A pin-on-disc study of airborne wear particle emissions from studded tyre on concrete road contacts

Studded tyres wear surfaces of winter roads, generating inhalable airborne particles. In this study, four concrete road materials and two stud geometries were investigated in terms of wear, road material hardness and airborne particle concentration. The sliding contact between studded tyres and road materials was studied using a pin-on-disc machine in a clean chamber. The results show that the normal load and the stud size have a large influence on the wear and particle emission. It was found that the wear and particle concentration are inversely proportional to the hardness of the aggregate in the road material and proportional to the sliding distance. The particle size distribution has peaks at 0.2 µm, 1 µm and 2 µm. •A clean chamber pin on disc tribometer was utilized to study the aerosols generated from a studded tyre to road contact.•The wear and particle concentration are inversely proportional to the hardness of the aggregate in the road material.•The normal load and the stud size have a large influence on the wear and particle concentration.