Fatty Acid Ester Rubber Additives for Low-Resistance Tire Compounds
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rubber compositions for winter and all-season tires face challenges in achieving improved processing properties without compromising other performance criteria such as rolling resistance, snow grip, dry grip, and tire wear, as conventional additives often impair these properties.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a rubber additive composed of fatty acid esters derived from C8 to C22 fatty acids and compounds like C2 to C4 alkoxylates of polyols, polyethylene glycol, or copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide to enhance Mooney viscosity, extrusion properties, and tire performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If conventional rubber additives are used to improve processing properties, then processing and extrusion properties are improved, but rolling resistance increases and tire wear deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the chemical structure of the rubber additive - specifically using fatty acid esters with controlled chain lengths (C12-C22) and specific functional groups. This chemical parameter modification allows the additive to improve processing properties while maintaining favorable rolling resistance characteristics, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and energy loss.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite materials by combining fatty acid esters with specific rubber compounds and silica fillers in optimized ratios. This composite approach creates a synergistic effect where the fatty acid ester modifies the rubber matrix properties without adversely affecting the silica-rubber interface, thus improving processing while controlling rolling resistance.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional rubber additives are used to improve processing properties, then processing and extrusion properties are improved, but tire wear increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the chemical parameters of the additive system by selecting fatty acid esters with specific molecular weights and functional group configurations. This parameter optimization ensures that the additive improves processing without compromising the rubber's tensile strength and tear resistance, thereby maintaining durable tire wear performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses fatty acid esters as sacrificial processing aids that perform their function during compounding and extrusion, then degrade or remain inert in the final vulcanized product. This approach allows significant processing improvement without long-term negative effects on tire wear, as the additive does not persist as a harmful component in the cured rubber.
3Reliability
If rubbers with long chain length are used to improve tire grip at low temperatures, then snow grip is improved, but processing properties deteriorate due to high viscosity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces fatty acid esters as intermediary substances that mediate between the long-chain rubber molecules. These esters act as molecular lubricants during mixing and extrusion, reducing intermolecular friction and viscosity without altering the fundamental long-chain structure needed for low-temperature grip. The intermediary enables improved processing while preserving the grip-enhancing molecular architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the rubber compound by incorporating fatty acid esters that lower the melt viscosity through specific molecular interactions. This parameter change allows the long-chain rubber to be processed at lower temperatures and shear rates, maintaining its cold-weather grip properties while improving manufacturability.
4Ease of manufacture
If conventional plasticizers are added to improve processing properties, then viscosity is reduced and processing is improved, but stiffness decreases leading to higher tire wear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical parameters of the plasticizing agent by using fatty acid esters with specific chain lengths and functional groups. Unlike conventional plasticizers that indiscriminately reduce stiffness, these tailored esters provide selective lubrication during processing while maintaining the rubber's elastic modulus and tear strength, thus improving processing without sacrificing the stiffness needed for wear resistance.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a rubber composition containing rubber and at least one rubber additive, characterized in that the at least one rubber additive comprises fatty acid esters, which fatty acid ester is produced from at least one C8 to C22 fatty acid and at least one compound selected from C2 to C4 alkoxylate of a polyol, polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol and/or copolymer of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide. The present invention further relates to the use of the rubber additive in a rubber composition and to a tire, in which at least one component is at least partially produced from the rubber composition according to the invention, as well as to processes for the production thereof.