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.

2. 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.

6. Get the air permeability of your tyres and its material tested in HASETRI’s 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 tyre’s internal and external surface which may lead to many complications and affect the performance and life of the tyre.