CenTiRe Announces New Research Project on Additive Manufacturing for Advanced Tire Manufacturing Thermal Management

The Center for Tire Research (CenTiRe) is pleased to announce funding for a new two-year research project beginning in August 2026 titled “Additively Manufactured Meshed Air Cooling/Heating for Tire Industry Applications.”

The project will be led by Dr. Gopal Nadkarni and Dr. Hyeonu Heo from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Akron.

Precise temperature control is critical throughout tire manufacturing, influencing product quality, process stability, energy consumption, and production efficiency. Conventional heating and cooling systems typically rely on water or steam circulating through internal channels, but these approaches can be limited by design constraints, maintenance requirements, corrosion, fouling, and uneven temperature distribution.

This new CenTiRe-funded project will explore a novel alternative that combines additive manufacturing with advanced micro-lattice structures embedded inside steel components. These engineered internal networks dramatically increase heat-transfer surface area while enabling targeted heating and cooling using forced air rather than traditional liquid-based systems.

The research team will design, simulate, fabricate, and experimentally validate prototype components capable of delivering more uniform and responsive thermal control for tire manufacturing processes. Potential applications include equipment used in calendering, cooling, and other temperature-sensitive operations.

Beyond improving manufacturing performance, the technology offers the potential for meaningful sustainability benefits through reduced energy consumption, elimination of water-based infrastructure, lower maintenance requirements, and improved operational reliability.

Expected project outcomes include validated design methodologies, prototype demonstrations, performance benchmarks, and practical guidelines that can support the development of next-generation tire manufacturing equipment.

CenTiRe is excited to support this innovative research effort and its potential to advance manufacturing efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness across the tire industry.

If your organization is interested in advancing innovation in tire materials, manufacturing, physics, sustainability, simulation, and testing technologies, we invite you to explore membership opportunities with CenTiRe.