Russian tyre maker Cordiant says a holding company has started 3D printing full-scale prototypes of new tyres. The equipment has been installed at the firm’s R&D unit at the Yaroslavl tyre plant.
A 1:1 scale model allows engineers to see the future tread pattern before mass production begins. Specialists can evaluate the arrangement of elements, check the geometry, and correct the design without manufacturing a full-fledged experimental tyre.

The printer works with plastic materials like PETG, PLA, and flexible TPU. The latter can reproduce deformable parts of the tread and shows how they behave under load. A print area of 350×350×350 mm allows for the creation of models with a large working surface width.

Cordiant expects that the technology will shorten the development cycle of new models and simplify the creation of specialised tyres. Now, some errors can be detected on a printed prototype, without bringing the project to a more expensive production stage.