Tire Technology Expo returned to Hannover last week to provide the industry’s leading technology showcase, ensuring visitors were able to see and discuss the latest developments from 230 exhibitors spanning the global tire sector, all in one place. Some of the tire industry’s largest names were in attendance, with leading exhibitors such as ContiBladders, Siemens, the Eneos Materials Corporation and the VMI Group all showcasing innovations to customers, visitors and fellow exhibitors.
Tire Technology Expo 2023 highlights included the launch of VMI’s all-new VMI UNIXX belt maker, which manufactures high-quality, endless steel belts using an accurately controlled extrusion process. The company’s latest machine is capable of handling several different compounds and has been designed for ‘hands-off, eyes-off production’. Advantages of the belt maker include lower energy consumption and reduced operator involvement.
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Another noteworthy mention was the debut of Cabot’s Evolve Sustainable Solutions, a technology platform for advancing sustainable reinforcing carbons. With the launch of the platform at this year’s event, Cabot aims to develop a range of products which provide sustainable content with reliable performance at an industrial scale. The company hopes to achieve this by leveraging circular value chains and materials recovered from end-of-life tires, renewable and bio-based materials and processes which reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Intralox chose Tire Technology Expo to unveil its new demo and test center (DTC), which uses state-of-the-art technology to remotely demonstrate customers’ products performing on Intralox solutions, reducing the need for travel and accelerating project timelines.
This year’s show also saw live demonstrations of HF TireTech Group’s XPLORE app, which provides an overview of the health status of tire curing presses and recommends improvement measures for operations and maintenance staff on the shop floor.
A wide array of full-size technology was also in evidence across the show floor, including Color Service’s small chemicals weighing system for material conveying, Mesnac’s dual-size shaping drum (pictured, below) and Herrmann Ultraschall’s ultrasonic component for cutting tire rubber during the manufacturing process.
CONFERENCE
The 2023 conference opened with a welcome presentation from Tony Robinson, chairman and CEO, UKi Media & Events, and founder of Tire Technology Expo. Conference highlights included the presentations ‘Lifecycle analysis, a holistic approach for tire design’ by Pierre Fraisse, vice president technical operations, passenger car and light truck tires, Michelin, and the ‘Effect of tire aging and wear on wet grip performance’ by Dalia Broggi, project manager, European Commission, during the opening plenary session, which was moderated by David Shaw, CEO, Tire Industry Research.
Additional conference highlights at the conference included ‘Tire rolling resistance: lab versus real world’ by Stefan Koeppen, principal engineer, Goodyear; ‘A new approach to Thermo-Mechanical tire modelling’ by Marco Furlan, senior modelling and simulation engineer, Calspan Corporation; and ‘A physics-based methodology to estimate tire characteristics’ by Vadiraj Patil, research engineer, Siemens Digital Industries Software.
TESTIMONIALS
“We have attended the Tire Technology Expo for years, and it is a great experience to be here,” explained Mehmet Akin Kiliç, marketing, business development and curing press sales chief, Uzer Makina. “We are seeing all of our existing customers, and new potential customers and suppliers. It is very good to be here and to be connected in the same location.”
“It has been amazing; I love coming to Tire Technology Expo,” said Aatif Misbah, vice president and general manager of sustainable solutions and reinforcement materials at Cabot. “Each time I have been quite impressed by the depth of technology and the breadth of topics which are covered. It is always great to meet a lot of customers at our booth.”
NEXT YEAR’S SHOW
Following the success of this year’s event, the dates for Tire Technology Expo 2024 have already been announced, with the show set to take place on March 19, 20 and 21 in Hannover, Germany.
