'Like a bomb': Exploding tire that killed L.A. County firefighter was a little-known risk

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9. Study: "Exploring the chemical aspects of truck tire blowouts and explosions"

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2007.10.004

Abstract

Truck tire blowouts and explosions, which account for a non-negligible number of occupational accidents with severe outcomes particularly in the transportation industry, are the subject of a literature review aimed at identifying the different processes involved, with a special focus on the chemical aspects of the phenomena. Tire blowouts and explosions associated with heat input are the result of the contribution of the thermal expansion of the air inside the tire, the thermal weakening of the tire structure, and three potential chemical reactions, namely pyrolysis, thermo-oxidation and combustion, leading to the degradation of the tire polymer matrix. Tire pressure and air temperature data recorded during a torch-induced tire explosion experiment were analyzed and show a sharp transition at 97 °C between an initial pure thermal air expansion regime and a second regime, also linear and attributed to a combination of air expansion and reactions of thermo-chemical degradation of the tire materials. The findings also highlight the difficulties that are encountered when trying to devise preventive and corrective measures against tire blowouts and explosions.

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