Sulphur-Linkable Rubber Compound Viscosity Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rubber mixtures for vehicle tires face challenges in achieving a balance between rolling resistance, wet braking, and abrasion resistance, with high viscosities making processing difficult, particularly in extrusion for tire components like treads.
Innovation Solution
A sulfur-crosslinkable rubber mixture comprising 100 phr of solid diene rubber, 3-40 phr of terminally organosilicon modified liquid polymer A, and 3-40 phr of unmodified liquid polymer B, along with silica, which synergistically reduces viscosity, improving extrudability and maintaining optimal tire properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If liquid polybutadiene is used in conventional compounds, then winter properties are improved, but dry braking and dry handling deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent modifies the molecular weight parameters of liquid polybutadiene, specifying a range of 500 to 50,000 g/mol, and controls vinyl content and microstructure parameters to optimize the balance between winter properties and dry braking performance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite rubber compound system combining liquid polybutadiene with specific solid rubber matrices (natural rubber, synthetic polyisoprene, styrene-butadiene rubber, or butadiene rubber) to achieve synergistic effects that balance conflicting performance requirements
2Reliability
If a modified polymer and silica are used in the rubber mixture, then rolling resistance behavior, wet braking behavior and abrasion resistance are optimized, but processing difficulty increases due to high viscosities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent carefully controls the molecular weight of liquid polybutadiene (500 to 50,000 g/mol) and its proportion in the compound (3 to 40 phr) to reduce viscosity while maintaining optimized rolling resistance, wet braking, and abrasion resistance properties
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies functional differentiation by using liquid polybutadiene specifically to improve processability and extrudability in certain regions of the compound, while solid rubbers and silica provide the optimized performance characteristics for rolling resistance, wet braking, and abrasion resistance
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a sulfur-curable rubber compound, particularly for vehicle tires, a vulcanizate of the rubber compound, and a vehicle tire. The rubber compound exhibits optimal properties with regard to the conflicting objectives of rolling resistance, braking performance, and abrasion resistance, as well as improved processability. For this purpose, it contains at least the following components: - 100 phr of at least one solid diene rubber having a weight mean Mw of molecular weight according to GPC of 250,000 to 5,000,000 g/mol, and - 3 to 40 phr of at least one liquid polymer A which is terminally organosilicon-modified and has a weight mean Mw of molecular weight according to GPC of 500 to 7800 g/mol, and - 3 to 40 phr of at least one unmodified liquid polymer B which has a weight mean Mw of molecular weight according to GPC of 500 to 50,000 g/mol, and - at least one silica.