Compound Design Considerations with Silica Masterbatch for Various Tread Performance Requirements

The Emulsil® Silica Masterbatch technology brings a tool and a solution to the compounder by having a product where the silica is fully reacted and coupled prior to any mechanical shear or mixing step. The silica masterbatch product’s specific processing benefits include improved consistency and tread uniformity, elimination of alcohol emissions, improved efficiency by reductions in mixing energy, raw materials savings and excellent silica dispersion.

In this presentation we will vary the elements of Emulsil® silica masterbatch products based on specific tread performance properties. Compound design considerations with latex type and silica surface area, will be selected based on the tread’s key property requirements. Examples of all-season tread formulations will be reviewed, and the analysis of critical compound properties based on physical and dynamic data will be covered. The correlation of these with key tread performance properties such as wear, rolling-resistance, wet/dry traction and ice traction will be discussed.

Furthermore, an introduction of Dynasol’s newly developed silica masterbatch technology using solution SBR polymer will be presented. Compounding evaluations with resultant data using a standard PCR (passenger car radial) tread formulation will be reviewed to show silica masterbatch technology advantages.