the
particle concentrations of particles with an aerodynamic diameter of 9.31 nm and
10.8 nm from the distributions of Fig. 4.
the tire's particulate matter emission does not depend on the speed but
on the covered distance, at least for straight driving and free rolling
conditions.
Furthermore, we took additional measurements to evaluate the in-
fluence of slip angles α ≠ 0° on the tire's particulate matter emission
while driving with multiple speeds (30, 50, 70 km/h). Therefore, we
applied a linear sweep, which had a duration of 30 s, on the slip angle
control during the 60 s particle size distribution measurements. The slip
angle sweep was initiated manually around 10 s after the start of the
particle size distribution measurements. The slip angle sweep started
from α1 = 0° with a linear ramp to the maximum α2 =+ 5°, which was
reached 7.5 s after start. The sweep continued with a linear ramp to the
minimum α3 = −5°, reached at 22.5 s after start, and finished with a
third linear ramp to the initial position α4 = 1 = 0°. Fig. 6 shows the
output of the EEPS for such a driving maneuver
(α = linear sweep {0, +5, −5, 0}[°], v = 70 km/h , Pz = 4 kN ). The pre-
sented particle size distributions of the first speed variation (Fig. 4) are
derivable from data, like it is shown in Fig. 6, by evaluating a single
data line before the slip angle sweep, e.g. at t = 5 s and by subtracting
the distribution of the corresponding background concentration. Fig. 6
Fig. 6. Recording of the particle size distributions during the slip angle sweep maneuver
with a driving speed of 70 km/h . The figure shows two peaks of the emission of ultra fine
particles of an aerodynamic diameter of 9.31 nm due to slip angle sweep which reaches its
extreme values (+5°, −5°) at t1 ≈ 21 s and t2 ≈ 35 s .
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Wear 394–395 (2018) 87–95
Fig. 7. Evaluation of the speed dependency of the concentration of emitted particles of
driving maneuvers with multiple speeds (30, 50, 70 [km/h]) combined with a dynamic
linear slip angle sweep{0, +5,−5,0}[°]. The figure shows the mean value of con-
centrations of emitted particles with a diameter of 9.31 nm and 10.8 nm during the
maxima of the slip angle sweep.
shows two peaks positioned at t1 ≈ 21 s and t2 ≈ 35 s after the start of the
particle size distribution measurements which appear due to extrema of
the slip angle sweep (α = ± 5°). The peak's height rises with increasing
speed as it is shown in Fig. 7. We obtained a linear regression
y = 450·x − 11000 with x in km/h and y in #/cm3 with a coefficient of
determination of R2 = 0.95 as a function for the speed dependency of
the peak's height of the particle size distribution for this special setup.
The function's negative offset of − 11000#/cm3 in context with the point
distribution suggests an over-proportional increase of the particulate
matter emission. This would mean that for slip angles α ≠ 0° there is a
speed dependency even based on the covered distance. Therefore, we
did a second regression with an exponential function that is also pre-
sented in Fig. 7. We obtained y = 1400·e 0.04·x with x in km/h and
y in #/cm3 with a coefficient of determination of R2 = 0.99.
Noteworthy is the aspect that the particular matter concentrations
at the beginning t1 ≈ 3 s and at the end t2 ≈ 58 s of each measurement of
the speed variation 2 are within the observed variations of the mea-
surements. One would assume a bigger offset at the end of the tests,
since the over all particulate matter content in the test stand's drum
should rise, provided that the emission is big enough. A possible ex-
planation for this effect could be a self adjusting air flow produced by
the turning drum, which moves the airborne particles away from the
measurement inlet and, therefore, reduces the measured offset con-
centration.
The relative increase of 150% of the particulate matter emission,
derived from the peak's height at particles with a diameter of 9.31 nm
and 10.8 nm at 70 km/h (570 #/cm3, Fig. 4) compared to the peak's
height of the background concentration (370 #/cm3, Fig. 3) shows a
non negligible influence. The linear regression of the tire's particulate
matter emission over the speed for straight driving (α = 0°) suggest
constant emission based on the covered distance.
The results of the second speed variation maneuver with a con-
trolled slip angle adjustment support these findings partially since the
particulate matter emission rises with increasing speed accordingly.
The additional slip angle sweep increases the concentration of emitted
particles at the maxima of the slip angle sweep (− 5° and + 5°) up to
24000 #/cm3 which means a relative increase of 6400% compared to
the background concentration of 370 #/cm3 shown in Fig. 3. Com-
parison of the concentrations of the mean values of α = −5° and α =+ 5°
M.-J. Foitzik et al. Wear 394–395 (2018) 87–95

with α = 0° for the different speeds leads to increasing ratio factors: v

= 30 km/h: 1200%, v = 50 km/h: 2300%, v = 70 km/h: 3900% (see
Figs. 5, 7) that suggest an over proportional dependency of the speed at
slip angles α ≠ 0°. Therefore, our measurements show that the combi-
nation of high speeds and high slip angles leads to high ultra fine
particulate matter emission, and that speed must be taken into account
for slip angles α ≠ 0° even based on the covered distance.

4.3. Slip angle dependency

The dependency between the tire's particulate matter emission and

the slip angle was evaluated with measurements of 60 s, while driving
with a constant slip angle representing a stationary circular ride. We
alternated between positive and negative slip angles to exclude the
influence of asymmetrical wear. Since the shape of the particle size
distribution of the slip angle variation resembles the ones of the speed
dependency investigations (Fig. 4) and since it shows the same beha-
vior, a gaining peak at particles with an aerodynamic diameter of
9.31 nm over increasing slip angle, we evaluated the peak's height of
the respective distributions at particles with an aerodynamic diameter
Fig. 9. The particle size distribution of emitted particles measured at the IPS behind the
of 9.31 nm. The tested tire was designed and built symmetrically, which tire's tread with a speed of 30 km/h at multiple wheel loads (1, 3, 5, 7 [kN ]). The figure
makes it difficult to explain the irregularly different peak heights at shows 2 peaks of the distribution gaining on height over the wheel load.
positive and negative slip angles. Since the inlet of the measuring de-
vice did not move with the rotating tire and the self adjusting air flow in
4.4. Wheel load dependency
the turning drum might have distorted the particle distribution behind
the tire, we evaluated the mean values of positive and negative slip
The measurements of the particle size distribution under the var-
angles, which are shown in Fig. 8. This approach yielded a polynomial
iation of the wheel load (Fig. 9) showed an additional peak at particles
regression (grade = 2) with a coefficient of determination of R2 =
with a diameter of 22.1 nm compared to the distributions of the speed
0.95, which is slightly better compared to a linear regression. There-
and slip angle variation (Fig. 4). Both distribution's peaks, shown in
fore, we obtained y = 27·x 2 + 4400·x − 1100 with x in km/h and
Fig. 9, gain on height with increasing wheel load. We achieved
y in #/cm3 as a function for dependency of the peak's height of the
y = 0.01·x − 2.0 with x in kN and y in #/ cm3 with linear regression as
distribution of the slip angle, which is shown in Fig. 8 for this special
a function of the concentration of emitted particles with a diameter of
setup. The negative offset and the distribution of the data points suggest
22.1 nm dependent on the wheel load with a coefficient of determina-
a different regression model. Therefore we tried an exponential re-
tion of R2 = 0.94, which is shown in Fig. 10. Since the change of
gression, which led to y = 2400·e 0.50·x with x in km/h and y in #/cm3
particle counts with a diameter of 22.1 nm (+98 #/cm3) between 0 kN
with a coefficient of determination of R2 = 0.86 , which is also shown in
and 7 kN does not exceed a relative change of 10% compared to the
Fig. 8. Even though the coefficient of determination reduces at the
background concentration, its influence is very low in contrast to the
exponential regression compared to the linear and square one, we
other presented dependencies of speed or slip angle. The correlation of
suggest a strong over proportional correlation of the particulate matter
the peak's height at particles with a diameter of 10.8 nm with in-
emission and the slip angle.
creasing wheel load led to y = 0.03·x − 26 with x in kN and y in #/cm3
with linear regression and with a coefficient of determination of R2 =

Fig. 8. Evaluation of slip angle dependency of the concentration of emitted particles of

imitated stationary circular driving maneuvers with a speed of 30 km/h. The figure shows Fig. 10. Evaluation of wheel load dependency of the concentration of emitted particles of
the averaged concentration values of emitted particles with an aerodynamic diameter of straight driving maneuvers (α = 0°) with a speed of 30 km/h and multiple wheel loads
9.31 nm over the absolute values of the slip angle. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7[kN ]).

92
M.-J. Foitzik et al.
Fig. 11. The particle size distribution of emitted particles measured at the IPS behind the
tire's tread at multiple negative and positive longitudinal forces (top: FX = ≈0 , +0.5, +1,
+1.5, +2, +2.5 [kN], bottom: FX = ≈0 , −0.5, −1, −1.5, −2, −2.5 [kN ]) while driving
with a speed of 30 km/h. The figure shows the distribution's peak gaining on height over
the increasing absolute values of the longitudinal force.
0.83, also shown in Fig. 10. The number of emitted particles with a
diameter of 10.8 nm increased more significantly between 0 kN and
7 kN (relative increase of 75%) compared to before mentioned peak at
particles with a diameter of 22.1 nm.
The background concentration was recorded ahead of the parameter
variation and showed, especially in this case, slightly higher con-
centration values at particles with a diameter between 34 nm and
165 nm than the actual wheel load variation measurements. The dif-
ferential evaluation led to negative concentration values that can be
seen in Fig. 9. The largest negative value (−29 #/cm3) at particles with
a diameter of 39.2 nm of the Pz = 1 kN data series is only 2.9% away
from the measured background concentration, therefore we can neglect
these artifacts.
Since the relative increase of 10% and 75% of the two peaks' height
of the distribution are small compared to other revealed correlations,
the wheel load's influence will not be considered as relevant.
93
Wear 394–395 (2018) 87–95
Fig. 12. Evaluation of longitudinal force dependency of the concentration of emitted
particles at straight driving maneuvers (α = 0°) with a speed of 30 km/h with varying
longitudinal forces. The figure shows the particle concentration values of particles with a
diameter of 9.31 nm over the longitudinal force. The three centric measurement points
(0**, S, 0*) describe the remaining concentration at stillstand of the IPS ( = S) and with a
rotating drum and rotating but elevated tire with no physical contact (0**, 0*) after the
subtraction of the background concentration measured at the beginning of the tests (0*).
4.5. Longitudinal force dependency
The measurements of the particle size distribution under variation
of longitudinal force (FX), displayed in Fig. 11, show a similar particle
size distribution as the measurements of the speed variation (Fig. 4).
The distribution's peak at particles of a diameter of 9.31 nm gains on
height with increasing absolute values of the longitudinal force. Com-
paring the distributions in Fig. 11, one can conclude that the peaks of
negative longitudinal forces measurements are higher than the peaks of
positive longitudinal forces measurements. As a result, we achieved
different fitting functions in our evaluation presented in Fig. 12. The
traction part (FX>0 kN) was fitted with
y = 16·x 4 − 120·x 3 + 320·x 2 − 290·x + 61 with x in kN and y in #/cm3
with a coefficient of determination of R2 = 0.99, whereas the braking
part (FX<0 kN) was fitted with y = 370·x 2 − 330·x − 84 with x in kN
and y in #/ cm3 with a coefficient of determination of R2 = 0.98. We
obtained a relative gain of 6100% for the peak's height at FX =
−2.5 kN and a relative gain of 4300% at FX = + 2.5 kN compared to
the background concentration. The difference in the particulate matter
emission might result from temperature influences since the braking
measurements are done after the acceleration measurements with little
cool down time provided. The temperature effect might also result from
extended contact time of the tread due to the slower rotation at brake
slip, which expands the heating time compared to acceleration slip.
This difference shall be investigated with additional measurements with
a changed running order or enough cooling time provided. Recording of
the tread's temperature is advised to investigate the temperature's in-
fluence.
The subtraction of the measured background concentration, which
was recorded before the traction force measurements, from all long-
itudinal force variations for our evaluation led to the concentration of 0
#/cm3 for the mentioned data point (0* kN/ 0 #/cm3) in Fig. 12. The
additional data points of the background concentration of the still
standing (S) and running system (0**) were only added to the braking
regression since these data points were recorded after the experiments
were done, finishing with the braking maneuvers. Both background
concentrations of the braking part (0**, S) are slightly higher
M.-J. Foitzik et al.
positioned than the one of the traction part (0*). This allows the as-
sumption that we did observe an accumulation of the particulate matter
concentration in the drum after multiple particulate matter emitting
experiments. The particulate matter accumulation was not observed
after a single run of the speed variation experiments as mentioned in
4.2, since its effect might be too small. Since the accumulated con-
centration decreased between the rotating and still standing back-
ground concentration, measured consecutively, we consider this accu-
mulation as temporary.
5. Discussion
The measured particulate matter concentrations are relatively low
compared to other published measurements, which results from the
used measurement method and the unknown particle distribution be-
hind the tire as explained in Section 2.2 and 5.2. The maximal parti-
culate matter emission was found at the speed variation 2 with a speed
of v = 70 km/h and a slip angle of α = 5°, shown in Fig. 7. We achieved
a total number of emitted particles by evaluating the area under the
distribution, leading to a total number of 1.3·105#/cm3 for this special
maneuver, which must be up-scaled and used very carefully when
comparing with other particulate matter investigations.
5.1. Measurement method
The presented measurement setup was used to answer the question
if a tire emits ultra fine particulate matter, and if so to investigate the
driving conditions it does most significantly. Measurement un-
certainties, due to the below mentioned and discussed circumstances
(Sections 5.1.1–5.1.3) were tolerated at this stage of our investigation.
The underestimation of the actual particulate matter emission of the
tested tire is used as motivation for further optimized measurements in
the near future.
5.1.1. Varying air flow behind the tire
The rotating measurement system produces an air flow, which
might influence the measurements. This effect was observed at the slip
angle investigation and the dynamic speed variation, where we eval-
uated the averaged concentration values over the absolute value of the
slip angle to deal with this effect. Since the dilution should increase
with increasing rotation speed of the test setup, which was not ob-
served, we neglect an influence of the rotation speed at this stage of our
investigation. Further, the averaging process allows us to compare the
different readings in between our investigation. Future measurements
will consider the influence of the rotation speed of the test bench and
will evaluate the air flow regime over the experiments in the point of
interest.
5.1.2. Sensitivity to the positioning of the measuring inlet
As explained in Section 5.2, one can build a distribution model for
the particulate matter distribution behind the tire and its tread. In-
dependent of the design of the distribution model, the particulate
matter concentration will reduce with growing distance to the source of
origin. The chosen distance of 100 mm of the measurement inlet from
the tire's tread and 50 mm above the track surface (shown in Fig. 2) is a
compromise between a good mixture of the aerosol and an usable di-
lution with ambient air. The dilution is reinforced by the air flow be-
hind the tire, considered in Section 5.1.1. In consequence, the presented
measurement results are dependent on the position of the measurement
inlet and sensitive to it. Since the position of the measurement inlet was
kept constant and we averaged the readings influenced by possible side
effects, we allow the comparison of the achieved readings in between
this investigation.
5.1.3. Losses in the measuring setup
Concentration losses due to electrical charge of the generated
94
Wear 394–395 (2018) 87–95
particles and their deposition along the sampling tube will reduce the
measured concentrations. At our measurements, we used a connection
of metal medium- and high pressure tubing of the manufacturer
Swagelok, which were grounded to minimize this losses. An additional
size dependent loss due to gravitational forces can be neglected since
[24] consider this only for particles larger than 1.0 μm .
Since the presented configuration led to new and promising results,
we continued its use at this stage of our investigation.
5.2. An estimation of tire's contribution to ultra fine particulate matter
emission
A statement about the absolute number of emitted particles per tire
and driving condition cannot be achieved with the presented setup.
This was not the aim of our research, although we provided regression
models for the correlations to compare their influences. Our primary
aim was to investigate if a tire emits ultra fine particulate matter, and, if
so, to find the conditions the tire emits most significantly, which has
been shown. It is uncertain how many of the emitted particles are
evaluated by our measurement setup and how they distribute over the
tread's width, behind the tread's length and over the tire's height. One
could estimate the particles distribution behind the tire's tread by de-
fining a distribution model with a defined surface area on which the
particles are distributed equally. An up-scaling of the measured emis-
sion to the assumed distribution area could lead to more realistic
numbers for the tire's absolute particulate matter emission. But even the
simple model of a part of a cylinder with its center at the horizontal end
of the tire's tread, the trailing edge, fails due to uncertainty of the cy-
linder's opening angle. The assumption of an opening angle of φ = 45°
leads to the lateral shell surface of a partial cylinder with the height of
the tire's width (205 mm) and the radius of 100 mm due to the distance
between the aerosol inlet and the tire's tread, indicated in Fig. 2. Such
an estimation leads to the surface area of
φ 1 2 . The used tubing with an
· π · d · l = · π ·200 mm·205 mm ≈ 16100 mm
360° 8
inner diameter of 0.2″ (5.08 mm) leads to an inlet area of
1 1
·π·d 2 = 4 ·π·(5.08 mm)2 ≈ 20.3 mm2 while we neglect the straightened
4
intake area and any flow effects. By calculating the ratio of those two
16100
surfaces ( 20.3 ≈ 800 ) we could define a scaling factor for the absolute
particle emission compared to the measured one. This approach with
the assumed simplifications should be analyzed and proofed with
computational flow simulations before it is recommended for use.
6. Conclusion
The research's aim was to investigate if a tire emits ultra fine par-
ticulate matter, and, if so, to find the conditions the tire emits most
significantly. The presented measurements and their evaluations show
that the tested passenger tire of type 205/55R1691 H emits particulate
matter with particles of diameters under 100 nm at certain driving
conditions such as higher speeds, higher slip angles and higher long-
itudinal forces. Therefore, this ultra fine particulate matter emission
must not be neglected. To achieve absolute values of the tire's parti-
culate matter emission, the measurement method has to be adapted and
optimized in a further iteration. Regression models of the emitted
concentrations of ultra fine particulate matter have been provided to
compare the influences of the investigated driving conditions. There is
evidence that rubber tires contribute to the particulate matter pollution
especially for the following drive modi: primarily at strong brakings
and strong accelerations as well as at narrow curve rides especially with
high speeds.
Acknowledgments
The ultra fine particulate matter measurements presented in this
article were facilitated by the Institute of Internal Combustion Engines
M.-J. Foitzik et al.
of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology which provided the particle size
measurement unit. The authors would like to thank Ms. Kerstin Dietrich
and Mr. Markus Diehm for running the IPS tire test stand.
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