How Tyre is made

Tyre: A Tyre is a strong, flexible rubber casing attached to the rim of a wheel. Tyres provide a gripping surface for traction and serve as a cushion for the wheels of a moving vehicle. Tyres are found on automobiles, trucks, buses, aircraft landing gear, tractors and other farm equipment, industrial Vehicles such as forklifts, and common conveyances such as baby carriages, shopping carts, wheel chairs, bicycles, and motorcycles.

Raw Materials: Rubber is the main raw material used in manufacturing Tyres, and both natural and synthetic rubber are used. Natural rubber is found as a milky liquid in the bark of the rubber tree, Hevea Brasiliensis. To produce the raw rubber used in Tyre manufacturing, the liquid latex is mixed with acids that cause the rubber to solidify. Presses squeeze out excess water and form the rubber into sheets, and then the sheets are dried in tall smokehouses, pressed into enormous bales, and shipped to Tyre factories around the world. Synthetic rubber is produced from the polymers found in crude oil.

The other primary ingredient in Tyre rubber is carbon black. Carbon black is a fine, soft powder created when crude oil or natural gas is burned with a limited amount of oxygen, causing incomplete combustion and creating a large amount of fine soot. So much carbon black is required for manufacturing Tyres that rail cars transport it and huge silos store the carbon black at the Tyre factory until it is needed.

Chemicals: Sulfur and other chemicals are also used in Tyres. Specific chemicals, when mixed with rubber and then heated, produce specific Tyre characteristics such as high friction (but low mileage) for a racing Tyre or high mileage (but lower friction) for a passenger car Tyre. Some chemicals keep the rubber flexible while it is being shaped into a Tyre while other chemicals protect the rubber from the ultraviolet radiation in sunshine.

Design: The main features of a passenger car Tyre are the tread, the body with sidewalls, and the beads. The tread is the raised pattern in contact with the road. The body supports the tread and gives the Tyre its specific shape. The beads are rubber-covered, metal-wire bundles that hold the Tyre on the wheel.

Computer Systems: now play a major role in Tyre design. Complex analysis software acting on years of test data allows Tyre engineers to simulate the performance of tread design and other design parameters. The software creates a three-dimensional color image of a possible Tyre design and calculates the effects of different stresses on the proposed Tyre design.

The Manufacturing Process: A passenger car Tyre is manufactured by wrapping multiple layers of specially formulated rubber around a metal drum in a Tyre-forming machine. The different components of the Tyre are carried to the forming machine, where a skilled assembler cuts and positions the strips to form the different parts of the Tyre, called a "green Tyre" at this point. When a green Tyre is finished, the metal drum collapses, allowing the Tyre assembler to remove the Tyre.

Raw Materials: The first step in the Tyre manufacturing process is the mixing of raw materials to form the rubber compound. Each mix is then remilled with additional heating to soften the batch and mix the chemicals. In a third step, the batch goes through a mixer again, where additional chemicals are added to form what is known as the final mix. During all three steps of mixing, heat and friction are applied to the batch to soften the rubber and evenly distribute the chemicals. The chemical composition of each batch depends on the Tyre part—certain rubber formulations are used for the body, other formulas for the beads, and others for the tread.

Body, beads and Tread:
Once a batch of rubber has been mixed, it goes through powerful rolling mills that squeeze the batch into thick sheets. These sheets are then used to make the specific parts of the Tyre. The Tyre body, for instance, consists of strips of cloth-like fabric that are covered with rubber. Each strip of rubberized fabric is used to form a layer called a ply in the Tyre body.

Rubber: Rubber for the Tyre tread and sidewalls travels from the batch mixer to another type of processing machine called an extruder. In the extruder, the batch is further mixed and heated and is then forced out through a die—a shaped orifice to form a layer of rubber. Sidewall rubber is covered with a protective plastic sheet and rolled. Tread rubber is sliced into strips and loaded into large, flat metal cases called books.

Tyre-building machine:
The rolls of sidewall rubber, the books containing tread rubber, and the racks of Shaped like a clam, the mold contains a large, flexible balloon. The Tyre is placed over the balloon, and the mold closes. Next, steam is pumped into the balloon, expanding it to shape the Tyre against the sides of the mold. After cooling, the Tyre is inflated and tested.

Curing: A Tyre mold is shaped like a metal clam which opens to reveal a large, flexible balloon called a bladder. The green Tyre is placed over the bladder and, as the clamshell mold closes, the bladder fills with steam and expands to shape the Tyre and force the blank tread rubber against the raised interior of the mold.

Quality Control: Quality control begins with the suppliers of the raw materials. Tyre manufacturer seeks suppliers who test the raw materials before delivered to the Tyre plant.

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