An old casing is given a preliminary inspection.
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Ultrasonic
The next stage takes place in an old tiled office, which now houses another complex machine. This equipment analyses the casing, but this time using ultrasonic sound waves to determine the condition of the casing.
Essentially it is doing the same job as the man with the hammer, but it is, of course much more accurate.
The installation divides the casing into several different areas, each marked by a different colour and using this as a reference, displays a graph on a computer screen, with sound waves scrolling across it, very similar to the readout on an oscilloscope, or even a heartbeat monitor. This not only provides detailed information about the condition of the carcass, but is nessasary to meet the EU 109 standard.
After this, the tyre moves on to a machine called a ‘skiver’. Apparently, this device is necessary to gouge out any pocks. Un-vulcanised rubber is then used to repair these marks, while anything else, such as punctures are fixed. After this the casing is put in a wrap – another EC 109 requirement, as It is then ready to have the new tread applied.
“The rubber cement is just to hold the tread rubber until curing. After that it is totally different and uses a chemical process with the heat” Udaykumar said.
“We have various types of design, for on-road, off-road or a combination. We have treads for the cement industry and for the quarry industry. All of the machines that you see here are brought in from Belgium” he pointed out.
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Tread building
Applying the tread is a process known as building. In Europe you need to remove the original numbers on the sidewall, but there is no need to do that here, although the firm does stamp its brand on the tyre wall.
“Then we put the production date on the tyre. It is not a legal requirement, it is only for our identification. You will know when they are produced. We keep records about every tyre, through every step of the process,” Udaykumar explained to us.
“There are two envelopes The point of enveloping is that the tread will be compressed onto the casing until curing.”
“The tyre will be inspected again, and the final thing to do is the date stamp.’
Interestingly, the new tread arrives in flat strips which are then pressed onto the tyre in a form. The rubbers then cure together in a tube-shaped machine known as an ‘autoclave’ with nineteen other tyres on a rack. Although the autoclave maintains a temperature of around 100 degrees, the process is known as ‘cold curing’, as ‘hot curing’, a different method, not employed by this plant uses much higher temperatures.
While in the autoclave, the process of ‘curing’, or chemically bonding the tread and the tyre together.
After being removed, the process is almost complete.
With earthmover tyres process remains the same, but on a bigger scale. Most of the time the tyre is not available for retreading, as the sidewalls get burst long before the tread is worn out.
Next, the tyre goes for a final internal and external inspection. Once the technician is satisfied, it receives the factory’s unique date code stamped into the tyre wall, while the finished product then gets a coating of black on the tyre wall.
Finally, the new retread tyre is ready to roll.
There are three main reasons why a tyre will fail in the Middle East – and it has little to do with the brand or the age.
Mainly, truck tyres burst because:
- They haven’t been maintained (Usually this is due to under inflation)
- Overloading – this apparently is extremely common in the UAE where trailers can pretty much carry any weight thrown at them. Overloading will quickly destroy tyres.
- Extreme heat causes failure (This is generally made worse by the causes above generating too much heat.)
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Can someone help me find out how i can own a tyre retread franchise or how to aquire used equipment to set up a remould