Steel Reinforcement for Tire Durability

A process and apparatus for manufacturing metallic reinforcing cords for tires that allows using metallic cords in tire components where textile cords are currently used, while maintaining adequate adhesion between cord and surrounding elastomeric material without coatings or treatments. The process involves twisting metallic wires with a textile yarn to form an elongated element, then removing the textile yarn to leave behind a metallic cord with helical wires. This allows penetration of elastomer and adhesion. An apparatus with a hot water jet remover extracts the textile yarn while the cord moves. The remaining metallic helical wires form the reinforcing cord.

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Steel cord for tire belt reinforcement that improves durability and fatigue properties by controlling the shape of the wires after twisting and rolling. The cord is made by twisting n wires and rolling to form wires with circular and non-circular cross-sections. The number of wires with circular cross-sections varies based on n being even or odd. Rolling parameters like wire strength and shape are adjusted to balance factors like stiffness, rubber penetration, and moisture resistance. This allows optimizing cord properties for tire reinforcement.

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Metallic reinforcing cord for tires that allows good adhesion to the surrounding elastomeric material without the need for coatings or treatments. The cord has a unique helical geometry where the metallic wires are spaced apart at certain cross sections to allow penetration of the elastomeric material. The cord consists of two or more twisted metallic wires with a predetermined twisting pitch. The spacing between the wires changes along the cord length to balance penetration and rigidity. This provides a metallic cord with a behavior similar to textile cords with low modulus at low loads, and high modulus at high loads.

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A method for making a non-pneumatic tire web structure that provides a strong and lightweight tire without the need for an inner tube. The method involves pre-forming corrugated steel rings by bending and heat treating elongated sheets to create a web structure with peaks and valleys. The peaks of one ring are affixed to the valleys of the other ring to connect them. This pre-forming step allows precise control over the shape and corrugation of the rings for optimal strength and weight. The pre-formed rings are then attached to inner and outer rings, and covered with tread rubber.

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Steel cord for tires with improved properties and easier production of flat cords. The cord has an irregular surface morphology with deformed steel wires arranged at specific positions in the axial direction. This breaks the uniform circular cross-section support and allows the cord to flatten during stress relieving. The deformed wires are twisted to form the cord with the irregular shape. This enables producing flat cords with higher rubber penetration compared to conventional flat cords.

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A tire with improved adhesion durability between the steel cord and rubber coating for better fuel efficiency and longer tire life. The tire uses steel cords for belt reinforcement that are not twisted and have a specific maximum gap between filaments. The steel cords are coated with rubber and have a ternary metal coating of copper, zinc, and iron. This coating composition and cord configuration provide better adhesion between the steel and rubber compared to conventional cords. The reduced gap between filaments prevents belt edge separation. The specific ternary metal coating improves adhesion. This allows thinner rubber coatings for fuel efficiency while maintaining adhesion.

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Steel cord for rubber reinforcement that reduces tip rise of individual steel filaments to prevent issues like rubber ply rise during tire manufacturing. The cord has steel filaments with twist pitches of 6-40 mm and tip rise less than 5 mm after unravelling. This straighter cord minimizes filament damage from straightening machines compared to conventional straightening.

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Pneumatic vehicle tire with belt plies having high tensile strength steel monofilaments to improve tire performance while reducing weight and rolling resistance. The belt plies have reinforcement members made of ultra-high tensile strength steel monofilaments with a diameter of 0.33 to 0.37 mm and a tensile strength of 3080 N/mm2 to 4190 N/mm2. This allows thinner belt plies compared to conventional steel cord belts, which reduces weight and rolling resistance. The ultra-high tensile steel also prevents internal stresses and web undulation issues that can occur with thinner steel cords.

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A metallic reinforcing cord for vehicle tires that provides high adhesion to the tire rubber without needing coatings or treatments. The cord consists of a single helix-shaped metallic wire. The wire is shaped like a helix to maximize adhesion by having a large inner diameter in some cross sections. This prevents shearing forces at the wire-rubber interfaces like in conventional cords with multiple wires. The large inner diameter helps the rubber surround the wire completely. This improves adhesion compared to woven cords where gaps between wires can cause fretting cracks. The single helix wire also allows the cord to be made of a single metallic material, like steel, instead of multiple materials like in woven cords. This simplifies manufacturing compared to coatings or treatments.

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Tire cord steel with high strength and low wire breakage rate for tire reinforcement. The steel composition has optimized levels of carbon, manganese, niobium, vanadium, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, boron, aluminum, titanium, and nitrogen. Rolling the steel involves a specific heating and cooling sequence to form a targeted microstructure. The steel has improved strength, toughness, and ductility compared to standard tire cord steel. The composition and rolling process reduce wire breakage compared to higher carbon steel while avoiding issues like segregation and brittleness.

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Pneumatic tire that improves durability and running performance of the pneumatic tire by maintaining the turn-up of a steel carcass without a separate member. The tire includes a bead for preventing the pneumatic tire from coming off the rim, an apex configured to absorb an impact applied to the bead, and a carcass extending to surround a portion of the apex and including a steel cord.

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Tire provided with a belt layer capable of improving steering stability performance, ride comfort performance, and the durability performance in a good balance and to provide the belt layer thereof. The tire includes a tread portion and a belt layer disposed in the tread portion, wherein the belt layer includes at least one belt ply, the belt ply includes a plurality of belt cords including a steel single wire having a flat cross-sectional shape, and in at least one of the belt cords, the steel single wire has the short diameter direction inclined at an angle of less than 90 degrees with respect to a thickness direction of the belt ply.

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Pneumatic tire design to prevent reinforcing materials from detaching while still reinforcing the sidewall. The tire has helical steel reinforcing members inside the sidewall protectors. This prevents the protectors from peeling off during contact with road debris. The helical shape allows the sidewall rubber to fully bond with the reinforcer, preventing detachment. An additional elastic reinforcer covered by the helical steel further reinforces the sidewall. This elastic reinforcer has properties matching the sidewall rubber stiffness to prevent peeling. The steel reinforcers are sized to balance strength with weight and rigidity.

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Reinforced product like rubber tires that can be reinforced with sheathed metallic threads for improved strength and durability without using formaldehyde-based adhesives. The sheathing material is a block copolymer with specific structure containing polyamide and polyolefin blocks. The copolymer is applied to the reinforcing threads before embedding them in the rubber composition. This direct adhesion of the reinforcing threads to the rubber eliminates the need for formaldehyde-based adhesives. The sheathed threads are embedded in a rubber composition without crosslinking agents like cobalt salts for adhesion. The reinforced product can be used in tires and other rubber articles. The sheathed threads have a composition with at least 70% of the specific block copolymer.

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Metal reinforcers for rubber composites, like tires, that have improved adhesion to the rubber matrix without using cobalt salts. The metal reinforcer has a partially metallic surface coated with a polybenzoxazine resin. The benzoxazine resin opens at high temperature to form a crosslinked thermosetting phenolic resin that adheres well to the rubber. This provides a durable metal-rubber bond without cobalt salts or brass coatings.

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A simplified tire crown reinforcement design for heavy duty tires like those used in construction equipment. The reinforcement uses level winding of metal strips instead of the typical layered approach with textile reinforcers. The level winding involves zigzagging the metal strip around the tire circumference to create bilayers. This reduces the number of layers needed compared to textile reinforcement. The metal strip level winding allows higher load capacity, better rough terrain performance, and simplified manufacturing compared to textile reinforcement.

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Tire intended for heavy loads that has a rib extending in the tire circumferential direction is formed at the tread. The tire has a carcass having steel cords arranged so as to emanate in radial fashion from a central location at the axis of the tire. Four belt plies having steel cords are laminated at the outside circumference of the carcass.

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Rubber sheet manufacturing process for reinforcement rubber sheets containing steel cords, like tire belts, that enables proper bending and stable placement of the steel cord on the rubber sheet. The process involves winding the steel cord around engagement parts with a specified tension, forming a bending shape in the wound cord, and then placing the bent cord on the rubber sheet while retaining it. This ensures the cord is properly bent with the desired width and shape while keeping tension, which is then transferred to the rubber sheet.

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Radial pneumatic tire for commercial vehicles with improved belt durability and lower weight compared to conventional tires. The tire has a belt assembly with at least three plies - two working plies and an outer protective ply. The protective ply reinforcing members are cords made of twisted steel filaments. The cord construction is optimized to balance strength and weight. Preferred cord constructions are 1x0.35 ST + 5x0.35 ST or 1x0.32 ST + 5x0.32 ST. These cords are arranged at a density of 20-90 ends per decimeter in the protective ply.

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Steel cord for rubber reinforcement in tires that has improved adhesion to the rubber compared to conventional brass-plated steel cords. The cord has a plating layer with a concentration gradient of a third element (like Co, Ni, Cr, Mo, Al, In, or Sn) that is higher near the surface and decreases towards the core. This gradient is achieved through sequential plating followed by two-stage diffusion heating. The gradient provides enhanced adhesion to rubber, especially damp-heat aging adhesion.

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Steel cord for reinforcing tires that provides improved cut resistance while maintaining weight. The cord has a unique twisted structure with a specific ratio of diameters between the sheath filament of the core strand and the outermost sheath filament of the sheath strands. The core strand has a two-layer twist of steel filaments, and the sheath strands have a regular twist around the core. The key is a ratio of 1.25 to 1.50 between the inner core sheath filament diameter and the outer sheath filament diameter. This configuration improves cut resistance of the cord compared to traditional multi-twisted cords while keeping the overall cord diameter and steel usage relatively low.

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Steel cord for reinforcing rubber articles, like tires, that has improved cut resistance. The cord has a layered-twisted structure with a core strand and multiple sheath strands. The key features are: (1) The outermost layer sheath filaments of the core strand have a specific ratio of cross-sectional area to total core filament area (0.69-0.74). This prevents breaks in the core filaments when twisted by the sheath strands. (2) The total sheath strand strength is a specific ratio of the cord strength (0.81-0.85). This reduces the sheath strand tightening force on the core strand. Together, these balance forces to prevent core breaks and improve shear resistance.

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Pneumatic tire design with improved freedom to apply reinforcement materials, particularly in low-profile tires. The tire has a carcass turn-up head structure with a spaced end point for the reinforcement material versus the bead filler. This allows easier application of reinforcement materials like steel bands in low-profile tires without compromising spacing. It improves handling, durability, and ride quality in low-profile tires without adding excess weight or rotational resistance.

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Steel cord for reinforcing rubber articles like tires that has improved strength in both the axial direction and shear direction. The cord has a core strand with twisted filaments and multiple sheath strands twisted around the core. The key innovation is controlling the strength ratio between the core and sheath filaments. The core filament strength is made similar to the sheath filament strength. This allows the core filaments to have superior ductility compared to the sheath filaments. This enhances shear resistance and improves cut resistance by preventing internal wire breakage.

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Steel wire for tires with improved strength and ductility for tire reinforcement applications. The wire has a microstructure that is either fully ferritic, a mixture of ferrite and cementite, or a mixture of ferrite and pearlite. It has low carbon content (C<0.05%) and low chromium content (Cr<12%). This microstructure provides good strength and ductility for tire applications without needing alloying elements. The wire also has a maximum tensile strength that follows a specific formula based on carbon content and wire diameter.

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A metal reinforcer for rubber composites like tires that provides improved adhesion without using cobalt salts. The reinforcer has a polybenzoxazine coating on at least part of its metallic surface. The polybenzoxazine is a thermosetting resin made from a benzoxazine monomer that can open its rings at high temperatures to form a crosslinked polyphenolic structure. The coating improves adhesion between the reinforcer and rubber compared to conventional brass-coated steel.

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Motor vehicle tire with improved belt endurance using low-carbon steel bands. The tire has carbon steel bands with very low carbon content (0.05-0.4%) for the belt reinforcement. This low carbon steel has a specific microstructure of ferrite and martensite. The low carbon steel allows thin, lightweight bands for reducing tire weight and hysteresis. The unique microstructure provides high strength without degradation in wet conditions, preventing belt separation.

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Brass-plated steel wire for reinforcing rubber articles like tires that improves adhesion to rubber compared to conventional brass-plated steel wire. The brass-plated steel wire has a surface composition with specific limits on zinc, phosphorus, copper, and oxygen contents. The outermost layer contains 4.8% zinc or less, 0.5% phosphorus or more, 50% oxygen or less, and a copper-to-zinc ratio of 1-6. This composition improves initial adhesion, heat resistance, and initial adhesion rate between the wire and rubber compared to standard brass-plated steel wire.

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Passenger vehicle tire with improved resistance to puncturing without compromising other tire performance. The tire has reinforcing elements in the working layers made of lightweight steel monofilaments. To prevent the monofilament-reinforced working layers from failing in the puncture test, the carcass layer is modified. The carcass layer has higher breaking energy reinforcing elements and increased density. This allows the carcass to absorb more elongation during working layer shear and prevents the working layers from breaking at low stresses.

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Steel cord for reinforcing tires that has high strength with low twist loss and good rubber penetration. The cord has a multi-twisted structure with strands made of multiple twisted filaments. The cord satisfies specific criteria: filaments with tensile strength > 3000 MPa, twist angles between 80-90°, average crossing angles between 14-16°, filament occupancy 48-50%, and gaps between adjacent filaments ≥ 0.065 mm. This allows the cord to have low strength loss compared to filament strength and good rubber penetration.

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Pneumatic tire with reduced rolling resistance and improved handling by using high strength steel cords in the belt plies. The steel cords have tensile strengths in the range of 3185 N/mm2 to 3920 N/mm2, which is higher than typical tire belt steel. This allows using thinner, lighter belts with fewer steel cords that still provide adequate reinforcement. The higher strength steel allows reducing the belt thickness and spacing to minimize rolling resistance without sacrificing handling.

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Steel cord for reinforcing rubber articles like tires and crawlers that prevents strength reduction during twisting. The cord has a specific core strand structure and filament properties. The core strand is a twisted pair of filaments with an outer sheath of m filaments. This structure prevents inner filament breakage during cord twisting. The core filament diameter is 0.15-0.40 mm and tensile strength is 2500 MPa or more. The core and sheath filament diameters satisfy a relationship to maintain roundness. This configuration prevents cord strength loss during twisting compared to standard cords.

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Vehicle tires with a steel cord-containing ply in the belt region that improves durability and reduces weight. The steel cord-containing ply has rubber reinforced with steel warp cords connected to pick cords. The warp cords have diameters of 0.3-7 mm and non-intersecting layout. The pick cords have a specified elastic extension at break (EASL) level. This configuration provides a balance of strength, flexibility, and weight reduction compared to conventional steel belts. The steel cord-containing ply is positioned between the tread and carcass in the belt region.

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Steel cord for reinforcing rubber articles like tires that has improved cut resistance. The cord has a unique structure with specific ratios. It has a layered-twisted core strand made of filaments, and multiple layered-twisted sheath strands twisted around the core. The ratio of the cross-sectional area of outermost layer sheath filaments in the core to the total core filament area is 0.69-0.74. The ratio of the total sheath strand strength to the cord strength is 0.81-0.85. This reduces tightening force on the core by sheaths and increases outermost filament shear resistance to prevent breakage.

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Steel cord for reinforcing rubber articles like tires that improves cut resistance while maintaining cord diameter and reducing steel usage. The cord has a unique twist structure and filament size ratio. It uses a two-layered core strand with a larger diameter sheath filament compared to the outermost layer sheath filament of the sheath strands. The ratio of inner sheath filament diameter to outermost sheath filament diameter is between 1.25 and 1.50. This enhances cut resistance without thickening the overall cord diameter as much.

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Pneumatic tire design that improves crack propagation resistance in the crossing belt layers without compromising cutting resistance and irregular wear. The tire has belt layers with specific steel cord characteristics in the crossing belts. The steel cord has 8 sheath filaments to balance strength and rubber permeability. The sheath filament strengths in the crossing belts are matched. This allows water to resist entering the steel cords to prevent corrosion and delamination. It also prevents crack propagation in the crossing belts. The wide cord spacing in the crossing belts improves crack resistance but reduces rigidity. The matched filament strengths balance strength and permeability.

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Composite reinforcer strips for rubber articles like tires that have improved performance compared to traditional metal wires. The reinforcer is a multicomposite strip made of mineral-filled thermoset resin monofilaments. The strip has a width-thickness ratio >3 and is flat like a belt. The composite monofilaments provide high strength and elasticity. The composite strip reinforcer can replace metal wires in tires with lower weight and eliminate corrosion issues.

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Pneumatic tire design that improves tire durability and rolling resistance without adding weight. The tire uses monofilament steel wires with a specific twist angle in the reinforcing layer and belt. The twist angle is at least 1 degree around the wire axis. This improves fatigue resistance and prevents wire breakage. The wire diameter is 0.25-0.40mm with a tensile strength related to diameter. This prevents excessive wire twisting that decreases strength. The wire groups in the belt are aligned in the plane to improve belt edge separation resistance.

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Tire for utility vehicles having a four-ply belt arrangement and a radially inner barrier ply with steel cords which enclose an angle of approximately 45° to 65° with respect to the circumferential direction. The tire has an outer working ply, a 0°-ply and a barrier ply, respectively, formed with steel cords.

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Steel cord for reinforcing rubber articles like tires that balances rubber penetration and cord strength/shear resistance. The cord has a multi-twisted structure with a core strand and multiple sheath strands twisted around it. The core strand has 7-10 outermost layer filaments with an average clearance between them of 0.073-0.130 mm. This provides improved rubber penetration without sacrificing cord strength/shear resistance compared to a standard multi-twisted cord.

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Heat treating steel reinforcing elements for tires by continuously cooling them to transform the steel microstructure. The cooling rate is controlled to avoid brittle martensite or bainite formation while preventing quenching. The cooling rate is between 30°C/s and 110°C/s. The method involves reducing the steel temperature after austenitizing to transform the microstructure without large temperature swings. This provides a ductile, ferritic microstructure for the wire that is suitable for tire reinforcement.

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A composite material for tire reinforcement that provides improved adhesion to the rubber matrix without the need for sulfurization. The composite is made by coating a metal component like a steel wire with a functional diene polymer containing aromatic groups substituted with vicinal hydroxyl groups. The polymer coating adheres strongly to the metal without weakening over time, eliminating the need for sulfurization steps. The composite can be used as a tire reinforcer without sulfur vulcanization.

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High-strength steel wire for high-strength steel cords used in tires and belts that provides good ductility and processability while maintaining high strength. The wire has a soft outer layer with lower hardness than the core. The soft layer prevents cracking during wire drawing and stranding. The core is mostly pearlite with small spacing difference between surface and center. This provides high strength with ductility. The composition contains optimized levels of C, Si, Mn, N, Al, Ti, Cr, Mo, B, REM, Ca, Mg, Zr.

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Tire with improved endurance for heavy duty vehicles like trucks. The tire has a radial carcass reinforcement with cords made of steel threads. The steel thread cords in the carcass have a specific carbon content range (0.01-0.4%) and permeability level (flow rate >20 cm3/min) to prevent localized corrosion and oxidation. The rubber compound thickness between the inner tire surface and the cord closest to it is less than 3.2 mm. This prevents oxygen buildup and pressure nonuniformities that can cause premature aging.

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Elongated steel elements for reinforcing rubber products like tires that have coatings containing copper, zinc, and a third metal M. The coating composition improves rubber adhesion and reduces degradation compared to traditional brass coatings. The third metal M can be cobalt, nickel, vanadium, molybdenum, copper, boron, niobium, titanium, antimony, calcium, tungsten, or rare earth metals. The coating composition can have M in an amount ranging from 0.05% to 3.0% of the coating weight. This concentration of M in the coating is higher than in brass coatings where M is typically below 0.1%. The higher M concentration in the coating helps adhesion without adding as much M to the whole rubber compound since it is concentrated where it belongs, at the brass surface

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Steel cord for reinforcing rubber articles like tires that reduces weight while preventing deformation of green tires during storage. The cord has a multi-twisted structure with strands twisted in a 2-layer structure. The strands are made by twisting three wires together in a 3-layer structure. The cord's mass per unit length is 35-65 g/m and the ratio of flexural rigidity to cross section is 400-650 N. This improves green tire resistance without adding weight compared to thinner cords.

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Tire with improved adhesion between the steel reinforcement cords and the tire body. The steel reinforcement cords are coated with a thermoplastic material like polyamide resin or elastomer containing a polyamide adhesive. The coating is applied using an adhesion layer with melting point 160-200°C. This coating composition has a melting point range to prevent adhesion reduction during heat treatment after coating. The coating partially melts during application to increase bonding. The coated steel cords have better adhesion to the tire body compared to bare steel.

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A steel wire for tires that provides improved fatigue and corrosion resistance while maintaining flexibility and endurance. The wire has a completely ferritic, pearlitic or ferritic-pearlitic microstructure with low carbon content (0.05-0.4%), low chromium content (<12%), and a maximum tensile strength that meets specific equations based on wire diameter. This microstructure prevents cleavage and brittleness issues of other steel grades. The wire's properties are optimized by balancing tensile strength, carbon content, and chromium content against wire diameter to strike a balance between fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance, flexibility, and manufacturing feasibility.

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Steel wire for tires with improved strength-to-weight ratio compared to conventional tire wires. The wire has a microstructure that is fully ferritic, a mixture of ferrite and cementite, or a mixture of ferrite and pearlite. The wire contains very low carbon (<0.05%) and chromium (<12%) levels. The microstructure prevents brittle cleavage during drawing. The low carbon and chromium levels improve ductility for drawing. The wire has high strength and diameter limits that balance flexibility and endurance for tire applications. The wire is drawn without heat treatment to avoid issues.

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Multicomposite reinforcer for rubber articles like tires that improves compression, bending, and shear properties compared to glass-reinforced composite (GRC) monofilaments. The reinforcer consists of GRC monofilaments with high glass transition temperature, elongation, and modulus. These GRC monofilaments are coated with a thermoplastic layer. The thermoplastic layer has a glass transition temperature greater than 20°C. This coating improves compression, bending, and shear resistance of the reinforcer at high temperatures like during tire curing. The reinforcer can be used as a belt or carcass element in tires. The coated reinforcer has better performance than uncoated GRC monofilaments in tire manufacturing.

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