Nexen Tire cuts tire design time with advanced AI

Measuring tire noise in the ‘Anechoic Chamber’ at Nexen Tire’s Central Research Center in Magok-dong, Seoul. [Courtesy of Nexen Tire Corp.]

Nexen Tire Corp. aims to revolutionize tire development by leveraging advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to propose optimal tire designs.

“We used existing AI solutions to predict performance by inputting data for output. With advanced AI, inputting the desired tire performance can lead to tire design, and the core technology has already been developed,” the company said.

Tires are an auto part that has seen the most rapid changes in product development over the past decade. In the tire industry, data is collected for product development ranges from raw material mixing ratios to the road noise of finished products. This data-driven approach has reduced the design draft production time from over two weeks to just one week.

At Nexen Tire‘s research and development (R&D) center in western Seoul, the focus is on reducing the time needed for optimal design proposals to just one day by using explainable AI (XAI). XAI provides users with the reasoning behind its decisions, and Nexen Tire plans to introduce this technology in tire development sites by 2026.

Nexen Tire is recognized for its growth potential in the global passenger car and light truck tire industry and supplied original equipment (OE) tires solely to Korean automakers like Hyundai Motor Co., Kia Corp., and GM Korea Co. until 2011. It currently supplies OE tires to 28 brands and 117 vehicle models, including premium brands such as Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi. Hitting the desired tire performance is often a priority for the premium OE market, with price being a secondary consideration.

Nexen Tire has also advanced its R&D capabilities in sensory evaluation, including noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) during vehicle operation. The company conducts rigorous internal tests exceeding the standards required by global automakers.

Its R&D center features an anechoic chamber that can measure NVH under temperatures ranging from -5 to 40 degrees Celsius, with both temperature and humidity control. This facility simulates driving conditions at speeds up to 250 kilometers per hour to measure tire noise.

”We reduced trial and error during the tire development process by brainstorming ways to improve sound quality,” the company said.