Fracture of V-notched natural rubber composites used in heavy-duty tire tread

Natural rubber-based composites have proven efficacy as candidate materials for heavy-duty tire tread. The mechanical properties of these composites depend on the type of filler and their loading; thus, a comparative investigation of material properties was carried out in this study for carbon black and silica-filled natural rubber composites. The mechanical properties of silica-filled rubber composites with silane loading of 16 wt% of silica were found to have optimum mechanical and fracture properties, but carbon black had better reinforcing efficacy after 300% elongation. The experimental investigations and finite element analysis show that the J-integral decreases with increasing crack opening angle. A decrement of 22% is observed in J-integral when crack opening angle varies from 300 to 600 for rubber composites with a pre-crack length of 5 mm. The geometry factor depended on the type of filler when the crack opening angle is increased for the composites having a large pre-crack length. We envisage that this study will be helpful for rectifying design faults of different rubber composites used in industrial applications, especially for passenger and heavy-duty tires.

Automated summary

Comparative investigation was conducted on carbon black and silica-filled natural rubber composites, revealing that silica-filled rubber composites with 16 wt% silane loading demonstrated optimum mechanical and fracture properties, while carbon black exhibited better reinforcing efficacy after 300% elongation. Experimental investigations and finite element analysis showed a decrease in J-integral with increasing crack opening angle, with a 22% decrement observed for rubber composites with a pre-crack length of 5 mm when the crack opening angle varied from 300 to 600. The geometry factor was dependent on the type of filler when the crack opening angle was increased for composites with a large pre-crack length. This study is expected to be useful in rectifying design faults of different rubber composites used in industrial applications, particularly passenger and heavy-duty tires.