BLOW POINT

 There are lot of substances contained in the rubber

compound, such as compressed air, vaporizing moisture and
volatile matter. When such a compound is cured it may be
subjected to porosity.
 The minimum cure time when the porous state of a tire
disappears is termed as ‘blow point’.
 “ Blow point is the time at which there is no evidence of
under cure porosity detectable up on tire sectioning ”.
 It is used to prevent Tire cutting.
 A tire is said to “blow” when its state of cure is not sufficient.
 Cure time=blow point(time)+ safety factor.
 The point of time at which there is no porosity in the
PLC( point of least cure) is defined as the technical
cure time.
 The blow point may change according to the composition,
mixing method, temperature conditions, etc.
BASIS OF ESTABLISHING TIRE CURE
 Long vulcanization times are required for thick sections
like tire shoulder.
 To obtain uniform vulcanization throughout thick-
sectioned articles, the accelerator systems are adjusted in
such a way that the cure rate of the least heated portion
is fastest whereas those close to the heat source is of the
slowest cure rate.
 In a typical truck tire, the PLC is found to be at the
geometrical center of the tire shoulder. This point is
referred to as the “Tread Mass”.
 Another critical location in the tire is at the fabric-
rubber interface (tire shoulder) known as “Under
tread”.
 A “cure equivalent” is defined as one minute of
curing time at a constant reference temperature.
 The PLC is so referred to because it is the critical point
at which the desired number of cure equivalents is to
be delivered. When the optimum cure equivalents are
delivered to the PLC, the article is said to have a
“perfect cure”.
 Methods of computing the number of cure equivalents to
be delivered, or determining the location of the PLC are
known as Thermocouple study & Blow point study.
THERMOCOUPLE STUDY
 Thermocouple study is used to determine the number of cure
equivalents present in the tire components while curing.
 It is done in the the areas has maximum rubber gauge and
No.of directions from which the point is getting heat supply.
 Check the cure equivalents of the compounds obtained in
rheometer and then compare it with the cure equivalent
obtained in the thermocouple study.
 The cure equivalent obtained in the thermocouple study
should approximately match with the cure equivalent from
rheometer.
 The areas with more gauge should have more number of
cure equivalents to ensure the perfect cure of the Tire.
 Based on the curing result obtained in the thermocouple
study we can identify the blow points in the tire.
 If a tire is said to blow it has insufficient cure equivalents to
cure the tire.
 We can identify the amount of cure equivalents present in
the critical regions of the tire using thermocouple study .
From that data we can identify whether the tire has blow or
not.
BLOW POINT ANALYSER
 It is used to identify the cure equivalent for a rubber
compound and we can identify also the cure time of
the rubber compound.
 The specimen used here is 100 grams weight.
 The dimensions are 14cm length and 5.5 cm breadth.
 Temperature 143°C.
 We had analysed some rubber compounds in blow
point analyser and the data are as follows
FB 137
 The class of blow point of this compound is 25.3 i.e.
The tc90 @ 143°c In MDR.
 We had tested two different Fb137 compounds(based on
mixing date) with different cure equivalents , the blow
point obtained at 0.46CE in 15 minutes.
 We started the test in 0.3CE and ended in 0.46CE.
 The blow gradually decreases when we increasing the
cure equivalent and finally the blow point obtained in
0.46CE.
 0.45 CE

 The time taken to reach 0.45 CE was 14 minutes.

 0.46 CE
 This is the blow point of this compound.

 The time taken to reach this was 15 minutes.

 FB 137
1CH 2CH 3CH 4CH Alpha
S.No Time Temp CE Temp CE Temp CE Temp CE value Blowpoint

1 10m 0s 142.8 0.342 143.1 0.327 142.6 0.3 142.7 0.288 3.6 Blow found

2 12m 0s 143 0.396 143.2 0.381 142.6 0.35 142.8 0.338 3.2 Blow found

3 12m 0s 143 0.414 143.2 0.4 142.6 0.37 142.9 0.359 3 Blow found

4 13m 0s 143.1 0.444 143.2 0.431 142.6 0.4 142.8 0.388 2.9 Blow found

5 14m 0s 143 0.466 143.2 0.453 142.6 0.42 142.8 0.409 -0.1 Blow found

6 14m 0s 143.1 0.485 143.2 0.472 142.7 0.44 143 0.429 -0.1 Blow found

7 14m 0s 142.8 0.5 143 0.485 142.4 0.45 142.7 0.44 -0.1 Blow found
Blow not
8 15m 0s 143 0.506 143.2 0.493 142.6 0.46 142.8 0.45 -0.1 found
FB 137 (compound 2)
 0.45 CE
 0.46 CE
 FB137(2)
1CH 2CH 3CH 4CH Alpha Blowpoi
S.No Time Temp CE Temp CE Temp CE Temp CE value nt

Blow
1 13m 0s 143.1 0.452 143.2 0.4369 142.8 0.41 142.9 0.397 3.2 found

Blow
2 14m 0s 143.1 0.475 143.1 0.463 142.6 0.43 142.9 0.421 -0.1 found

Blow
3 14m 0s 143 0.496 143.1 0.482 142.6 0.451 142.9 0.442 -0.1 found

Blow not
4 14m 0s 143.2 0.505 143.2 0.492 142.7 0.461 142.9 0.449 -0.1 found
FB153
 The class of blow point of this compound is 24.2
i.e. The tc90 @ 143°c In MDR.
 We had tested two different Fb153 compounds(based
on mixing date) with different cure equivalents , the
blow point obtained at 0.56CE in 17 minutes.
 We started the test in 0.3CE and ended in 0.56CE.
 The blow gradually decreases when we increasing the
cure equivalent and finally the blow point obtained in
0.56CE.
 FB153
1CH 2CH 3CH 4CH Alpha Blowpoi
S.No Time CE CE CE CE
Temp Temp Temp Temp value nt
Blow
1 10m 0s 143 0.346 143.1 0.33 142.6 0.3 142.8 0.286 3.6 found
Blow
2 12m 0s 143 0.397 143.1 0.381 142.5 0.35 142.7 0.355 3.1 found
Blow
3 13m 0s 143.1 0.451 143.1 0.434 142.6 0.4 142.8 0.385 3 found
Blow
4 13m 0s 143.2 0.459 143.2 0.453 142.6 0.42 142.9 0.405 -0.1 found
Blow
5 14m 0s 143.2 0.502 143.2 0.486 142.7 0.45 143 0.439 -0.1 found
Blow
6 15m 0s 143.2 0.542 143.3 0.527 142.8 0.491 143 0.479 -0.1 found
Blow
7 16m 0s 143.2 0.574 143.3 0.556 142.9 0.521 143.1 0.508 3 found
Blow
8 16m 0s 143.2 0.591 143.3 0.576 142.8 0.54 143 0.529 -0.1 found
Blow
9 16m 0s 143.1 0.6 143.3 0.586 142.6 0.55 142.9 0.538 -0.1 found
Blow not
10 17m 0s 143.1 0.612 143.2 0.598 142.6 0.56 142.9 0.548 -0.1 found
FB153 @ 0.55CE
FB 153 @ 0.56