Abstract: A method for forming a vulcanizable composition of matter, the method comprising providing a polymer cement or latex comprising at least one rubber, adding at least one processing aid to the cement or latex to form a modified rubber cement or latex, isolating the rubber and at least one processing aid to form a premix, and mixing the premix with carbon black.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a methodology for determining various rubber composition factors that play a role in the structural and functional attributes of the rubber. The present invention also relates to tire treads that are derived using the methodology for optimizing the same as described herein.

Abstract: A method of developing a set of input forces used to analyze tire wear includes the steps of characterizing a wear course by driving a vehicle over the wear course and measuring data related to a plurality of forces experienced by the vehicle. A vehicle characterization model for a target vehicle having at least one tire is developed. The vehicle characterization model is used to calculate force data that represents the forces that would be experienced by at least one tire of the characterized vehicle if the characterized vehicle were driven over the characterized wear test course in the first vehicle configuration. The force data is then used to analyze tire wear using a computer prediction technique or by running an indoor wear test on the tire.