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          V-belt Wear Reduction


Reduction of Wear in V-belts

V-belts for motor drives in high torque applications were wearing and failing at an unusually high rate. The V-belt manufacturer requested recommendations for process changes which would yield improved wear resistance. The vulcanized material in the belts consisted of a blend of two rubbers heavily loaded with carbon black.

Rheological measurements on the uncured constituent rubbers revealed significant changes in viscoelasticity due to shear working and gradual incorporation of carbon black reinforcement during processing. The impact of these rheological changes on the resulting blend structure and dispersion of carbon black were quantified. This understanding allowed design of a staged addition of carbon black during compounding which changed the microsctructure of the composite and significantly increased wear resistance.


v-belts

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