Silica is a reinforcement material that is widely used in tire tread compounds to improve the balance between rolling resistance and wet performance.
Demand continues to grow for tires with high levels of wet performance and low rolling resistance (better for the environment).
In the past, conventional tire tread compound technology has struggled to improve both wet performance and rolling resistance at the same time.
One method of overcoming this is silica technology. The silica compound can improve both rolling resistance (fuel efficiency) and wet performance of a tire.
What is silica and silica compound?
Silica is also called silicon dioxide and its chemical formula is SiO2. Silica compound is a combination of silica, a coupling agent and solution polymerized SBR (styrene butadiene rubber), whose low hysteresis loss improves rolling resistance. Higher content of silica and special elastomer tightly bonding with silica, improves wet performance.
Silica compound (image):
Silica:
It is used as a reinforcement in the tire tread compound instead of carbon black, achieving low rolling resistance and good wet performance.
Coupling agent :
The compound bond formed by the coupling agent between the silica and polymer leads to enhancing stiffness effects.
Special polymer: Solution polymerized SBR is an essential part of a silica tread compound to provide well balanced wet performance and rolling resistance.
Strain and hysteresis loss:
1.Rolling resistance of carbon black compound tends to be higher for a given level of wet performance. 2.A combination of Silica and special polymer yields the best result low rolling resistance and high wet performance. 3. Rolling resistance of Silica only compound is much lower than carbon black, but also has lower levels of wet performance. The combination of Silica and special polymer gives the tire improved characteristic in wet performance and reduced rolling resistance.
Effect of silica compound:
Silica tread compound grips better onto the road surface.
Silica and special polymer compound keeps the tire tread compound flexible, which improves wet grip, enabling the tire to maintain firm contact on road surfaces and provides better wet performance.
Nano Balance Technology:
To produce tires that satisfy customers’ needs and respond to changes in the market, TOYO TIRES has developed tire design technology at the Nano level for analysis and prediction using our Nano Balance Technology. TOYO TIRES has developed a technology to measure silica + silane coupling reaction rate. As a result, TOYO TIRES has been able to optimize processing conditions and has succeeded in reducing energy loss and maximizing performance of materials.
