Steel Cord–Rubber Adhesion with SEM/EDX

Yusheng Chen; Jeremy L. Schlarb

doi:10.2346/tire.18.460102

Article Contents

ABSTRACT
Introduction
Experiment
Results and Discussion
Conclusion
References

Editorial Type:

Article Category: Research Article

Online Publication Date: 01 Jan 2018

Steel Cord–Rubber Adhesion with SEM/EDX

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Page Range: 27 – 37

DOI: 10.2346/tire.18.460102

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ABSTRACT

Brass-coated steel cords are widely used as reinforcement material for rubber composites. The adhesion between steel cord and rubber is critical throughout the lifetime use of steel cord/rubber composites; thus, the adhesion mechanism has been a focus of the rubber industry for several decades. Various modern analytical instruments, such as X-ray spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy, have been applied to the study of this bonding interface. In this paper, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) was used to research the morphology of the steel cord surface and the adhesion mechanism. According to these morphology testing results, the rubber residue bands were observed be orientated and located mostly in Cu/Zn void areas. Further research reveals that macro-structure adhesion layer leads to interlocking mechanism for rubber residue.

Keywords: brass coating; SEM; EDX; microstructure; macrostructure; adhesion between rubber and steel cord; brass bands; chemical mapping

FIG. 1

SEM picture of steel cord surface.

FIG. 2

EDX mapping picture of commercial steel cord surface from three different steel cord manufacturers (A, B, and C) in the market.

FIG. 3

SEM picture and EDX chemical mapping picture of steel cord surface.

FIG. 4

EDX (line scan mode) picture of the steel cord surface (the insert is the local SEM picture).

FIG. 5

SEM picture of steel cord surface after pulled from steel cord/rubber composite.

FIG. 6

SEM picture and EDX (mapping mode) mapping of steel cord surface after being pulled from steel cord/rubber composite.

FIG. 7

(Left) EDX (line scan mode) picture of steel cord surface after being pulled from steel cord/rubber composite (insert is the local SEM picture); (Right) model picture of adhesion interface between steel cord and rubber residue.