| Summary: | Studded tyres are used in many countries around the world. Excessive wear of the road is the result when using studded tyres, and thus time of usage is limited or prohibited. A stud consists of a hard metal part enclosed in steel, aluminium, plastic or rubber, which is anchored in the tyre. Both negative and positive impacts have been assessed by several research groups. Positive impacts is the removal of ice and roughening of the pavement, enhancing friction. Negative effects is regarding human health and pavement excessive wear. Studies on how road or equivalent material is worn require scanning electron microscopy (SEM). If in-depth knowledge of what really occurs on the microscale is obtained, this might provide tools for developing road coatings or studs that contribute to the reduction of particle emission and reduced road wear. Different tests were performed in order to obtain information about the wear mechanisms. Sliding with a stud over a granite specimen, using a scratch tester, gave rise to particles in the range of 1 to 100 micrometer. One single sliding contact (20 mm) resulted in transfer of rock material to the stud tip, meaning that the contact is between minerals from the pavement. One passage resulted in cracks along the contact path in the granite plate, while two scratches removed material. Static load with a stud gave rise to cracks in the granite, which indicate that the structure is weakened. Real over-run by car gave information about stud load, but no information about damage could be obtained on granite specimens from the over-run tests.
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