Material Science: Road Tires - Research Paper Example

Road wheels are designed to operate in a variety of environments as they run on dry, muddy, and water-logged paths. The tires are also designed to run on smooth and rough terrains. The material that is used for making road tires should hence be elastic, wear resistant, durable, strong, and resistant to oxidation and corrosion. This paper discusses the materials and processes used in the making of road tires. In the manufacture of tires, numerous materials are assembled together, built around a metallic drum, then cured and heat under pressure.

The various components used in the manufacture of road tires include; rubber, black carbon, and chemicals and a steel wire combined and cured under high pressure. Natural rubber is obtained from rubber tree is used mainly in the manufacture of the rubber part that is exposed to the surface; this is because it is considered durable and does not wear out easily due to its flexibility and elasticity properties. It also has high abrasion effects and can withstand both high and low heat (Dhir 264).

Natural rubber is preferred as it is easily obtainable from rubber growing countries like Liberia and other European countries. It has close substitutes; synthetic rubber such as Stirene-butadiene co-polymer (SBR), and Polybutadiene . However, synthetic rubber is not preferred because it does not acquire heat first as compared to natural rubber with high heat building properties necessary in the manufacture of tires. The process of polymerization used in the manufacture of Stirene-butadiene co-polymer (SBR), and Polybutadiene is less preferred since it is expensive in terms of the cost involve (Lim 85).

Black rubber component is also one of the materials used in the manufacture of tire. The component is normally obtainable from combustion of oil and natural gas in limited amount of oxygen. This component is normally added to give the rubber its black color. This material is normally used since it gives an abrasive effect to the rubber and to offer reinforcement to the rubber. The carbon black is also preferred since it is a good conductor of heat. It therefore conducts excess heat from the tires thereby increasing the durability of the tires.

Fumed silica is considered as substitute for the black carbon due to the fact that they have low rolling loss; however, it is not always used since it has very low abrasive effect, and is not economical in terms of cost as was observed by (National Petroleum News 123). Black carbon is also easily obtainable. The tires is also composed of the Beads made of steel with high tensile properties within the rubber. The steel is coated with other materials like bronze and brass to protect it from rust.

The steel lining is meant to make the tires firm by increasing it strength (Jazar 11). Steel is mainly preferred to other metals since it is strong and is composed of alloy of iron and zinc with abundant supply. Titanium is however considered as best substitute for steel since it can withstand high temperatures, strong and highly elastic, but it has the disadvantage that it is expensive in terms of cost. It’s also not easily available and therefore this makes engineers prefer the steel to titanium (Sweeney 34) The body ply is another component of the tire.

It is mainly manufactured using fabrics like rayon, nylon, polyester, and Kevlar between two layers of rubber. The fabric material is used to reinforce the tire system and make it