Effect of Inflation Pressure on the Self-Cleaning Performance of Different Radial Agricultural Tires

Self-cleaning is an important characteristic of agricultural tires because it can affect tire–soil interaction and traction under wet soil conditions. However, studies quantifying the effects of tire tread design and inflation pressure on this process remain limited. The objective of this study was to evaluate the distance traveled under field capacity soil conditions and the self-cleaning performance of four radial agricultural tires subjected to three inflation pressures. The experiments were conducted at the Federal University of Mato Grosso under controlled soil moisture conditions. A New Holland T7.205 tractor equipped with a four-disc plow was used to apply load and promote tire saturation with wet soil. The evaluated variables were the distance traveled until tread saturation and the number of tire revolutions required for soil removal. The lowest inflation pressure (1.2 bar) resulted in the greatest distance traveled before tread saturation, whereas higher inflation pressures generally reduced the distance traveled before saturation. Tire P exhibited the best results in terms of the greatest distance traveled before soil saturation in the tread at inflation pressures of 1.2, 1.6 and 2.0 bar. At an inflation pressure of 1.2 bar, tire M required the lowest number of tire revolutions for soil removal from the tread, averaging 9 revolutions. At 2.0 bar, tires P and F required fewer tire revolutions for soil removal than tires G and M, averaging 18 and 19 revolutions, respectively.