Continuous variable pitching methods

Abstract

A method of pitching a tread for a tire to achieve a satisfactory noise power spectrum has the steps of: selecting an upper (u) and a lower (l) extreme of pitch ratios; permitting continuous variables of pitch ratios to exist between the upper (u) and lower (l) extreme of pitch ratios; and conducting an optimization of continuous variables between and including the two selected extremes of pitch ratios; wherein the pitch lengths of each tread element can be different in length to control noise and uniformity harmonics. The method may include other optimization steps in a combinatorial fashion such as using an integer programming formulation that determines discrete values of pitch ratios to get a pitch sequence, using genetic algorithm (GA) programming; or any other combinatorial optimization technique.

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