Development of Urethane Roadwheel Tires with Emphasis on Method of Bonding (First Six Samples)
Abstract
This project involved building six Mll3 road-wheels with urethane tires instead of the usual rubber tires. Urethane was expected to provide good resistance to wear and chunking but had a bad reputation for bonding. On these six wheels, various ways were tried to provide good bonding. On three of the wheels cord, impregnated with urethane, was wound around the rim to build up the tire. Screws were inserted into the rim to provide posts to guide the cord. Two of these three wheels failed in less than an hour on the drum test. Forty-eight hours without damage is considered successful for regular rubber tires. There were indications the impregnation of the cord with urethane was not thorough and not uniform. This, plus the screw posts and runout, caused severe bumping with a related build-up in tread temperature resulting in quick failure. The third cord wound tire appeared to be well and uniformly impregnated. In spite of bumping caused by screw posts and runout it ran very successfully and showed no degradation or damage after 97.9 hours. The temperature of the tread rose only moderately and the bumping was less severe probably because the durometer hardness was greater and more uniform due to better impregnation of the cord.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1975
- Accession Number
- ADA016106
Entities
People
- John W. Cameron
Organizations
- Tank-automotive and Armaments Command