ROHSTOFFE UND ANWENDUNGEN

RAW MATERIALS AND APPLICATIONS

MilliCap Cap ply High performance tires Innovative MilliCap cap ply tape from Milliken consists of a woven or knitted fabric strip supplied as a spool of perfectly slit tape that is chemically treated for rubber adhesion and tackied so that it sticks to the steel belt ply upon application at the building drum. The construction of the cap ply tape differs, depending upon the tyre speed rating. Regular MilliCap cap ply is constructed via Leno weaving; MilliCap cap ply for high speed tires is made using weft insertion warp knitting; and ultra high speed Aramide MilliCap cap ply is constructed via a process called Leno 2T weaving. This new MilliCap cap ply technology has several technical advantages and also eliminates multiple process steps for the tyre manufacturer, resulting in signicant productivity improvement.

Advanced Textiles Increase Tyre Performance

Most tires today, especially those with high perfomance ratings, have a cap ply, usually consisting of a layer or two of calendered tyre cord fabric or extrusion-rubberized single-end cord, that helps to restrain the growth of the tyre in service. When the tyre runs at a high speed, centrifugal forces will stretch the tyre belting, causing the inextensible steel belt cords to rotate from the bias angle in the circumferential direction and altering the tyre shape. During this displacement, the sharp steel cord ends may cut the adjacent rubber and initiate cracks, which could grow during tyre service and ultimately result in belt separation. In an attempt to restrict tyre growth, cap ply is placed around the tyre circumference. To enhance the life of the tyre, cap ply width extends beyond the belt edges to reduce the impact of the stress concentration between belt ends & adjacent rubber, which is the point of maximum shear stress in tires. Milliken Europe, a specialist in technical textiles, has developed a very innovative and unique approach to the concept of cap ply. This cap ply tape technique fullls Milliken Europes commitment to provide ready-toapply materials that reduce processing steps, release machine capacity and eliminate waste. This new cap ply tape consists of a woven or knitted fabric strip supplied as a spool of perfectly split tape that is chemically treated for rubber adhesion and tackied so that it sticks to the steel belt ply upon application at the building drum. This precision-slit textile tape offers great consistency in application. The spool package facilitates delivery to the tyre building machine. The physical characteristics of the tape, especially shrinkage and modulus, ensure that it will prevent the growth of the steel ply at the operational speeds of the tyre. Simultaneously, the chemical treatment guarantees an optimum bond between the tape and the rubber compounds used in the steel belt and tread plies. Milliken has developed three types of cap ply tapes, using different yarns, fabric formation technologies and fabric constructions, to address different tyre applications and design requirements (Fig. 1). This provides a exible range of cap ply characteristics and costs, covering the requirements of tires over the entire speed range. The cap ply for regular tires (lower speed ratings) consists of a Nylon Leno woven tape (code 0422). The cap ply for high perfomance tires takes the form of a Nylon weft insertion warp knitted tape (code 0623 & 0625). Lastly, the cap ply for ultra high performance tires is an Aramide / Nylon Leno 2T woven tape (code 9827). All three types of cap ply tape are treated to provide chemical bonding with rubber and a tacky overcoat to allow the tape to adhere during the tyre building process. Chemical formulations can be adjusted according to the rubber mix or the customers needs.

Fortschrittliche Textilien verbessern die Leistungsfhigkeit von Reifen

Milliken Cap Cap ply Hochleistungsreifen Das innovative MilliCap Capply-Band von Milliken besteht aus einem gewebten oder gewirkten Streifen, der auf einer Spule als przise geschnittenes Band geliefert wird. Es wurde chemisch mit einem Gummihaftsystem ausgerstet und klebrig gemacht, so dass es auf der Stahlgrtellage haftet, wenn es an der Aufbautrommel angebracht wird. Die Konstruktion des Capply ist unterschiedlich je nach Geschwindigkeitsklasse des Reifens. Das Standard MilliCap Capply ist eine Drehergewebekonstruktion; das MilliCap Capply fr Hochgeschwindigkeitsreifen wird mit Hilfe von Schussrascheltechnik hergestellt. Fr hchste Geschwindigkeitsanforderungen wird Aramid MilliCap Capply ber einen so genannten Leno 2T Webprozess hergestellt. Die neue MilliCap Capply Technologie bringt wesentliche technische Vorteile, beseitigt mehrere Prozessschritte bei der Reifenherstellung und fhrt so zu erheblichen Produktivittsverbesserungen.

Regular cap ply

The regular cap ply tape (Fig. 2) is constructed via Leno weaving.[2] This is a process during which pairs of adjacent warp threads are twisted around each other after every weft insertion in order to enclose and block the weft from shifting. Leno weaving is typically used for open constructions, as it imparts extra stability and helps prevent distortion. Leno weaving (Fig. 3) also results in less fraying of the fabric during the slitting process. Technical data on the regular cap ply are given in Table 1.

High speed cap ply

The cap ply tape for high perfomance tires (Fig. 4) uses weft insertion warp knitting. This is a fabric formation process during which the warp and weft yarn are posi-

Authors
J. Peschek, W. Delanoy, T. Thies, P. Janczyck, P. Kini, P. Eeckhout, Y. Duytschaever, S. Teuwen, Gent (Belgium) Corresponding author: Peter Eeckhout Milliken Europe BVBA Ham 18 9000 Gent, Belgium E-mail: Peter.Eeckhout@Milliken.com

Figures and Tables: By a kind approval of the authors

540

KGK Oktober 2009

4 MilliCap High perfomance Cap Ply (0623)

1 Range of MilliCap product

5 MilliCap High perfomance Cap Ply (0625) with higher tensile

Force versus elongation behavior of the strip

2 MilliCap Regular Cap Ply (0422) 3 Schematic drawing of Leno weaving [2]

tioned on top of each other and connected by means of a thin stitch yarn. Compared to Leno weaving, this fabric construction imparts virtually no yarn crimp on the primary load-bearing yarns (warp yarns), which results in lower elongation during tyre service. We have high-perfomance cap ply in two different warp yarn constructions: PA 6.6 940/2 dtex (Fig. 4) and PA 6.6 1400/2 dtex (Fig. 5). The 1400/2 dtex construction provides a higher tensile strength for applications with a higher perfomance rating. As with all the cap ply products, the chemical properties are changed to optimize adhesion for different rubber types and characteristics. The more detailed technical characteristics for this two innovative cap ply products are given in Table 2.

conditions to regulate the amount of crimp and adjust the force-elongation curve to address specic customer needs [3]. The technical characteristics are indicated in Table 3.

Figure 8 shows the force versus elongation curve of the ultra high perfomance cap ply strip. At a low tensile force (Zone A), we achieve a certain elongation (2-4 %). This elongation is necessary during the building process of the tyre, more specically during the lift up on the drum and the molding

1 Technical Characteristics of ply construction 0422

Construction (0422) Warp 1/940 dtex, PA 6.6 2 X 54 ends/dm Weft 1/1220 dtex, Rayon 22 ends/dm Weight 180 g/m +/15 g/m Thickness 0.57 mm +/0.03 mm Elongation @80 daN 8.5 % +/1.8 % Fabric Strength min. 360 daN/5 cm

2 Technical characteristics of ply construction 0623 and 0625

Construction (0623) Warp 1 940/2 dtex, PA 6.6 50 ends/dm Warp 2 82 dtex, PES 50 ends/dm Weft 1/1220 dtex, Rayon 22 ends/dm Weight 170 g/m Thickness 0.7 mm Elongation @80 daN 5.2 % Fabric Strength 400 daN/5 cm

Ultra high speed Aramide cap ply

The ultra high perfomance Aramide cap ply (Fig. 6) is constructed via an innovative process called Leno 2T weaving (Fig. 7), a fabric formation process which incorporates the Leno technology but enables the use of two sets of warp yarns. For the ultra high perfomance cap ply, these yarns usually consist of an Aramide and a Nylon thread. Milliken can adjust the yarn tensions and treating

Construction (0625) Warp 1 1400/2 dtex, PA 6.6 50 ends/dm Warp 2 82 dtex, PES 50 ends/dm Weft 1/1220 dtex, Rayon 22 ends/dm Weight 250 g/m Thickness 0.9 mm Elongation @80 daN 3.5 % Fabric Strength 600 daN/5 cm

KGK Oktober 2009

541

ROHSTOFFE UND ANWENDUNGEN

RAW MATERIALS AND APPLICATIONS

10

6 MilliCap Ultra High perfomance Aramide Cap Ply (9827)

7 Schematic drawing of Leno 2T technology

10 Milliken cap ply tape, MilliCap

we achieve a higher modulus (0623-0625). With the ultra high perfomance Leno 2T cap ply, the technology allows the creation of a force versus elongation curve which meets the requirements for tyre building as well as the specications for tyre performance.

Advantages of the new cap ply tape

The cap ply tape has some specic technical advantages in regards to tyre uniformity. There is no need for calendering or slitting of the material, which reduces the number of process variables and also gives a more uniform distribution of the tyre cord ends and a higher uniformity in the green tyre. Furthermore, the cap ply yields a substantial reduction in rolling resistance. There is less heat generation at the tread cap and shoulder regions. Due to the fact that the cap ply tape does not need to be rubber coated, it offers the potential for tyre weight reduction. In addition to these technical benets, The cap ply tape offers a number of cost advantages, several of which revolve around productivity improvement (Fig. 9). The new technology eliminates multiple process steps, but at the same time it does not require any additional investments. Since the cap ply tape comes ready to be applied on the building drum, no calendering and additional slitting is necessary. This means that capacity is freed up at the calender, slitter and intermix and can be used more productively for other components. Waste, energy and labour for cap ply at these processes is eliminated. With a spool length of up to 6000 strip meters, the cap ply tape also results in a reduction of down time and manual intervention at tyre building. Fur-

8 Force verus elongation behavior of the strip [3]

9 Productivity process regular cap ply versus MilliCap

phase. At higher tensile forces (Zone B), the Aramide properties take over and prevent the cap ply and the tyre from expanding [4]. The yarn crimp in the regular Leno cap ply

(0422), which is imparted by the fabric formation process, results in a lower modulus. For the high perfomance weft insertion warp knit cap ply, due to the almost non-existant crimp,

3 Technical characteristics of ply construction 9827

Construction (9827) Warp 1 2/1100 dtex, Aramide 59 ends/dm Warp 2 1/470 dtex PA6.6 59 ends/dm Weft 1/1220 dtex, Rayon 22 ends/dm Weight 267 g/m Thickness 0.8 mm Elongation @80 daN 4.5 % Fabric Strength 950 daN/5 cm

542

KGK Oktober 2009

thermore, it reduces WIP inventory (work in process) and eliminates shelf life issues of traditionally calendered cap ply fabric. Aside from productivity improvements, the cap ply tape can also enable reductions in rubber usage and tyre weight, with savings of between 100 and 300 grams of rubber possible in an average passenger tyre.

The cap ply tape can be tailor made to specic requirements and will therefore continue to meet the growing needs of theis ever-evolving market (Fig. 10)

[2] http://www.lindauerdornier.com [3] Aramids, Rubber & Plastic News, Feb. 25 (2008) [4] E. E. W. Bottema, M. P. B. Van Uum, TEJIN Determination of Force-Elongation Properties (Standard Method for Analysis) Arnhem, The Netherlands (2006)

References
[1] ANRPC The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries - www.tirebusiness.com 15/04/2009

KGK Oktober 2009

543