Studies on the Effect of Waste Dipped and Calendered Nylon Short Fibre on Farm/Tractor Tyre Tread Formulation

The effective utilisation of waste and dipped calendered Nylon fabric in Farm/Tractor tyre tread to improve the tearing and chunking resistance has been studied. Short fibres are made from the waste dipped and calendered nylon fabric and mixed with a standard Farm/Tractor tyre tread formulation in different concentrations. Physical and mechanical properties of the mixes in the longitudinal as well as in the transverse directions, i.e., mill direction and perpendicular to mill direction, were studied. Abrasion resistance, hardness and modulus increase while the tensile strength and fatigue life decreased on increasing the fibre concentration. Tear strength and crack growth resistance are found optimum at 5 phr of fibre loading. A laboratory Banbury trial with 5 phr of calendered fabric, which substituted an equal amount of carbon black, has been found to enhance most of the physical properties without affecting the processability. The positive results obtained in this study point to the potential utilization of this waste fabric, generated by the rubber industry, thereby, providing a substantial improvement in the economy of the industry.