Engineered Fibers for Enhanced Safety and Durability
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Engineered fibers are designed to enhance the properties of products in a variety of industries. They are widely used in textiles, medical and construction to improve product safety, strength, environmental resistance and durability.
As shifting market conditions and supply chain disruptions impact traditional supplies of engineered fibers, companies are searching for alternative materials that offer exceptional performance while remaining cost-competitive.
Roy-Tuff™ blends from H.M. Royal offer a superior solution for dispersing fibers. These engineered fibers are ideal for reinforcing adhesives, specialty coatings, sealants, and fiber-reinforced plastic compounds.
What is Roy Tuff?
Roy-Tuff 8061 and 9021 are two proprietary blends developed by
H.M. Royal using advanced processing technology. Both of these grades of engineered fibers are compounded, opened aramid pulps designed to maximize surface area, enabling the rapid dispersion of fibers like Kevlar into a variety of viscous materials. These blends typically combine resins, additive and other agents to approve processability and performance in applications such as composite manufacturing coatings and adhesives.
Unlike polymer-bound products, Roy-Tuff is non-polymer-specific, making it compatible with multiple polymer classes. This versatility allows formulators to use a single grade of Roy-Tuff across different applications, reducing costs and simplifying inventory management by eliminating the need for multiple products.
Performance Advantages
Roy-Tuff engineered fibers live up to their name. Mooney and MDR data show improved viscosity at equivalent fiber loadings, leading to exceptional processing performance. Other benefits include:
Polymer Compatibility
Universally compatible across all polymer types, Roy-Tuff eliminates compatibility issues and ensures seamless integration into various formulations.
Reduced Cycle Times
Achieves a higher percentage of final property values after just two passes, allowing for faster material incorporation and reduced energy consumption.
Improved Dispersion
For optimal results, we recommend adding half of the carbon black after the initial incorporation of Roy-Tuff at time zero. This early-phase mixing in the internal mixer creates significant shear, improving pulp dispersion within the compound.
Durable and Reliable Performance
Roy-Tuff engineered fibers enhance product longevity and safety, increasing wear resistance by 2–4 times, puncture resistance by 10–20%, and tear resistance by 50–70%.
Cost Efficiency
By reducing processing time and material costs, Roy-Tuff delivers outstanding performance while minimizing overall production expenses.
Loading Levels and Comparative Reinforcement Guidelines
When starting with Roy-Tuff, a loading level of 2–5 parts per hundred rubber (phr) is a reasonable range for optimizing performance. This concentration will improve physical properties, maintain good processability while maximizing the additive’s impact on performance without overuse.
Comparative analysis between Roy-Tuff, carbon black, and precipitated silica revealed that even at 2 phr, Roy-Tuff significantly enhances tear strength. In certain conveyor belt applications, a 2 phr loading of Roy-Tuff demonstrated notable improvements in test results, highlighting its effectiveness as a reinforcing agent.
Mixing Process Recommendations
The quality of mixing is significantly influenced by factors such as fill factor, rotor speed, mixer temperature, and mixing time. Adding pulp and carbon black simultaneously can lead to material slippage during the early phases of mixing, disrupting dispersion. Roy-Tuff’s relatively low bulk modulus can also contribute to an initial overfilled condition.
To address these challenges, a slight adjustment in the mixing process has proven highly effective in improving pulp dispersion. As previously suggested, adding half of the carbon black after incorporating Roy-Tuff at time zero creates significant shear and mixing during the early phase in the internal mixer. This adjustment enhances dispersion quality in the final compound.
We recommend a two-step mixing process to improve dispersion and maximize product quality:
- Nonproductive Mixing:
- Conduct this step at 150–160°C.
- Focus on achieving proper dispersion of Roy-Tuff and other materials.
- Productive Mixing:
- Keep this step brief, with the cure added and dropped at 120°C.
- This ensures adequate dispersion of the curative without reaching curing temperatures, maintaining the integrity of the final compound.
Applications
Roy-Tuff engineered fibers are designed for demanding applications that require durability, tensile strength, resistance to wear and environment factors under tough conditions. Their versatility to combine with various advanced materials makes them popular for use in the production of hoses, belts, tires, gaskets and seals, protective clothing, sports apparel, consumer goods, geotextiles, electronic cables and wires, medical sutures, automotive composite materials and mechanical rubber goods. They are an ideal additive to many industries that require high-performance materials for critical applications.
To learn more about Roy-Tuff blends and if they’re right for your application, visit https://hmroyal.com/chemical_brands/roy-tuff-9021/ or contact an H.M. Royal expert today.