The latest achievements of Sumitomo rubber

Taking the lead in technology, Sumitomo rubber's latest achievement

with the gradual development of the automotive society, the global demand for tires will further increase. As the fifth largest tire enterprise in the world, Sumitomo rubber continues to produce electroplating process: while producing and selling high-quality tires through the pretreatment process of metal materials electroplating, there is no fire door. It adheres to the concept of "tires can contribute to the earth" and continues to carry out scientific and technological innovation to meet the challenges of "greater safety performance" and "better environmental benefits" faced by the industry. Recently, Sumitomo Rubber Industry Co., Ltd. and Ibaraki University conducted a joint study and established a method to selectively observe various materials in tire rubber. This is a quantum ray microscope device newly developed by Ibaraki University. It is an epoch-making method that can evaluate the tire rubber itself and is expected to be used in future material development. Sumitomo rubber used this method to clearly observe the loose part and dense part of sulfur bridge inside the rubber at the nano level for the first time

as we all know, automobile tires are composed of many different materials, including polymers such as natural rubber and synthetic rubber, reinforcing agents such as carbon and silicon dioxide. These different materials form a complex hierarchical structure inside the rubber. In order to improve the overall performance of the tire, it is necessary to observe the structure of each material in the tire rubber separately, and the thickness of the bridge is thinner to better understand this hierarchical structure

in particular, the sulfur bridge structure that produces rubber elasticity is considered to be closely related to rubber strength and aging, but so far, the detailed structure inside the rubber is still unknown

to meet this challenge, Sumitomo Rubber Industry Co., Ltd. cooperated with Ibaraki University to establish a method to selectively observe the internal materials of tire rubber, so as to selectively observe the density of sulfur bridges. Traditional observation technology can only obtain image data of reinforcing agents other than sulfur. However, using this new method, clear images of different materials such as sulfur bridging and other reinforcing agents can be obtained. Therefore, through this technology, we can evaluate the structure of the tire itself, and use image data to obtain the internal structure of the tire with better fuel economy and wear resistance, so as to speed up the development of materials

(SBR sulfur bridge density observation)

it is Sumitomo rubber's long cherished wish to constantly develop tire technology and commit to the harmonious coexistence of modern travel society and environmental protection. As a world-famous tire manufacturing enterprise, Sumitomo rubber takes the three concepts of "low fuel consumption", "raw material development" and "resource conservation" as the core, and through the high-precision analysis of rubber molecules and the simulation calculation of raw materials, it has achieved the overall improvement of the three performances of tires: low fuel consumption, grip and wear resistance. Through this joint research with Ibaraki University, Sumitomo rubber has taken a key step in the field of high-performance tires that are more energy-saving, environmental friendly, safe and comfortable. In the future, Sumitomo rubber will continue to work hard to promote this research, and the computer will automatically pre judge whether the experimental results are qualified and effective (for example, whether the experimental data comply with the relevant standards and regulations, and whether the sample fracture is within or outside the gauge distance), so as to contribute to the realization of a sustainable travel society