The Challenge
Tires are manufactured worldwide for cars, trucks, industrial vehicles, and common conveyances such as baby carriages, bicycles etc. A tire is a strong and flexible rubber casing attached to the rim of a wheel that provides a gripping surface for traction and serves as a cushion for the wheels. Natural or synthetic rubber are typically the primary material use in tire production however, thermoplastic elastomers are often used to produce tires. Thermoplastic elastomers have the same mechanical and chemical properties, but can also be easily recycled and processed via extrusion and injection molding techniques (common methods used for thermoplastics). A tire manufacturer needed to study their rubbery compound for its viscosity properties and swelling at the exit of the die. The sample consisted of an elastomer, carbon black, and additives in form of flat sheets.
