1.2 Carbon Black-Loaded Natural Rubber Vulcanizate …
7
temperature, rainy or not, windy or not, etc.), and surface conditions of the road.
From viewpoint of the tire design, the heat resistance of all the materials used in the
tire is to be checked first, and many structural issues, particularly, the assembling
mode, and how to form composites in tire construction of all the parts [2, 3, 23]. For
example, radial tires are said to be easier to design the lower heat buildup than bias
tires, which was one of the reasons of the bias-to-radial transition in the worldwide
tire market.
While the fiber cords provide the tires with mechanical strength to support the
body of automobile or airplane, many of the important functions of tire rubber on
the road surface have reasonably been controlled by the insightful utilization of CB
mixing with rubber. Good rubber mixing technique, particularly with CB, has been
the central issue of importance among rubber engineers and is still one of the most
decisive issues in rubber processing technique. At the same time, rubber mixing
remains to be much dependent on technical skillfulness of rubber engineers working
on rubber processing, and more scientific rationalization is urgent in order to make
a design of rubber mixing more rational and more systematic [3].
In any way, tires have to support the body of the automobile, truck, and even
aircraft, and to display friction and abrasion-related functions on the road surface,
with mandatory need to be driven in safety even under a high-speed movement. In
the case of aircraft, too, taking off for flight and landing after flight are essential, and
the aircraft tires have to endure the extremely harsh conditions for organic materials.
Including taxying between the gate and the runway, the safety issue of aircraft running
is the most crucial and critical issue for airplanes in making a flight, hence the aircraft
tires are to be under a close examination before and after each flight.
In the processing stage, CB-mixed NR compound is stretched on fiber cords, and
the composite is vulcanized in the metallic mold to give a final product, which is often
called a soft composite. FRP may be a soft composite when compared with ceramic
or metallic materials [22] but FRP is not elastic. Nearly one hundred years later from
the rubber composites, FRP is recently used for automobiles as the body materials
[24] More recently, graphene is focused as filler for rubber [25, 26]. Nanocarbon
fiber, graphene, and CB are all carbon allotropes, and the use of them is expanding
not only as a filler for mechanical improvement but also for the functionalization of
material. This trend may be against the decarbonization trend, which is advocated
against the progress of global warming due to a few carbon compounds, e.g., carbon
dioxide. However, some carbon allotropes are too good to abandon, and CB is surely
one of them, and graphene, too.
Here, one famous monograph on rubber reinforcement is specifically to be mentioned: Reinforcement of Elastomers, edited by G. Kraus and published in 1965 [5].
This book is a collection of dependable reviewing chapters at the time and has been
read and referenced extensively until now. Unfortunately, however, no such books
have appeared since then. While reading the present book, it is often beneficial to
return to this semilegendary reference nowadays: Following are the chapter titles and
their authors for your reference.
7
temperature, rainy or not, windy or not, etc.), and surface conditions of the road.
From viewpoint of the tire design, the heat resistance of all the materials used in the
tire is to be checked first, and many structural issues, particularly, the assembling
mode, and how to form composites in tire construction of all the parts [2, 3, 23]. For
example, radial tires are said to be easier to design the lower heat buildup than bias
tires, which was one of the reasons of the bias-to-radial transition in the worldwide
tire market.
While the fiber cords provide the tires with mechanical strength to support the
body of automobile or airplane, many of the important functions of tire rubber on
the road surface have reasonably been controlled by the insightful utilization of CB
mixing with rubber. Good rubber mixing technique, particularly with CB, has been
the central issue of importance among rubber engineers and is still one of the most
decisive issues in rubber processing technique. At the same time, rubber mixing
remains to be much dependent on technical skillfulness of rubber engineers working
on rubber processing, and more scientific rationalization is urgent in order to make
a design of rubber mixing more rational and more systematic [3].
In any way, tires have to support the body of the automobile, truck, and even
aircraft, and to display friction and abrasion-related functions on the road surface,
with mandatory need to be driven in safety even under a high-speed movement. In
the case of aircraft, too, taking off for flight and landing after flight are essential, and
the aircraft tires have to endure the extremely harsh conditions for organic materials.
Including taxying between the gate and the runway, the safety issue of aircraft running
is the most crucial and critical issue for airplanes in making a flight, hence the aircraft
tires are to be under a close examination before and after each flight.
In the processing stage, CB-mixed NR compound is stretched on fiber cords, and
the composite is vulcanized in the metallic mold to give a final product, which is often
called a soft composite. FRP may be a soft composite when compared with ceramic
or metallic materials [22] but FRP is not elastic. Nearly one hundred years later from
the rubber composites, FRP is recently used for automobiles as the body materials
[24] More recently, graphene is focused as filler for rubber [25, 26]. Nanocarbon
fiber, graphene, and CB are all carbon allotropes, and the use of them is expanding
not only as a filler for mechanical improvement but also for the functionalization of
material. This trend may be against the decarbonization trend, which is advocated
against the progress of global warming due to a few carbon compounds, e.g., carbon
dioxide. However, some carbon allotropes are too good to abandon, and CB is surely
one of them, and graphene, too.
Here, one famous monograph on rubber reinforcement is specifically to be mentioned: Reinforcement of Elastomers, edited by G. Kraus and published in 1965 [5].
This book is a collection of dependable reviewing chapters at the time and has been
read and referenced extensively until now. Unfortunately, however, no such books
have appeared since then. While reading the present book, it is often beneficial to
return to this semilegendary reference nowadays: Following are the chapter titles and
their authors for your reference.