Effect of silane loading in a silica filled tread compound
by Edward R. Terrill, Jonathan Martens and Barry Palmer, Akron Rubber Development Laboratory
Prior work has studied a range of polymer types and filler types to understand the effect of filler-polymer interaction on abrasion. A series of model compounds was studied, including three polymer types and two filler types. The polymer types were E-SBR, S-SBR and F-S-SBR. This allowed for the examination of the effect of polymer-filler interaction strength. The fillers were carbon black and silica with a coupling agent. The abrasion resistance was measured with an angle abrader. The dynamic mechanical properties and tensile properties, including energy to break, were measured for each compound.