Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is enhancing tyre performance in dry, wet and winter conditions with the use of a new soybean oil-based rubber compound. The multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Akron, Ohio in the US introduced the new tyre technology with the support of the United Soybean Board (USB).
A team of Goodyear scientists and engineers created a tread compound, or formulation, using soybean oil, which is naturally derived, cost-effective, carbon-neutral and renewable.
“Goodyear’s legacy of innovation drives us to continue to apply new technology solutions, developing superior performing tyres that meet consumer demands,” said Eric Mizner, Goodyear’s director of global materials science.
By employing soybean oil in tyres, Goodyear found a new way to help keep the rubber compound pliable in changing temperatures, a key performance achievement in maintaining and enhancing the vehicle’s grip on the road surface.
Goodyear’s tests have shown rubber made with soybean oil mixes more easily in the silica-reinforced compounds used in manufacturing certain tyres. This also improves manufacturing efficiency and reduces energy consumption.
Goodyear cooperated on the project with the USB, a group of farmer-directors who oversee the investments of a checkoff program on behalf of all US soybean farmers. The USB provided some funding support for the development of Goodyear’s soybean oil application in tires.
The company’s recent technology breakthrough in the commercialisation of soybean oil in tyres builds on and reinforces its other recent innovations, such as the use of silica derived from rice husk ash, another component Goodyear is using in certain consumer tyres, along with current and past uses of components such as carbon fiber, DuPont Kevlar, volcanic sand and more.