Tire Manufacturing
Pneumatic tires are manufactured according to relatively standardized processes and machinery, in around 450 tire factories in the world. With over 1 billion tires manufactured worldwide annually, the tire industry is the major consumer of natural rubber. Tire factories start with bulk raw materials such as rubber, carbon black, and chemicals and produce numerous specialized components that are assembled and cured. This article describes the components assembled to make a tire, the various materials used, the manufacturing processes and machinery, and the overall business model.
The tire is an assembly of numerous components that are built up on a drum and then cured in a press under heat and pressure. Heat facilitates a polymerization reaction that crosslinks rubber monomers to create long elastic molecules. These polymers create the elastic quality that permits the tire to be compressed in the area where the tire contacts the road surface and spring back to its original shape under high-frequency cycles. Typical components used in tire assembly are listed below.
Read more about Tire Manufacturing: Inner Liner, Body Ply, Sidewall, Beads, Apex, Belt Package, Tread, Cushion Gum, Other Components, Materials, Manufacturing Process, Tire Manufacturing Companies, See Also
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—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)