Both tire manufacturers and suppliers have placed a large focus on finding an alternative solution to the current standard in textile coating, namely RFL (resorcinol formaldehyde latex) dipping for tire cord. Continental in particular is currently in the early stages of developing a new type of dip, which it hopes to be able to use in future tires.
Dr Thomas Kramer (above), head of reinforcements and skim compounds, explains, “On a laboratory scale, we are assessing an alternative material in the dipping recipe, that is also capable of cross-linking in the dip cure process. The new dip recipes show comparable adhesion results to reference RFL on the main fiber materials used in tire industry. However, it still remains open whether sufficient adhesion is enabled throughout the whole tire lifetime and intensive testing is required. Additionally, fine-tuning for different rubber compound recipes is under investigation.”
The dip is applied and prepared in a similar manner to RFL dip. To Continental’s knowledge, the cord properties are not affected.
“We are at an early stage in the development, so there may things that we will discover, which we do not know today,” Kramer added.
October 9, 2015
