Emission Characteristics of Tyre Wear Particles from Light-Duty Vehicles

Tyre wear particle emissions have gained significant attention due to their harmful effects on the environment and human health. However, studies on tyre wear particles generated under chassis dynamometer conditions are still scarce. This study measures the instantaneous number concentrations and elemental species of tyre wear particles in different light-duty vehicle test cycles. The results show that the particle number (PN) concentrations of the US06 test cycle are much higher than those of the WLTC test cycle due to the larger and more frequent accelerations and decelerations in the former. High PN concentrations are observed during high driving speeds with rapid accelerations, while PN concentrations are much lower during low driving speed with rapid acceleration. Furthermore, tyre tread temperature is found to be related to the formation of tyre wear particles. The PN concentration in the second and third US06 test cycles are similar, indicating that once the tyre temperature exceeds the critical value, the tyres become heated to a steady state, and the PN concentrations will not be affected by the average temperature of the tyre. A low initial tyre temperature can produce high PN concentrations during the cold start phase of test cycles and prolong the time required for tyres to warm up. In addition, the particles contained a high mass fraction of Zn, which can serve as a tracer of tyre wear particles in non-exhaust particle tests of vehicles.