Effect of mixing sequence on the properties of carbon black and silica filled rubber

The mixing sequence is of great importance when silane coupling agents are employed for improvement of reinforcement and tyre performances. Y-sequence mixing has the potential of making it possible to produce different compounds effectively by combining one silica master-batch with various carbon black masterbatches, provided that the compound's properties are not affected negatively compared to conventional mixing processes. We have, therefore, investigated the Y-sequence mixing in terms of various compound properties such as Mooney value, modulus, tensile strength, elongation at break, hardness and visco-elasticity, and compared the results with those obtained using multistep sequence mixing and the all-in-one approach. The results have showed that the compound properties from the Y-sequence mixing weresimilar to thoseobtained by the multistep sequence,and superior to the all-in-one mixing sequence. It is thus concluded that the Y-sequence mixing has potential as a more economical alternative to currently employed mixing processes.