AKRON—The 2018 International Tire Exhibition & Conference is the place to be for the latest advances in tire materials.
Three of eight conference tracks planned for this year's conference program will focus on materials used in tire manufacturing, according to ITEC Co-Chairmen Walter Waddell and Larry Evans. The tracks are: Tire & Material Characterizations, Materials for Enhanced Tire Performance and Tire Reinforcing Materials.
Held every other year since 1994, ITEC will take place Sept. 11-13 at the John S. Knight Center in Akron. ITEC is the largest conference and trade show for tire manufacturing in North America, attracting 1,500-2,000 delegates involved in all aspects of tire manufacturing from materials and design, R&D and testing, to production and equipment.
The tire materials tracks include Tire & Material Characterizations, with presentations by:
• Yating Mao, Eastman Chemical, on the Solubility of Resin in Rubber and Subsequent Impact on Compound Performance;
• Jonathon Martens, ARDL, A Multiple-Quantum Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Investigation of Cure System in a Natural Rubber Compound;
• Rojin Belganeh, Frontier Laboratories, The Quantitative Analysis of Additives in Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) by Thermally Assisted Hydrolysis and Methylation GC/MS;
• Yanxi Zhang, Netzsch, Prediction of Tire Performance by Dynamic Mechanical Analysis; and
• Benjamin Klie, Deutsches Institut fur Kautschuktechnologie, will speak on laser induced break down spectroscopy.
Materials for Enhanced Tire Performance, with presentations by:
• Bill Hyde, IHS Markit, Synthetic Rubber Market Trends: Turmoil and Change, but Will Conditions Improve?;
• Jonathan Penney, Eastman Chemical, on the Next Generation of Insoluble Sulfur;
• Joel Neilsen, Lanxess-Rhein Chemie, Two Compounding Additives to Improve Tire Reversion Resistance;
• Sepideh Niknezhad, Eastman Chemical, Duralink HTS as Brass Coated Steel Cord Adhesion Promoters; and
• Hermann-Josef Weidenhaupt, Lanxess Deutschland, Vulkanol TOF to Improve Wet and Ice Traction in Tires.
Tire Reinforcing Materials, with presentations by:
• Jens Kiesewetter, Evonik Resource Efficiency, Advancements in the Production of Green and All-season Tires for SUVs;
• Li Jia, University of Akron, Non-Silane Coupling Agents for Silica Reinforcement of Rubber;
• Erick Sharp, ACE Products & Consulting, Evaluation of Functionalized Aluminosilicate Microspheres in Elastomer Compounds; and
• Bill Cole, Delta-Energy Group, Recovered Carbon Black: A Growing Industry.
Along with the technical program, ITEC will feature a trade show featuring more than 100 tire manufacturing-related exhibitors and a keynote address by Rich Kramer, Goodyear chairman, CEO and president titled, "Miles Ahead: Tires & the New Mobility Ecosystem."
For more information on ITEC, including registration and speaking and exhibiting opportunities, visit ITEC-tireshow.com.