The hypothetical engineering concept of a tire requires an analysis that goes beyond a superficial examination of the remaining tread depth or the external condition of the tire. In fact, a tire begins to deteriorate from the moment it leaves the final vulcanization phase, which is the same process that gives it its final mechanical properties. This continuous process, known as rubber aging, is an inevitable chemical process that begins to reduce rubber elasticity and structural integrity over time, regardless of actual use of tires. Therefore, effective management of tire inventory and vehicle fleets requires the ability to accurately distinguish between the concept of tire service life and age The maximum default of a tire is two very different things. The operational life is closely and directly related to the distance traveled using the tire, the driving pattern followed, and the depth of the remaining tread. This is the aspect that is usually monitored routinely during regular maintenance. The second concept, which is the most complex, is the maximum life span of a tire, which in turn is linked to time, storage and climate, and reflects the extent to which the internal structure of the tire is exposed to chemical deterioration that cannot be easily seen or measured. Therefore, international organizations working in the tire sector and leading manufacturers in the field of tire manufacturing recommend After five years of starting to use tires professionally, the risk of internal deterioration begins to increase significantly, even after the absence of any visible signs of wear on the tread. This reflects the fact that chemical deterioration affects the steel belts and internal fabrics that form the basic structure of tires, while the global tire industry relies on a rule known as the 5-10 year rule, while the tire may be considered new and non-consumer and has warranty characteristics for up to five years from the date of manufacture, assuming optimal and most reliable storage. Major companies in the field and competent organizations recommend replacing a tire as a precaution if ten years have passed from the date of manufacture. This maximum is applied even if the tire is in an apparently perfect condition and even if it has not reached the legal limit. This warning also includes spare tires that may remain dormant for many years without use or good storage.
The European Technical Organization for Tires and Wheels also adopts (ETRTO), which sets several international standards to ensure the safety and compatibility of tires and rims in Europe, similar to this industrial consensus agreed upon by tire manufacturers, while stressing the need for intensive monitoring of tires after five years of use or production. This international consensus indicates that age standards are not just marketing recommendations, but are part of an international engineering consensus aimed at managing the risk of catastrophic structural failure that causes tires to explode in fast commercial trips. The engineering reason behind this absolute protective barrier (ten years) lies in the fact that steel belts and fabric The interior of the tire may have been exposed to a degree of chemical corrosion or invisible internal rust. This invisible internal deterioration makes the tires susceptible to explosion and partial separation from the internal structure of the tire, especially under high operating pressure and high temperatures, leading to sudden and catastrophic failure. Therefore, limiting the life of a tire is a measure to reduce the risks associated with the separation of tire components due to aging of the materials that make up the tire and not only the wear of the tread.
How do you read the symbols on the side of the frame?
To manage the life span of a tire effectively and more accurately, those responsible for logistics fleets and commercial trucks involved in commercial transportation must understand how to determine the production date of a tire completely accurately. This can be found through the U.S. Department of Transportation code (DOT Code), also known as the tire identification number (TIN). In short, they are a unified series of letters and numbers printed permanently on the side wall of the tire. This code is crucial in ensuring that the tire is tracked for registration, licensing and warranty purposes, while determining the date of manufacture and identifying the tire in the event of a product recall to the manufacturer, and parts The most important in this code are the last four digits, which represent the actual manufacturing date of the tire. For tires manufactured from 2000 onwards, this section consists of four digits. The first two digits represent the week in which the tire was produced, with numbers ranging from (01-52) while the last two digits represent the last two digits of the year of manufacture. For example, if the code ends with 2325, it means that it was produced in the 23rd week of 2025. With this code or code, a problem that concerned many people before the second millennium was solved because the production date was based on a three-digit code consisting of only two digits to identify the week and number To determine the year without specifying the contract in which the tire was produced, for example, the 529 sequence referred to the fifty-second week of 1999 and 1989 together without the ability to distinguish between them. However, after the adoption of the quadripartite code, the problem was solved and it became easy for specialists and non-specialists to identify the exact manufacturing date. Understanding the (DOT) code is an indispensable tool for logistics operators as it allows applying the “first-come, first-served” principle in managing the inventory of new tires if the tire manufacturer keeps new tires before selling or exporting them. If they are not sold or used within five years, they have been consumed Half of its life is actually while it is sleeping in storage. However, the maximum life of a tire is ten years starting from the date of the DOT code, which clearly means that a tire that is ideally stored for five years has only a maximum of five years left for safe operation before the precautionary recommendations require its replacement immediately before any accident or breakdown occurs.
Therefore, accurate management of the production date of tires and their entry into storage warehouses is not only related to legal information and registration data. It is a direct logistical and financial decision to reduce product loss due to expiration before use. Any tire that exceeds five years in storage represents assets with a decreasing economic value and less ability to provide a full warranty period for the end user of the tire.
How do tires get damaged where they are stored?
In order to understand how to keep tires in a completely healthy condition, it is necessary to know the causes that cause significant wear and destruction of tires over time. It is necessary to go deeper into the scientific basis of tire deterioration, as rubber used in tires is a very sticky polymer material that is highly affected by the surrounding chemical and physical environment. Storage protocols are mainly designed to reduce chemical reaction rates that lead to the cracking of polymer chains and the loss of elasticity over time. There are three basic elements to destroy the structure of tires. These three elements have always been exposed to, making Faster aging and loss of properties such as ozone, UV rays and thermal oxidation.
First: the effect of ozone (O3) on polymeric bonds
Ozone gas is one of the most serious factors causing rubber damage, as it is a highly reactive form of oxygen, especially when the tire is in a state of rest, whether it is stored or installed on the truck but the truck is parked for a long time. The chemical mechanism of ozone is particularly dangerous as it directly damages the unsaturated bonds (Unsaturated Bonds) found in basic rubber polymers such as styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and natural rubber, leading to the cracking of polymer chains. This process is known as (Ozonolysis). The apparent result is the appearance of fine and deep cracks on the surface of the tire, especially in the walls Side effects are also known as ozone cracking (Ozone Cracking).
Due to the importance of ozone resistance, manufacturers undergo rigorous testing using specialized ozone chambers (Ozone Chambers). They are used to expose rubber samples to controlled concentrations of ozone and are sometimes accelerated to simulate long-term exposure to tires. This allows materials experts to evaluate the effectiveness of their anti-ozone compounds. Focusing on isolating tires from ozone sources in storage is one of the most basic principles to maintain shelf life.
Second: ultraviolet (UV) and extreme light
Ultraviolet rays, whether coming from direct sunlight or from highly UV artificial lighting sources, act as a catalyst to accelerate the optical oxidation processes of a tire. The high energy of ultraviolet rays leads to the breakdown of hydrocarbon bonds in rubber, causing a gradual loss of elasticity and durability while significantly increasing the fragility of rubber. This phenomenon is an essential part of what is usually referred to as dehydration or dry cracking. Prolonged exposure to intense light reduces the flexibility of tires and rubber and makes it susceptible to cracking under the least amount of stress. To mitigate this destructive effect, manufacturers are adding Carbon black or carbon black is added to the basic rubber composition in large quantities. It absorbs ultraviolet rays more effectively. It absorbs, converts and dissipates UV energy as simple heat coming out of the tire easily. This is the chemical reason that makes car tires and many other products completely black. It provides a necessary internal protection layer against photodegradation, making tires more resistant to continuous exposure to sunlight throughout the day, thus protecting tires themselves from deterioration and excessive consumption due to the ultraviolet rays that consume them chemically and without stop.
Third: heat and degradation synergy
Poor storage, which combines heat, ozone and light, not only adds accumulated damage to tires, but also increases it synergistically. High temperatures significantly accelerate the rate of chemical reaction of rubber aging and deterioration more quickly than usual. If tires are stored in a hot and bright environment, UV energy will break down polymer chains. At the same time, heat causes the consumption of protective materials at a faster rate. If there is a high concentration of ozone O3 in the room due to the presence of an electric motor or devices that emit ozone gas, this gas will find ready-made and disassembled polymeric chains Due to heat and light, tires and rubber are victims and easy prey to chemical reactions that progress in a simple way. Over the cumulative time, tires become internally damaged and poorly bound, facilitating the process of ozone hardening resulting from this reaction, leading to a reduction in the maximum life of the tire, which requires storing tires at low and stable temperatures in warehouses while providing good ventilation. This makes tires able to overcome long storage periods effectively. The effects of temperatures contribute to increasing possible chemical reactions in the storage environment.
How do tires protect themselves during storage?
Protecting tires from destruction during storage is gradual and slow due to the changes and effects we have mentioned in the past. However, in order to elaborate on the protection techniques adopted by tire manufacturers, it is necessary to understand the most important and prominent protective compounds used, as well as the processes that help to balance the tire and protect it from chemical reactions and environmental changes. At the forefront of these compounds are the so-called antioxidants and antioxidants (Antioxidants and Antioxidants). The most famous compounds used in this regard are phenylene diamine (PPD) compounds such as (6PPD), which acts as chemical and physical traps or protective barriers It prevents the passage of gases that interact with rubber composite materials through a natural phenomenon known as “Wax Blooming”. Therefore, these materials, in addition to wax, are designed to migrate slowly from inside rubber compounds to the outer surface of tires. This migration forms a thin protective wax layer and acts as a physical barrier against ozone attack. This wax layer, supported by anti-compounds, is first depleted as a result of the interaction of ozone gas with them, which delays the penetration of ozone gas into the polymer bonds and internal components of the tire. This protective mechanism is especially effective in static conditions in stored tires or parked vehicles. This wax layer prevents the appearance of cracks in the sidewalls. However, a tire that has not been used and has not been rolled regularly faces a major challenge in maintaining its quality. The flowering process repeats itself when the tire is bent or rolled, in order to avoid dry hardening and the end of the ability of protective materials to prevent the entry of ozone into the rubber layers, especially in environments that contain high amounts of ozone gas.
How to prepare tires for long-term storage?
Before entering a long-term state of rest logistically and in storage, tires should be treated as a sensitive product that requires prior preparation prior to storage. Therefore, you should start with a deep cleaning of the tire and the rim (if it is a compound). The aim of cleaning is to ensure that any remaining foreign materials do not react chemically with basic rubber compounds or interfere with the action of internal protective additives that will come out during the storage process to protect the tire from corrosive reactions. These contaminants may act as oxidants and accelerate the deterioration of tires and rubber. For tires installed on wheels, the wheels should also be cleaned well and thoroughly to remove dust Brakes, which causes tire wear if left for a long time, especially on aluminum rims, while avoiding the use of famous commercial polishes to polish tires, as they remove the wax layer that has migrated naturally to the surface of the tires, preventing them from performing their required function, thus weakening the tires in the face of environmental changes and the effects of storage.
High quality tires have high quality storage
What is the appropriate environment for storing tires?
The environment around tires in the case of storage is the determining factor in determining how long a tire can retain its polymeric properties. Therefore, this environment must be subject to strict protocols to control temperature, humidity and chemical pollutants. Therefore, climate control inside warehouses is not a luxury for tires. It is a protection and protection of investment assets such as tires. Rubber is a flexible and viscous polymer, its properties are greatly affected by temperature and storage at ideal temperatures to maintain the quality of polymers in a normal and stable state. The recommended thermal limits for commercial stores are to range the temperature The target is between zero degrees Celsius and a maximum of 25 degrees Celsius. Next, an attached table shows the relationship between temperature and humidity inside the warehouse climate.
Darbek tires are designed to operate for their full life
