Tyre Cord and Reinforcement Fabrics
topic
Tyre cord fabrics are high-tenacity woven or knitted reinforcement structures embedded in rubber matrices to provide dimensional stability, load-bearing capacity, and fatigue resistance in pneumatic tyres. Body ply cords use high-tenacity rayon (1,840 dtex, tenacity 35–40 cN/tex, elongation at break 15–20%), PA66 (940–1,400 dtex, tenacity 70–80 cN/tex), or PET (1,100–1,670 dtex, tenacity 68–75 cN/tex) twisted into 2-ply or 3-ply cord constructions (twist factor 130–160 tpm per ply) and calendered with rubber at 90–120°C. Belt ply cords in radial tyres use steel wire or high-modulus aramid (Kevlar 29, 1,580 dtex, tenacity 200 cN/tex, modulus 70 GPa) providing circumferential stiffness that maintains contact patch geometry at 200–300 km/h. Cap ply fabrics (PA66 mono-end cord, 140°C heat-set to 4–5% residual shrinkage) control tyre diameter growth at speed. Dipped cord adhesion via RFL (resorcinol-formaldehyde-latex) treatment (1–4% add-on) achieves cord-rubber peel strength of 8–15 N/mm (ASTM D4776). Carcass ply construction: 15–20 ends/cm dent spacing, 0° to ±70° bias or 90° radial cord angles. Passenger car tyre cord consumption is 1.5–2.5 kg/tyre; truck tyres 8–15 kg. Global tyre cord fabric market exceeds $4.2 billion.
Role
Tyre cord fabrics are the structural skeleton of every pneumatic tyre, with cord tenacity, modulus, fatigue resistance, and dimensional stability under dynamic loading directly determining tyre safety, rolling resistance, fuel consumption, and service life across the 2 billion tyre sets produced globally each year.