Get To Know About Air permeability

1
Get To Know About Air permeability

• Air permeability is a widely known term in tyre
  manufacturing. One of the main reasons for major
  road accidents which often lead to loss of life's
  is the catastrophic tyre failure caused by
  vehicles running with improper tyre pressure. The
  phenomena where the tyre loses pressure naturally
  and contracts over time is called air permeation,
  which is identified to be the main cause of tire
  deflation but rarely can be realised by naked
  eyes. And the level with which this happens is
  tested by Air permeability tester.

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There are many factors that affect the
permeability of rubber. Polymers and fillers
directly affect the rate of transfer through a
rubber barrier, which is very important for
critical gas or fluid application. The most
common example of this type of transfer is air
permeation through an automotive tire.
3
Having the right barrier inside the tire is
critical for overall tire performance on both hot
or cold days. For rubber, permeation is the rate
at which small molecules of a gas or liquid
transfer through a rubber compound. These rates
are typically very low but are important when
designing a critical seal. Nano engineered
polymeric materials are of great interest,
rapidly growing new class of materials
alternative to conventional filled polymers or
polymer blends. Conventional clay plays the role
of a loading agent or diluent without property
enhancement or reinforcement and hence we have
used nanoclay which imparts significant
mechanical reinforcement and improved air
permeability property for natural rubber based
tube compound.
4
Natural rubber/nanoclay along with other
additives were mixed in a laboratory mixer for
specified time and temperature, by determining
rheological and curing properties rubber
compounds were molded in to standard dimension
sheets using a compression mold and molding
machine thereafter specimens were prepared and
characterized for hardness, modulus (100, 200),
tensile strength, tension set, air permeability
test and surface morphology.
5
Properly inflated tyres can save tyre life up to
20 which is equivalent to nine months of its
life span, save fuel from 4 to 10, increase
braking efficiency up to 20, lightens steering
system and ease self-steer. Therefore, this paper
reveals the investigation findings by analysing
the factors that affect the air permeation that
eventually causes pressure loss in an automotive
tyre. The experimentations were performed in both
static and dynamic conditions where they were
also tested with and without loaded situations to
extract precise data of the pressure loss from
the tyre. The results show that no matter what
type of tyre or condition it undergoes, it still
experiences pressure drop but at different rates
subjected to air properties, temperature, tyre
materials and mechanical fittings of the wheel.
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Get the air permeability of your tyres and its
material tested in HASETRIs technologically
advanced and equipped labs with various machines
like Densicom, Din abrader, Flexing machine,
Monticello aging oven to know the changes that
are occuring in the tyres internal and external
surface which may lead to many complications and
affect the performance and life of the tyre.