Abstract

The folded belt construction has been developed to reduce the shear stress concentrations at the belt edge and to stabilize the bending interaction with the carcass at the shoulder. An analysis is given to obtain the characteristic distributions of interply shear stresses and coupled extensional‐torsional and extensional‐bending deformations of the folded belt comprised of a one‐layer Cord Reinforced Rubber (CRR) sheet under axial tension. It was shown that the interply shear stress concentrations surely disappeared at the folded belt edge but appeared alternatively at the free end of the rolled‐up belt sheet and the tensile stress in the axial direction concentrated heavily in the laminated belt part. The experimental verification of the predicted distribution of the interply shear stresses was conducted by measuring the in‐plane shear membrane force of a belt sheet.