Page 15 - CTB N20 - 2017-04

COMPANY NEWS
The Carbion process is, in some ways so simple that one has to ask, why has no-one done this before. Laytex is liquid, and the conventional process of working with laytex is to dry it and press it into blocks of uncured virgin rubber. It is then sold to the rubber compounders who will add the Carbon Black, Sulpher, Zinc etc., at the point of compounding.
A little Carbon Black goes a long way, and the conventional test for dispersion will show Carbon Black as black specks in electron microscope views of samples. Good dispersion is an even spread of Carbon Black with no “clumps” of black. The ability of the Carbon Black to disperse depends upon the milling process, the type of Carbon Black used and its quality. To an extent, in Carbion processing of Laytex some of these issues will still arise. However, it is much easier to mix liquid Laytex and aqueous based Carbon Black as liquids than as “solids”. The result is a much more even dispersion of Carbon Black through the compound once the excess liquid has been removed from the mix. So, what is the benefit of this technology? How does it inform the buying decision for the fleet manager? Put simply, these tyres outperform their nearest competitors from other leading brands at a point in the tyre life when the performance of the competitors’ tyres is fading, the Michelin X Multi is generating “new” tread and keeping the vehicles safer with a shorter stopping distance and better lateral grip.
Michelin demonstrated this at its Ladoux test track near Cleremont Ferrand. Demonstrated against tyres from its main competitors, the Michelin X Multi was seen to have a better stopping distance from 80kph to 20kph by, in some cases, almost 10 metres.
New tyres had been taken from each manufacturer and had been buffed down and smoothed at 5mm tread depth, and then road run for 125km to generate an as near to normal use pattern as was possible. When “tested” in demonstration there was a clear advantage to the Michelin tyres, which had generated “new” tread at 5mm, whilst the competitors were eroded by use.
The spectacular test on lateral grip was shown by the use of two trucks on a wet circular circuit with surface water depth at 2.5mm. The Michelin equipped truck “chased” a competitor equipped truck
around the circuit. The Michelin truck caught the competitor equipped truck. Not only that but the competitor equipped truck was clearly seen to be circuiting on opposite lock with the back end of the truck swinging out whilst the Michelin equipped truck kept its composure on its Regenion technology tyres.
To the fleet manager looking for consistency in delivery times, and lifetime performance, this has to add up in favour of the Michelin tyres. His trucks and his drivers will have a more consistent standard of safety on tyres that have been tested from Almeria to the Arctic Circle.
Regenion Explained
Regenion is largely possible through the development of 3D metallic printing. This technology has been developed by Michelin and Fives in a 25M Euro joint partnership that has seen the creation of 3D metallic printing solutions company AddUp. In what is called additive manufacturing, products are made by adding material where it is required, rather than by removing material where it is not required. Michelin is using this to make sipes on one production task, that may have taken many operations to produce in the past. To date, the 3D technology has
been used on 1.5 million sipes.
The technology is also being used to build moulds and makes the manufacturing of moulds more accurate and faster, cutting down on time and cost.
The future for 3D metallic printing is huge as it can be used to build complex structures that could simply not be created by subtractive manufacturing. It is true in the case of 3D metallic printing that if you can imagine it, it can be built.
Michelin already has 30 3D metallic printing machines in operation in North America and France.