With a large amount of tyres being discarded every year, the question of how to manage the end-of-life tyres (ELTs) has become a serious issue. Thus this study identifies different driving forces for this management and the most possible scenarios for the future management of ELTs. The study also compares the business as usual model with a waste hierarchy model to explore the possibilities for optimizing management of ELTs through cascading. This study collects opinions about the driving forces of ELT management from 29 experts working in the area. Important driving forces identified were: price of substitute products, recycled materials’ market, environmental legislation, and technology. This study also surveys 23 experts in the tyre area about the most possible scenarios for ELTs in 2020. One of the more believed in futures was: “Due to increasingly limited fossil fuels and a rise of sustainability awareness, applications for ELTs are growing both in material and energy recycling.” This suggests that a shift toward an equal recycling situation of ELTs among material and energy might be likely to happen by 2020. Based on the most possible scenario for ELTs in 2020, a comparison between waste hierarchy model and business as usual model has been performed. The result shows that the (cascading) waste hierarchy model would likely create more environmental benefits than business as usual model. This is done though the saving and cycling of more materials from energy recovery into material recycling.

This thesis presents two simulations of a heavy hybrid vehicle, the first part of the thesis is focused on the specifications of the vehicle designed in accordance with the requirements based on the literature study of the soils where the vehicle will travel. The second part presents the study of the vehicle through two simulations. The first simulation is oriented on the dynamical behavior of the vehicle. The second simulation focuses on the energy management of the vehicle. The presented thesis is a multi-disciplinary study, combining knowledge on vehicle dynamics, hydraulic suspensions and hybrid systems. The dynamical simulation of the vehicle has been performed with Matlab/Simulink and the third party program Delft-Tire for the tire modelling. Specials features of Matlab have been used; SimMechanics for the modelling of the parts, links and joints of the vehicle, and SimHydraulics for the modelling of the hydraulic suspensions. The principal tests performed on the vehicle by the dynamical simulation are the tests defined by the NATO - STANAG standards as AVTP 03-170. The tests are a crossing obstacle test and different sine wave roads. The obstacle of the obstacle crossing test is an APG-10 obstacle, an 10 inch high step with vertical edges. The objective of this simulation is to verify the design of the suspension and to observe the forces created in each link of the suspension system in order to design the chassis and the suspension system. The sine wave driving tests are performed to highlight the influence of the different hydraulic connections. Finally the slalom test presents the influence of the hydraulic anti-roll bar. The results show that the vehicle suspension verifies the STANAG standard. The results show also that the forces applied at the wheel by the obstacle crossing defined in the AVTP 03- 170 are directly related to the diameter and the stiffness of the tire. The maximum forces encountered at the wheel corresponds to 2.5 G vertically and 1.5 G longitudinally. The sine wave driving and the slalom test are showing the benefits and the need for advanced hydraulic suspensions. The second simulation is the modelling of the hybrid power management of the vehicle. The simulation has been performed with the objectives to create a tool for sizing series hybrid powertrain. This simulation has also been performed with Matlab/Simulink and the Simscape Library. The tool created show that when, the vehicle is equipped with 150 kW of power generation and 300 kW of battery would be able to drive at a constant speed of 10 km/h with the terrain inputs evaluated from the literature study, but to create sufficient result the input parameters of the tools need to have a better definition.

Hoy en día, la contaminación es una de las problemáticas que más afecta a la sociedad, generalmente es causada como consecuencia de la actividad humana y puede perjudicar a diversos recursos tales como el agua, el aire y los suelos. Existen diversos tipos de contaminación, los cuales pueden ser atmosférica, química, del agua, térmica, entre otros. A continuación, nos enfocaremos en la contaminación atmosférica causada por la quema de neumáticos. Se sabe que este tipo de contaminación emite gases que poseen altos grados de acero y plomo, los cuales dañan la salud humana y comúnmente son causantes de diversas enfermedades que pueden dañar nuestros pulmones. Debido a esta situación nace “Entullanta” una opción eco amigable que busca desarrollar muebles hechos a base de neumáticos como una nueva tendencia en la decoración de hogares y como una alternativa para contribuir en la reducción de la contaminación. Para este fin, se reutilizarán llantas y se hará uso de otros materiales tales como telas y sogas para poder convertirlos en un mueble con un estilo atractivo y minimalista. En el presente trabajo de investigación se presentará información cualitativa como la explicación detallada de nuestro modelo de negocio, objetivos y estrategias, plan de RRHH, plan de Marketing, plan de Responsabilidad Social, entre otros. Asimismo, se presentará información cuantitativa relacionada con nuestro plan Financiero, el cual es esencial para nuestro proyecto, ya que nos ayuda a conocer qué tan rentable será la introducción de este nuevo producto. De este modo, podemos concluir que “Entullanta” es un negocio rentable que empezará a generar utilidades a partir del segundo año y se logrará recuperar la inversión en el tercer año. / Nowadays, pollution is one of the problems that most affects society, it is usually caused as a consequence of human activity and can damage various environments such as water, air and soil. There are various types of pollution, which can be atmospheric, chemical, water, thermal, among others. Next, we will focus on air pollution caused by burning tyres. It is known that this type of pollution emits gases that have high degrees of steel and lead, which damage human health and are commonly responsible for various diseases that can damage our lungs. Due to this situation "Entullanta" is born an eco friendly option that seeks to develop furniture made from tyres as a new trend in home decoration and as an alternative to contribute in the reduction of pollution. For this purpose, tires will be reused and other materials such as fabrics and ropes will be used to convert them into a furniture with an attractive and minimalist style. This research will present qualitative information such as the detailed explanation of our business model, objectives and strategies, HR plan, Marketing plan, Social Responsibility plan, among others. It will also present quantitative information related to our Financial Plan, which is essential for our project since we know how profitable will be the introduction of this new product. In this way we can conclude that "Entullanta" is a profitable business that will start generating income in the second year and will recover the investment in the third year. / Trabajo de investigación

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Tire tread health is essential for safe operation of a passenger vehicle. Worn out tires significantly increases the risk of traffic accidents and hydroplaning. This thesis investigates the possibility to detect tire tread wear by estimating the effective rolling radius of a tire. The effective rolling radius of a tire is affected by several different factors. As to not confuse change in external factors with actual tire tread wear, there is therefore a need to compensate the effective rolling radius to nominal conditions, to make sure that the change in compensated rolling radius is only due to the tire tread wear. This raises the questions: how can the effective rolling radius be estimated? Can it be compensated with respect to external factors? The behavior of the tire changes between different tire models. This is because different models uses different materials, patterns, internal structure etc. This raises an additional question. Can a compensation model with the same parameter values be used in all vehicles of the same type no matter the tires of the vehicle, or is there a need for an adaptive compensation model that adapts the parameters to the current tire? This thesis investigates how the estimation of the tires effective rolling radius can be improved by estimating the velocity using sensor fusion between GPS- and IMU-signals. This was done using an Extended Kalman Filter. Furthermore, this thesis proposes different ways of compensating a tires effective rolling radius with respect to external factors and compares these methods with each other to obtain the most efficient compensation method. After finding an appropriate compensation method, further investigations regarding the need of adaptivity between tires was performed to find out if the compensation factors can be used on the same vehicle model with different tire sets. Ultimately, the investigations showed that the estimation of the effective rolling radius of a tire using sensor fusion was not fruitful due to limitations set by the IMU. If the vehicle had been equipped with a 6-axis IMU instead of a 3-axis IMU, this method might be feasible. The method that directly calculates the effective rolling radius from GPS-velocity and wheel speed gave a more accurate rolling radius signal. The compensation of the effective rolling radius can be achieved with respect to velocity, tire pressure and tire temperature. The most advantageous compensation method proposed in this thesis was a polynomial compensation model. Lastly, when investigating the need of adaptive compensation factors it was found that these compensation factors needs to be adaptive between tire sets.

In response to increased demand for fuel efficiency and sustainability, companies are seeking advancements in tire technologies to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. There are several factors that affect fuel efficiency in tires. The tire tread is of most interest and relevance today, as it is responsible for the grip and wear issues, thereby requiring the highest performance. Silica is added as a reinforcing filler to the tread compounds to achieve a lower rolling resistance, while maintaining high grip and wear resistance. Due to the polarity difference between hydrophilic silica and hydrophobic rubber, industries mostly use silane agents to aid the dispersion. Such dispersion methods involve surface modification of silica in situ but provide very little control over the dispersion states achieved. Polymer grafted nanoparticles have recently attracted attention due to their ability to control and optimize dispersion. Tuning parameters like grafting density and ratio of matrix to graft chain length results in various dispersion states, which in turn have a direct correlation with reinforcement. However, most of their applications have been restricted to plastics, especially in the melt state. In this dissertation, we extended the use of grafted nanoparticles to polyisoprene rubber composites, where the grafted polymer and elastomer matrix don’t have the same chemical microstructure. We explored wide range of morphologies, ranging from well dispersed, connected networks, strings, sheets and small clusters. After studying the relative importance of entropic vs enthalpic effects on the self-assembly of nanoparticles, we observed how the morphologies evolved on crosslinking. The different morphologies studied were independent of the state of crosslinking and the chemical composition of the matrix, with minor changes occurring in samples where the nanoparticles were well dispersed. We next investigated the mechanical properties of the composites in two critical areas: linear regime and nonlinear regime. In each area, we performed systematic studies on the different morphologies in order to isolate the morphology that shows the optimal properties under different conditions. We demonstrated that nanoparticle dispersion states play a very important role in mechanical properties and are sensitive to the state of the polymer. While the connected network morphology shows the maximum reinforcement in the melt state, it is the aggregated sheets morphology at a lower grafting density that shows the highest reinforcement in the crosslinked state. This morphology at intermediate grafting density also shows the highest strain dependence in the Payne effect measurements. To understand the reinforcement mechanism in the linear and nonlinear measurements, we attempted to explore the underlying dynamics through NMR and XPCS. The evaluation crosslink density of the rubber matrix using NMR suggests that we do not have a fully developed immobilized layer and there is no variation in crosslink density in the polymer phase across the composites. This eliminates the popular theory that immobilized polymer layer in the vicinity of nanoparticles is responsible for reinforcement in rubber composites. Our research shows that filler network plays a crucial role in determining the dynamic properties of filled elastomers. At the intermediate grafting density region where sheets morphology form, the particles are aggregated with particle-particle contacts while having enough graft chains to entangle and crosslink. We believe that the crosslinked grafts connect the different sheets in the composite and aid in an improved stress transfer. This causes the filler network to percolate at much lower NP loadings. This lower percolation threshold for sheets morphologies explains the high reinforcement in the linear regime and large modulus drop in Payne effect measurements at lower nanoparticle loadings as compared to the other morphologies. Furthermore, the macroscale mechanical properties and results of XPCS derived microscopic dynamics align well. We observed that when the particles are dispersed they show faster dynamics as compared to the aggregated morphologies above the percolation threshold. At lower nanoparticle loadings, all the morphologies show similar dynamics, emphasizing the importance of percolation. In summary, we have used a combination of different techniques to understand the underlying mechanism of rubber reinforcement. We have identified which dispersion states affect reinforcement in the linear and nonlinear regime under different conditions. We combined macroscale mechanical testing with nanoscale dynamic measurements to draw a holistic picture on the dependence of reinforcement on nanoparticle dispersion states.

Fatal accidents on the road are an unfortunate daily occurrence, with almost 30,000 deaths resulting from hit-and-runs in the USA between 2006 and 2021. The identification of the driver responsible for this road crime can become a challenge. Nonetheless, the accident scene provides a large amount of trace evidence that can prove critical to this matter, one of them being the tire marks. While traditional tire mark analysis is full of physical information helping the reconstruction of the event, additional information can be extracted from the rubber left during the braking event. Each tire model is manufactured with a specific design, obtained by a chemical formulation that can become its signature. Supplemental to the molecular profile of the rubber itself, analysis of the trace and contaminant elements can help build the chemical signature for the tire rubber. This work consists of establishing the link between the tire and the skid mark and particles it left during a braking event. The difference between tire models was proved from the elemental analysis of the tire rubber itself, showing that the specific content of minor and trace elements is specific to the model. Expanding to the problem of tire marks, the first challenge consists in efficiently sampling the rubber from the road. The development of an effective procedure to lift the tire particles from the mark is demonstrated in this work. This does present some challenges, including removal of other particles present within the lift and extraction of the tire rubber for further analysis by ICP-MS, providing an elemental profile for the sampled skid mark. Finally, with the skid mark rubber analyzed, it is compared with the elemental profile of the rubber from the source tire. The results of this comparison will be discussed in both simulated (with a lab- made tire mark maker) and field cases (from braking tests performed by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP)). The results of my research provide the forensic community with the first evaluation of elemental analysis of tire rubber to use this seldom used trace evidence, all along the analytical process, from sampling to analysis to attribution.

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Pollution of air represents the contamination with matter that can affect both humanhealth and the environment. Road dust has been recognized as a dominant source ofparticulate matter and one of the factors that contributes to its development is the useof gritting sand. Gritting sand is being used during snowy winter conditions as atraction control method. During spring season, when snow and ice melt and surfacesdry out, and the influence of traffic, asphalt surface wear, particle ejection from tires,etc; under the effect of their interaction, cause the formation of particulate matter.A general aim of this study was to perform analysis of factors which can be consideredresponsible generating road pollution, with resistance to abrasion of gritting sandbeing a potential key problem. The correlation between the use of studded tires andparticulate matter formation has been considered to be one of major issues in urbanareas.In order to carry out this investigation, an individual study case was considered,measurements indicated that levels of pollution increased even after studded tires werebanned.The literature review revealed important knowledge gaps regarding the quantificationof particulate emissions from non-exhaust sources, most importantly, emissions due tolow quality gritting sanding. At this point, very little information is available thatcould be used for determining the resistance to abrasion of gritting sanding material.This is further supported by numerous institutions and companies, all suggesting thatquality of gritting sand is not taken into consideration. Gritting sand is part of abigger problem which also involves types of pavement, types of tires, weather,background pollution, etc. Furthermore, there is no practical method to characterizewear of resistance of gritting sand.