Background

Forklift tire is a large solid rubber product designed to install on wheels of the forklift truck used in various industries. As the forklift tire generally bears high loads and is used continuously for a long time, it needs special properties such as high strength, good abrasion resistance and low heat build-up in order to avoid blow-out phenomenon during the heavy and lengthy usage. Natural rubber is therefore a good choice to be used as a raw material in the forklift tire production due to its excellent mechanical properties, high elasticity and low heat build-up. However, due to the difference in “know-how” employed in the production, the forklift tires manufactured by various companies differ greatly in terms of cost and quality. Siam Pioneer Rubber Co., Ltd. is a forklift tire manufacturer commercializing the solid tires under “PIO-TYRE”, “BIG-TYRES” and “JR-TYRES” trademarks, using an initial “know-how” from the Japanese experts. Consequently, with the increased concerns about the environmental issues, the company aimed to carry out research and development (R&D) to improve environmental friendliness of the products and, thus, hired MTEC researchers to be the project consultants.

Goal

To develop an eco-friendly and energy-saving forklift tire tread prototype

What does the research team do?

Improvement of environmental friendliness and fuel consumption efficiency of the solid tire tread has been done by reducing the quantity of toxic zinc oxide by 40% and changing the process oil from DAE (distillate aromatic extract) to TDAE (treated distillate aromatic extract). In addition, hybrid filler technology has been applied to reduce rolling resistance resulting in an increased fuel consumption efficiency of the solid tire.