University of the East

College of Engineering

PLATE NO. 6
RUBBER

NME 3106/ ME-1

PABLO, JOHN EDERSON B.

20160130665
November 26, 2020

ENGR. DIOSDADO C. DOCTOR

PROFESSOR
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. DEFINITION OF TERMS

II. INTRODUCTION

III. MANUFACTURING PROCESS

-FLOW CHART
-DISCUSSION AT THE PROCESS
-RAW MATERIALS
-EQUIPMENT OF MACHINERIES

IV. REFERENCES
I. DEFINITION OF TERMS

• Radial Tire - is a particular design of vehicular tire. In this design, the cord plies are
arranged at 90 degrees to the direction of travel, or radially (from the center of the
tire).
• Autoclave – A pressure vessel use to process material with pressure and heat.
Steam pressure autoclaves are commonly used in the process of rubber
vulcanization.
• Bladder – generally wrapped in layers of fiber and then covered with a surface
made either from leather (traditional), rubber, or a synthetic composite.
• Banbury Mixer – An internal mixer commonly used in the rubber industry. It
consists of two shaped rotors which turn inside a sealed chamber, to masticate the
rubber compound and fully mix all the various constituents.
• Accelerators – Chemicals which are added to natural or synthetic rubbers to
accelerate the rate of vulcanization. Rubber without accelerators takes twenty or
thirty times longer to cure.
• Butyl Rubber – An early synthetic rubber which exhibits particularly good
weathering and gas permeability performance, and as such is used extensively for
gas tight seal. It has reasonable physical properties although it does not resist oils
and fuels well. It finds wide application in tire inner tubes, NBC protection and
roofing or pond lining materials.
• Cure – An irreversible process during which a rubber compound through a change
in its chemical structure (cross–linking, for example), becomes less plastic and
more resistant to swelling by organic liquids and elastic properties are conferred,
improved, or extended over a greater range of temperature. Cure and
vulcanization are interchangeable terms as they share the same definition.
• Natural Rubber – also called latex, as initially produced, consists of polymers of
the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic
compounds, plus water. Thailand and Indonesia are two of the leading rubber
producers.
• Synthetic Rubber - An elastic substance produced from monomers such as
butadiene, styrene, and isoprene. Because of superior performance (tread wear,
resistance to groove cracking, lower cost) synthetic rubbers have largely replaced
natural rubber.
• Carcass – carcass consists of treads of nylon or polyester that is wrapped
around the ball.
• Carbon Black - is a material of partial combustion or thermal decomposition of
hydrocarbons. It is essentially elemental carbon in the form of extremely fine
particles having an amorphous molecular structure.
• Co-Polymer- made of two different monomers. For example, SBR is a rubber co-
polymer and is made up of the monomers Styrene and Butadiene.
• Compound- Intimate mixture of a polymer with all materials necessary (oil, carbon
black, curatives, etc.) for the finished article.
• Die - Tooling orifice through which uncured compound is forced in the extrusion
process to form a profile.
• Extrusion – The process in which an uncured rubber compound is pushed
through a die of a desired cross-sectional shape or profile.
• Extruder - A machine for producing continuous lengths of rubber sections such as
rods, sheets, tubes, and profiles, by forcing uncured rubber compound though a
suitable die, and then curing the resultant section in an autoclave or microwave
oven.
• Mold – a hollow container used to give shape to molten or hot liquid material
(such as wax or metal) when it cools and hardens.
• Homogenous - A mixture that is uniformly dispersed. In finished seals a rubber
seal without fabric or metal reinforcement.
• Elasticity – A rubber like material’s ability to rapidly return to its original size and
shape after removal of any stresses causing deformation such as stretching,
compression, or torsion. It is the opposite of plasticity. The term elasticity is often
loosely employed to signify the “stretchiness” of a rubber like material.
• Fillers - are utilized to provide or improve such attributes as consistency, durability,
and performance in rubber products. Carbon Black is the most common reinforcing
 filler used in rubber production; non-black rubber fillers include calcium carbonate,
kaolin clay, precipitated silica, talc, barite, amorphous silica, and diatomite.
• Polymerization - Process of linking two or more molecules to form a new molecule
having different properties.
• Virgin Material - Any compound or resin that has not been subjected to use or
processing other than that required for its original manufacture.
• Vulcanization – refers to a range of processes for hardening rubbers. The term
originally referred exclusively to the treatment of natural rubber with sulfur, which
remains the most common practice. It has also grown to include the hardening of
other rubbers via various means.
II. INTRODUCTION

The wheel is one of the greatest inventions in human history due to its wide
range of applications. These applications include any form of transport; whether
persons, goods or equipment are being transported. Charles Goodyear invented
Vulcanization, or the mechanism by which rubber is heated with sulfur to create a
network of chemical cross-links, in 1839. It provides a finished product that is not
sticky like raw rubber, does not harden or soften much with cold except with high
heat, is elastic, is highly resistant to abrasion, springing back into shape when
deformed instead of staying deformed like unvulcanized rubber does. The method
has been refined and improved, a crucial development throughout its period.

When vulcanized, natural rubber, also known as isoprene, will form a three-
dimensional network of links of mono-, di-, and polysulfide that give the rubber its
characteristic strength and elasticity. It is also essential to mention that the cross-
links that offer these properties to the tires are not just connections of sulfide. They
may be ion clusters, polyvalent organic clusters, or polyvalent metallic ions. The
method raises the retractable force of the material while at the same time minimizing
the amount of permanent deformation that occurs when the load is removed.

The method by which brass is coated on the steel belts that are used in tire
reinforcement is the other significant chemical process associated with the
manufacture of tires. The brass coating adheres to the rubber better and helps to
improve the composite material's retractile force.

The manufacturing process of tires is a long one that requires time, materials,
and machines. There are seven components to each tire: beads, belt, ply, sidewall,
sipe and groove, shoulder, and tread. Each component has its own job, and the tire
fails if any one of them fails, and accidents are inevitable. The first phase is the
mixture. The rubber mix of a tire uses up to 30 ingredients. The ratios will depend on
the tire's efficiency objectives. The blend consists of various rubber forms, fillers, and
other ingredients that are blended into massive blenders until a black, gummy
compound is formed. The rubber is refrigerated, flattened, and sent for milling. The
rubber is cut into strips by advanced mills that will form the tire's basic structure.

Wide assembly-style machines do the construction of a tire in phases. From the

inside out, a simple tire is made. In the machines for processing, the textile
elements, the steel belts, the bead, the ply, the tread, and other components are
mounted. Individual tire firms closely guard their operations, and all of them have
distinct proprietary machines that construct them. Something resembling a tire
results at the end of the construction process, but it is not a finished product; it is a
"green tire" that must go through another phase.

The curing process is the final step. A process called vulcanization will go
through the green tire. This makes the tire more durable and pliable; it would be as
difficult as a hockey puck otherwise. All the tire pieces are compressed together,
giving it the final form, tread pattern, and sidewall markings and logos of the maker.
 III. MANUFACTURING PROCESS

FLOWCHART
PREPARATION

RAW MATERIALS

Banbury Bead and Belt

Fabric Cord Assembly
Mixer
Carbon Black Sulfur

BUILDING/ ASSEMBLING
Rubber Bales Steel
Assembling and cutting
Chemicals • Fabric Cord
• Steel belt
• Bead

Extruding
• Tread
• Sidewall

Tire Building Machine

Vulcanization
and Inspection

Finished
Radial Tire
RAW MATERIALS
The main raw material used in the manufacture of tires is rubber, and both
natural and synthetic rubber are used. In the bark of the rubber tree, Hevea Brasiliensis,
natural rubber is contained as a milky substance.

Rubber Tree Natural Rubber

The liquid latex is combined with acids that allow the rubber to solidify to create
the raw rubber used in tire manufacturing. Presses squeeze out excess water and form
sheets of rubber, and then the sheets are dried in tall smokehouses, pressed into big
bales, and shipped around the globe to tire factories. The polymers found in crude oil
create synthetic rubber.

Carbon black is the other main ingredient in tire rubber. Carbon black is a fine,
soft powder produced with a small amount of oxygen when crude oil or natural gas is
burned, causing incomplete combustion, and producing a large amount of fine soot.

Carbon Black Sulfur

Often used in tires are sulfur and other chemicals. Fabric (steel, polyester, nylon,
or combinations of these), rubber (synthetic and natural types: hundreds of different
types of polymers), reinforcing chemicals (silica, resins), anti-degradants (ozonant,
paraffin waxes), adhesion promoters (cobalt salts, brass on wire, resins on fabric),
curatives (cure accelerators, activators), and processing oils (oils, tackifiers, softeners).
DISCUSSION OF THE PROCESS

The first step in the tire manufacturing process is the mixing of raw materials to
form the rubber compound. These ingredients are mixed in giant blenders called
Banbury mixers under massive heat at about 170 degrees centigrade and some
pressure. The ingredients are mixed into a hot black gummy compound that will be
milled together. Machine control systems include different formulas, and unique batches
of rubber and mixing chemicals can be measured automatically. Gigantic mixers stir the
rubber and chemicals together in batches weighing up to 1,100 pounds, hanging like
vertical cement mixers.

Banbury Mixer

To soften the batch and combine the chemicals, each mix is then reheated with
additional heating. The batch goes through a mixer again in a third level, where extra
chemicals are added to create what is known as the final mix. Heat and friction are
added to the batch during all three stages of mixing to soften the rubber and disperse
the chemicals uniformly. The chemical composition of each batch depends on the part
of the tire.
 Then it goes through powerful rolling mills that squeeze the batch into thick
sheets until a ton of rubber has been combined. These sheets are then used to render
special parts of the tire. The tire body consists of pieces of cloth-like fabric coated with
rubber. Each strip of rubberized fabric is used to produce a layer called a ply in the body
of the tire. A passenger car tire may have as many as three folds in the body.

The wire bundles are placed on a wire wrapping system for the beads of the tire.
The loop is formed into rings, and then covered with rubber. Then tire treads and
sidewalls shift from a batch mixer to another unit called an extruder . In the extruder, the
batch is further mixed and heated and then pushed out through a die a shaped orifice to
form a rubber sheet. Sidewall rubber is coated and rolled with a protective plastic sheet.
Tread rubber is cut into strips and packed into large flat metal cases called books.

Rubber Extrusion
 Rolls of sidewall rubber, books containing tray rubber, and racks of beads are all
shipped to a professional assembler by a tire-building machine. At the core of the
system is the collapsible rotating drum that houses the pieces of the tire. The tire
assembler begins to create a tire by wrapping the body's rubber-covered fabric folds
around the machine drum. After the ends of these folds are joined with the glue, the
beads are inserted and locked in place with additional tire body folds laid over the
beads.

The radial tires are mounted on one or two tire machines. The tire begins with a
double layer of synthetic rubber called an inner liner that seals in the air and makes the
tire tubeless. Next, there are two layers of cord fabric, the cords. The layer above the
bead is stiffened with two strips called apexes. To ensure that the several parts are in
the proper place before the tire goes into the mold, the tire building machine pre-shapes
radial tires into a form very similar to their final dimension. The steel belts that avoid
punctures and keep the tread tightly against the road are now added by the tire builder.
The tread is the last part of the tire to go on. The radial tire, now called a green tire, is
ready for inspection and healing after automatic rollers press all the pieces tightly
together.

Assembling of inner layer, Green Tire

bead, and tread
 So, the assembler uses special power tools to shape the edges of the tire folds.
Finally, the extruded rubber layers for the side walls and trays are glued in place, and
the placed tires are glued in place.
For the curing process, a green tire is put inside a large mold. A mold of a tire is
shaped like a monstrous clam of metal that opens to expose a large flexible balloon
called a bladder.

Mold of Radial tire Tire Bladder

The molds are engraved with the tread pattern, the manufacturer's sidewall
markings and those prescribed by law. The green tire is placed over the bladder and the
bladder fills with steam as the clamshell mold closes and expands to form the tire and
push the blank tread rubber against the mold's raised interior. Tires are handled for 12
to 25 minutes at about 300-degree Fahrenheit or 150-degree Celsius depending on
their size.
 The tire is removed from the mold for cooling after curing is done, and then
checked. Each tire is carefully inspected for defects in the rubber of the tread, sidewall,
and inside of the tire, such as bubbles or voids. Then the tire is mounted, inflated, and
rotated on a test wheel. Sensors on the test wheel calculate the tire's balance and
assess if the tire is moving in a straight line. Rarely is one rejected due to the nature
and assembly of a modern tire. It is transported to a warehouse for shipment after the
tire has been tested and run on the test wheel.

Releasing of Radial tire

EQUIPMENT OF MACHINERIES

Banbury Mixer
Often known as a rubber banbury mixer, it is
primarily used in rubber mixing and plastic processing. The
mixer is a machine with a pair of rotors with a particular
form and a relative rotation that plasticizes and blends
polymer materials in a closed state with adjustable
temperature and pressure.

Rubber Calender

The fabric and rubber or plastic material is passed

through a series of rollers in the calendering process to
flatten, smooth and mix the two or more materials.
Calendered sheets may have several layers of "sandwiched"
elastomeric and polymer.

Extruder

Using an extruder, most parts of a tire are made. Tire

components such as tread, sidewall, and apex are prepared by
pressing the tire tread or sidewall profiles to form the uncured
rubber compound using an extruder. In the tire manufacturing
process, extrusion is one of the most important operations
since it processes the rubber compounds formed from the
mixing operation and then prepares different components for
the tire building operation.
Tire Building Machine (TBM)
A tire is made by a robotic machine called a tire making
machine (TBM). To assemble green tires, the TBM assembles
all semi-manufactured products such as: tread, sidewall,
internal liner, body ply, bead, and cord body together. The tires
are uncured at this point and are referred to as green tires.

Tire Curing Press

The curing process is the final stage in the

manufacture of tires in which the curing reactions of rubber
compounds take place in a curing press under elevated
pressures and temperatures.

Post Cure Inflator (PCI)

Post Cure Inflator (PCI) system cools the tire

under pressure immediately after it has been cured.
This stage includes assembling them, inflating, and
cooling them according to a chosen procedure on the
flanges. Depending on the specification reached for the
instant your cured rubber takes to cool down to room
temperature, you can do this for one or two cycles
(Note: one cycle is equal to the time taken for one
curing cycle).
 IV. REFERENCES

Alliger, G. et. al. (1964). Vulcanization of Elastomers Principles and Practice of

Vulcanization of Commercial Rubbers. Reinhold Publishing; New York, NY

Ark, James E. et. al. (1994). Science and Technology of Rubber Second
Edition. Academic Press; San Diego, CA

Miller R. C. "Tires: A Century of Progress," Popular Mechanics. June 4, 1985, pp. 60-
64.

Amaro, J. R. (2020, October 06). Manufacturing Defects in Tire Defect Claims: Houston
Personal Injury Attorney. Retrieved December 06, 2020, from
https://amarolawfirm.com/personal-injury-lawsuit/product-liability/what-is-a-tire-
defect/tire-manufacturing-defects/

Tire. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05, 2020, from http://www.madehow.com/Volume-

1/Tire.html?fbclid=IwAR2QHiMjPboTE0mKy309VB7t8MwEW8Fqd57SLNbCQ1MEDZN
FuwWfInoTqv8

How are Tires Made? Learn about Tire Parts & Construction. (n.d.). Retrieved
December 05, 2020, from https://www.bridgestoneamericas.com/en/corporate-social-
responsibility/safety/tires-101/tire-construction?fbclid=IwAR3kd-8s_FM-
L2MCL2kSo1xFDDVQwDL8P0xhrz-wnNQvUPlHEq3ZL3FNnRA