DEVELOPMENT OF TYRE TREAD COMPOUND USING RIBBED SMOKED SHEETS (RSS) PREPARED WITH MODIFIED GROUND RUBBER OF TYRE (GRT) INCORPORATED NATURAL RUBBER LATEX

Abstract

By considering the tyre manufacturing process, tyre tread is very important because it makes contact with the road. Carbon black is widely used as reinforcing fíller in the manufacture of dry rubber based producis such as tyres, automobile components etc. However, Carbon black is expensive and it effects badly to the environment. To reduce the effect of carbon black in tyre manufacturing process, carbon black is replaced with GRT (ground rubber of tyre). GRT is vulcanized material and obtained from tyre waste. So, RSS (Ribbed Smoked Sheets) are prepared with GRT dispersion. Here GRT is added to the latex as a solution because when compounding, it causes to environmental pollution. GRT partioles (below 200 sizes) was soaked with KOH (potassium hydroxide). By changing soaking time, four samples were obtained.( By keeping one day, three days, five days and seven days to soak). After preparing RSS with GRT, raw rubber properties were checked. According to tyre tread compound formulation, seventeen samples were compounded by changing the ratio of carbon black to GRT. Physical properties such as tensile strength, tear strength, hardness etc have to be checked. Physical properties of tyre tread compound prepared with GRT incorporated RSS and conventional RSS, have to be compared.