Yakov E. Kutsovsky

NEW GENERATION CARBON-SILICA DUAL PHASE FILLER PART I. CHARACTERIZATION AND APPLICATION TO PASSENGER TIRE

Abstract A new carbon-silica dual phase filler (CSDPF) 4000 has been developed for passenger tire application. Analytically, this filler is featured by higher levels of silica at the surface of the aggregate and higher silanol contents compared with the CSDPF 2000 family of products introduced previously. From the compounding point of view, this new dual phase filler shows higher polymer-filler interaction on the carbon domains and lower filler-filler interaction relative to the conventional fillers used in tire tread compounds. The new filler shows significant improvement in wet skid resistance over the earlier products. When this filler is employed in passenger tire tread compounds, the tradeoff among rolling resistance, wear resistance and wet skid resistance of the tire can be significantly improved compared with conventional fillers.

Effect of Fillers on Wet Skid Resistance of Tires. Part I: Water Lubrication Vs. Filler-Elastomer Interactions

Abstract From results of testing materials using a new filler, it was recognized that the wet skid resistance of tires is determined not only by dynamic properties of the tread compounds, but also by elastohydrodynamic lubrication, especially on the micro scale. By reviewing the basic concepts of friction under dry and wet conditions, and friction coefficients of possible model materials that are at the worn surface of tire tread compounds and road surface, it is inferred that after skid testing under wet conditions, the top skin of the worn surface contains some bare silica for silica-filled compounds, but the carbon black aggregates remain covered by rubber film. This inference is supported by measuring the surface energies of the fillers, analyzing the properties of filled vulcanizates, and direct investigation of worn surface of the compounds after skid test by AFM. The different surface compositions between silica- and carbon black-filled vulcanizates would lead to different effects on micro-elastohy...

EFFECT OF FILLERS ON WET SKID RESISTANCE OF TIRES. PART II: EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATIONS ON EFFECT OF FILLER-ELASTOMER INTERACTIONS ON WATER LUBRICATION

Abstract It was demonstrated previously that on the worn surface of vulcanizates during wet skid tests, carbon black is covered by rubber whereas silica particles are at least partly exposed. In th...