TELLUR · Tribology of Elastomers on Lubricated Surfaces

The TELLUR project is based on a strong and balanced public-private European partnership including one large multi-national company (Goodyear, Luxembourg) and one university (Aalto, Finland). The project aims at developing new knowledge and technologies in the field of friction between elastomers and lubricated surfaces. This will be done through the understanding of the contact conditions between the tire and the road, and the characterization of the structure and evolution of both contact surfaces. TELLUR aims to:- Understand the links between vehicle wet braking performance and the self-affine roughness properties of lubricated road surfaces,- Establish a strong knowledge base concerning the influence of the rubber compound properties on the rubber– Ice/snow friction mechanism and its evolution,- Implement a method for producing surface samples that resemble worn asphalt to perform tests on rubber-asphalt friction,- Develop intuitive and powerful software to analyze high-speed infrared images acquired during friction tests.Goodyear, as the coordinator of the project, will work in close collaboration with Aalto to ensure that TELLUR produces innovative technological solutions for the automotive industry, that can be further transfer to other areas as well.