UK Karting - Notice Board (General Karting) : Re: Slicks

Notice Board (General Karting)

Re: Slicks - an interesting question...
Posted by 'SimonS' on 16 Sep 2009 @ 09:27

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SimonSJoined: December 2004
Total Posts: 4
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There are two components to the grip of a tyre, the physical component which is the straight friction between rubber and road and the chemical component which is the 'glu-iness' of the tyre.

The chemical component is activated by heat but relies on the chemicals in the tyre still being there, still being in their original form and in sufficient quantity to change the chemical state of the tyre.

The chemical action changes over time because some of the chemicals link together, become like 'activated glue' (leave some Bostik out to harden to see what I mean), the chemicals gradually leach out through the tyre surface or they age, like glue going solid in the tube.

Scrubbed tyres may work better than new tyres sometimes because the out layer of rubber may become 'hardened', just like cast iron has a 'crust' that is very hard, but once penetrated is quite easy to machine, so the tyre becomes more chemically active once the aged layer is worn away.

On the physical side, a tyre is subject to flexing stressas it is driven, and like other materials this can weaken the material making it more like to tear away. We see this readily in metals when you can break it by flexing it rapidly (which causes it to heat up as well) but the same sort of thing occurs in rubber.

So a tyre ages both chemically, reducing the chemical grip and physically reducing the frictional grip. Also exposure to UV, sunlight, makes the problem worse. Don't leave your kart tyres cooking in the sun.

Message Thread:

Slicks - an interesting question... by 'Ben86' (15 Sep 2009 @ 22:06)

Re: Slicks - an interesting question... by 'itsnick13' (15 Sep 2009 @ 22:09)

Re: Slicks - an interesting question... by 'QuickOldTimer' (15 Sep 2009 @ 22:14)

Re: Slicks - an interesting question... by 'raceinstructor' (16 Sep 2009 @ 7:48)

Re: Slicks - an interesting question... by 'SimonS' << You are here!

Re: Slicks - an interesting question... by 'harvinsurrey' (16 Sep 2009 @ 11:45)

Re: Slicks - an interesting question... by 'RoadRat' (16 Sep 2009 @ 19:16)

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