Abstract: An apparatus for vulcanizing a tire comprises: a side mold segment provided with a face for shaping the outer surface of a tire sidewall portion, and an opposite face not serving for shaping; and a heater part for vulcanizing the raw tire. The heater part is disposed adjacently to the side mold segment to heat the raw tire abutting on the side-shaping-face from the side of the face not serving for shaping. The side mold segment is provided with a flow path through which a first fluid whose temperature is lower than the vulcanization temperature of the raw tire can flow to prevent over-vulcanization of the sidewall portion.

Abstract: An apparatus for vulcanizing a tire comprises: a side mold segment provided with a face for shaping the outer surface of a tire sidewall portion, and an opposite face not serving for shaping; and a heater part for vulcanizing the raw tire. The heater part is disposed adjacently to the side mold segment to heat the raw tire abutting on the side-shaping-face from the side of the face not serving for shaping. The side mold segment is provided with a flow path through which a first fluid whose temperature is lower than the vulcanization temperature of the raw tire can flow to prevent over-vulcanization of the sidewall portion.

Abstract: [Object] To provide a pneumatic tire which is excellent in durability. [Solution] A tire has a large number of dimples 62 on sidewalls thereof. The contour of each dimple 62 is composed of a first circular arc 66, a second circular arc 68, a first connection line 70, and a second connection line 72. The curvature radius R2 of the second circular arc 68 is larger than the curvature radius R1 of the first circular arc 66. The first connection line 70 is a straight line. The first connection line 70 connects one end 78 of the first circular arc 66 to one end 80 of the second circular arc 68. The second connection line 72 is a straight line. The second connection line 72 connects the other end 74 of the first circular arc 66 to the other end 76 of the second circular arc 68.

Abstract: A method for simulating a rolling tire and estimating its noise performance is disclosed, wherein a tire model rolling on a rough road surface model is simulated, and coordinates of node points appearing in the outer surface of the rolling tire model are stored as time-series coordinates data. A small gap is formed between a tire outer surface model defined by the time-series coordinates data and a smooth road surface model. Then, a sound field filled with air is defined including the gap, and pressure variations of the air are computed.

Abstract: A method for generating a two-dimensional mesh model of an object made up of a finite number of elements and provided with nodes is disclosed. Data about an original contour of the analysis object, including data about contour nodes are defined. The original contour is transformed by scaling up or down only in the direction of a predetermined first axis at a predetermined first scaling factor to obtain the transformed contour. Based on the contour nodes and additional nodes defined on the transformed contour, a primary mesh model whose contour is the same as the transformed contour is generated. By scaling the primary mesh model only in the direction of the first axis at a second scaling factor equal to the reciprocal of the first scaling factor, a secondary mesh model whose contour is the same as the original contour is generated.

Abstract: A computerized simulation method for evaluating a tire performance is disclosed. Firstly, a simulation of a rolling tire is made by contacting a tire model with a road surface model, and chronological data about node points of the tire model which node points appear in the outer surface of the tire model during rotating are stored. Then, a domain of a fluid is defined, and a simulation of the fluid is made by the use of the chronological data, wherein a small gap is formed between the tire model and the road surface model, and the fluid domain is also defined in the gap.

Abstract: A method for generating a two-dimensional mesh model of an object made up of a finite number of elements and provided with nodes is disclosed. Data about an original contour of the analysis object, including data about contour nodes are defined. The original contour is transformed by scaling up or down only in the direction of a predetermined first axis at a predetermined first scaling factor to obtain the transformed contour. Based on the contour nodes and additional nodes defined on the transformed contour, a primary mesh model whose contour is the same as the transformed contour is generated. By scaling the primary mesh model only in the direction of the first axis at a second scaling factor equal to the reciprocal of the first scaling factor, a secondary mesh model whose contour is the same as the original contour is generated.

Abstract: [Object] To provide a pneumatic tire which is excellent in durability. [Solution] A tire has a large number of dimples 62 on sidewalls thereof. The contour of each dimple 62 is composed of a first circular arc 66, a second circular arc 68, a first connection line 70, and a second connection line 72. The curvature radius R2 of the second circular arc 68 is larger than the curvature radius R1 of the first circular arc 66. The first connection line 70 is a straight line. The first connection line 70 connects one end 78 of the first circular arc 66 to one end 80 of the second circular arc 68. The second connection line 72 is a straight line. The second connection line 72 connects the other end 74 of the first circular arc 66 to the other end 76 of the second circular arc 68.

Abstract: A method for producing a finite element model is disclosed. From a contour data set about the original contour shape of an analysis object, a nonuniformly-scaled contour data set about a nonuniformly-scaled contour obtained by anisotropically scaling up or down the contour shape is reconstructed using a scaling factor. The nonuniformly-scaled contour is divided into a finite number of elements and node points are defined to form a primary model. The primary model is anisotropically scaled by the reciprocal of the scaling factor to form the finite element model having the original contour shape.

Abstract: A method for simulating a rolling tire and estimating its noise performance is disclosed, wherein a tire model rolling on a rough road surface model is simulated, and coordinates of node points appearing in the outer surface of the rolling tire model are stored as time-series coordinates data. A small gap is formed between a tire outer surface model defined by the time-series coordinates data and a smooth road surface model. Then, a sound field filled with air is defined including the gap, and pressure variations of the air are computed.

Abstract: A computerized simulation method for evaluating a tire performance is disclosed. Firstly, a simulation of a rolling tire is made by contacting a tire model with a road surface model, and chronological data about node points of the tire model which node points appear in the outer surface of the tire model during rotating are stored. Then, a domain of a fluid is defined, and a simulation of the fluid is made by the use of the chronological data, wherein a small gap is formed between the tire model and the road surface model, and the fluid domain is also defined in the gap.

Abstract: [Object] A pneumatic tire 2 which is excellent in durability is provided. [Solution] The tire 2 includes a tread 4, wings 6, sidewalls 8, clinch sections 10, beads 12, a carcass 14, support layers 16, a belt 18, and a band 20. The sidewalls 8 include multiple dimples 62. When air flows into the dimples 62, turbulent flow is generated. The turbulent flow allows heat of the tire 2 to be released to the air. The surface shape of each dimple 62 is an ellipse. The length La of the major axis of the ellipse is longer than the length Li of the minor axis of the ellipse. The ratio (La/Li) is greater than or equal to 1.2/1, and is not greater than 5/1. The depth of each dimple 62 is greater than or equal to 0.2 mm, and is not greater than 7 mm. The clinch sections 10 may include the dimples 62.

Abstract: A tire (2) includes a tread (4), a wing (6), a sidewall (8), a clinch portion (10), a bead (12), a carcass (14), a support layer (16), a belt (18), a band (20), an inner liner (22) and a chafer (24). A dimple (62) is formed in the sidewall (8) and the clinch portion (10). When air flows into the dimple (62), a turbulent flow is generated. By the turbulent flow, heat of the tire (2) is emitted to an atmosphere. The dimple (62) takes a planar shape of a circle. The dimple (62) has a diameter which is equal to or greater than 6 mm and is equal to or smaller than 18 mm. The dimple (62) has a depth which is equal to or greater than 0.5 mm and is equal to or smaller than 3.0 mm. The tire (2) has a CTT profile.