Influence of tire-cord layers and arrangement direction on the physical properties of polyester tire cord reinforced with chloroprene rubber composite materials

Polyester tire cord is used as reinforcement for making chloroprene rubber (CR) composite materials. This study investigated the influences of polyester tire-cord layers and arrangement direction on the mechanical properties of CR composite materials. The experimental results indicate that the optimal temperature and heating time for CR vulcanization are 170 degrees C and 35 min, respectively. This processing condition enabled CR to achieve rapid vulcanization and exhibit optimal mechanical properties. The hardness and compression stiffness of the CR composites increased with increasing tire-cord layers. This phenomenon reduced the occurrence of creep under long-term loading but increased the compression set. In addition, when the arrangement direction of the tire cord and the stretching direction of CR were perpendicular, crack formation and growth easily developed, which reduced the bending-fatigue resistance of CR.