Prospects for Short Fibre Reinforcements in Tyre and Rubber Technology

Abstract

Four approaches to improve the performance of elastomers through addition of short fibrous additives are reviewed. The principles on which these approaches are based are discussed along with the objectives and accomplishments. The approaches presently pursued do not have overlapping goals and the results and findings of these four studies complement each other. The major approvement required tailoring of fibrous additives. The conditions under which the addition of relatively small amounts of a fibrous compound leads to major improvements in fatigue resistance, tear strength, lowering of the coefficient of friction, improvements in skid resistance on ice, improvements in abrasion resistance, etc. will be presented.