Bead Wire Production

A tire is essentially a cord-rubber composite. Tires have plies of reinforcing cords

extending transversely from bead to bead, on top of which is a belt located below the
tread. The belt cords have low extensibility and are made of steel and fabric depending
on the tire application. A tire is an assembly of a series of parts or subassemblies, each
of which has a specific function in the service and performance of the product.

COMPONENTS OF TIRE:

Tread: The wear resistance component of the tire in contact with the road. It must also
provide traction, wet skid, and good cornering characteristics with minimum noise
generation and low heat build-up. Tread components can consist of blends of natural
rubber, polybutadiene (BR), and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR), compounded with
carbon black, silica, oils, and vulcanizing chemicals and many more ingredients.
Tread shoulder: Upper portion of the sidewall affects tread heat dissipation and tire
cornering properties.
Tread base: A.K.A the cushion; the rubber compound used to ensure good adhesion
between belts and tread, heat dissipation, and low rolling resistance.
Sidewall: Protects the casing from side scuffing, controls vehicle-tire ride
characteristics, and assists in tread support. Sidewall compounds consist of natural
rubber, SBR, and BR along with carbon black and a series of oils and organic chemicals.
Curb guard: A protrusion of rubber sidewall running circumferentially around the tire
to protect it from scuffing on curbs.
Beads: Steel wire loops, which anchor the plies and lock the tire onto the wheel
assembly so that it will not slip or rock on the rim.
Bead area components: Include the apex or bead filler; the chafer, which protects the
wire bead components; the chipper, which
protects the lower sidewall; and the flipper,
which helps hold the bead in place.
Plies: Textile or steel cords extending from
bead to bead and thereby serving as the
primary reinforcing material in the tire
casing.
Belts: Layers of textile or steel wire lying
under the tread and serving to stiffen the
casing, thereby allowing improved wear
performance and handling response, better damage resistance, and protection of the ply
cords from road hazards.
Shoulder belt wedge: High-adhesive rubber compound in the shoulder region between
the belts and casing; improves tread wear and durability.
Liner: Butyl rubber or halogenated derivatives of such polymers, which retains the
compressed air inside the tire.

Bead Wire Production:

Bead wire is a hard drawn carbon steel wire made from quality steel rod. Component
characteristics of steel rod to be converted to bead wire is accordingly: Carbon (0.725-
0.825%). This carbon gives the bead wire the required load bearing capability. As bead
wires are strength for vehicle tyres thus, are required to withstand high load and wear
and tear mainly required for gripping the rim.

Pickle; Phosphate Dry Drawing Operation

Wire Rod and borax (use of powdered
lubricant)

Coating (Cu-Sn) Wet Drawing Operation

Stress Relieving
(use of liquid lubricant)

Coil of high carbon steel are uncoiled with the help of motorized system while wires are
pulled into the machines, a guide positions the wire to enter the de-scaler which is a
machine arrangement with revolving sand paper that when wire is passed through the
arrangement it becomes smooth and refined.
After smoothening and refining of wire from de-scaler it channels through powdered
soap which acts as dry lubricant, which is then pulled into a machine where wire passes
through a series of dyes with progressively smaller opening, this is called drawing as it
draws while stretching it longer and thinner i.e. reducing the diameter reducing the
wire diameter to approx. half of its original diameter.
Now, the wire is recoiled following the drawing operation. Bunch of drawn coils are
uncoiled simultaneously with a motorized arrangement which pulls wire into a furnace
in controlled speed (as wires need to stay in furnace for time) where they are heated to
1800˚C this recrystallises microstructure of wire thus reducing brittleness which are
again recoiled after going through the furnace.
Coils of wire are uncoiled and then take a dip in a tank filled with hot water and
phosphate solution, lubricating the bead wire then the process of drawing, then furnace,
then phosphate solution are repeated continuously until the final drawn is done while
giving the required width. After final drawing, the bead wires are coated with bronze as
it allows to adhere to tire rubber. Which is then passed to straightening machine where
with the help of rollers arrangement the wire is straightened and then winded.
Before leaving, the bead wires are tested i.e. if it can withstand 1500 pounds of force
before it breaks. Torsion testing is used to determine the quality of steel wire used for
motor tire beads in pneumatic tires. These steel wires must have good-tensile strength
so that the tire bead can support the finished tire safely, and yet retain adequate
ductility to deform easily around the forming wheel.
Properties of bead wore:
 Carbon content present in bead wire is 0.70-0.95%.
 Needs to have perilitic structure for multi-passing drawing.
 Must have a high breaking load with minimum running meter weight.
 At present reinforced material of high tensile strength is used i.e. TS of 2800-
3200 MPa or 3200-3500 MPa
Tyre bead wire is high carbon bronze coated steel wire used in all kinds of automobile
tyres, tyres of earth moving equipment and aircrafts. The main function of bead wire is
to hold the tyre on the rim and to resist the action of the inflated pressure which
constantly tries to force it off. The bead is the crucial link through which the vehicle load
is transferred from rim to the tyre. It significantly affects the safety, strength and the
durability of tyres.
 Oil-Tempered Spring Steel Wire
These Are wires used for spring that require extremely high resistance to fatigue, heat,
permanent set-in fatigue. Mostly used in engine valves, clutch springs, suspension
spring these are the most important parts of automobiles. These wires have to be
heated to a particular temperature to be drawn, quenched so that they can withstand
high fatigue and still have enough ductility to be shaped and not break.
Valve springs for automotive engines are used in extremely harsh conditions in which
they are subjected to high stress and high revolving speed. In particular, valve springs
used in recent car engines, which are small in size and consume less fuel, are used in
still severer environments. It is therefore desirable to increase the strength of material
for such valve springs still further. Valve springs are formed from an oil-tempered wire
of chrome-vanadium steel for valve springs or an oil-tempered wire of silicon-chrome
steel for valve springs. But a wire having increased strength tends to be low in
toughness and ductility, so that it is liable to be broken while being formed into springs.
Fundamental requirements for springs include not only desired spring characteristics,
but also reliability for an extended period of time, especially against breakage and
sagging. Valve springs, in particular, require extremely high reliability, since they are
subject to cyclic loads of several thousand times a minute for extensive periods of time
equal to the lives of vehicles. In addition, downsizing is also required for valve springs,
as a part of the effort to reduce weights and improve fuel economics of vehicles for
environmental protection and resource saving. In association with this, steel wires for
valve springs are required to have even higher strengths, smaller diameters and varied
cross-sectional shapes.
Conventional valve springs are manufactured from piano wires, carbon steel oil-
tempered wires, Cr-V oil-tempered wires designed specifically for valve springs. In
recent years, Si-Cr oil-tempered steel wires are being used more commonly because of
their strengths and sag resistances. More recently, high strength Si-Cr-V oil tempered
wires are being used widely.
Process flowchart:

Production Process:
Heat treatment:
For any material, the allowable working stress will depend on the magnitude of the
following factors: Working stress, solid stress and stress range Frequency of deflections
or oscillations, Temperature, stress and permissible relaxation. It must be kept in mind
that tensile properties of spring materials vary with the diameter; the smaller the
diameter of the wire, the higher the tensile properties and conversely. Fatigue is most
common cause of spring failure due to some stress.
For any material, the allowable working stress will depend on the magnitude of the
following factors: Working stress, solid stress and stress range, Frequency of deflections
or oscillations., Temperature, stress and permissible relaxation. It must be kept in mind
that tensile properties of spring materials vary with the diameter; the smaller the
diameter of the wire, the higher the tensile properties and conversely. Fatigue is most
common cause of spring failure due to some stress.
Steel that is suitable is heat treated to the point where it loses its ferromagnetic
property and then being quenched in some liquid. Usually this will mean steel that
contains 0.5% to 1.0% carbon. Steel has the highest endurance limit of all spring
materials. Cold working particularly, cold drawing improves it further. Heat treating
spring steel produces the most effective elastic limit along with best fatigue properties.
The surface conditions should be sound and smooth. Corrosion and decarburisation are
very detrimental to fatigue strength of steel springs. Removal of the decarburised layer
increases the fatigue limits.
Shaving:
The draw-peeling process’ or shaving main purpose is the removal of defects. A
homogeneous material with very low roughness is achieved. By varying the tool and the
cutting geometry the surface roughness can be influenced or changed. This may become
necessary for an easier processing of the wire after the draw-peeling operation. A
defined roughness improves the lubricant absorption if required.

Annealing:
Annealing is a heat treatment process that changes the physical and sometimes also the
chemical properties of a material to increase ductility and reduce the hardness to make
it more workable. The annealing process requires the material above its
recrystallization temperature for a set amount of time before cooling. Annealing
involves heating steel to a specified temperature and then cooling at a very slow and
controlled rate. Annealing is commonly used to: Soften a metal for cold working.
Improve machinability.

Drawing – Heat treatment – Drawing:

In this process, the material being drawn is at room temperature. The pointed/reduced
end of the bar or coil, which is smaller than the die opening, is passed through the die
where it enters a gripping device of the drawing machine. The drawing machine pulls or
draws the remaining unreduced section of the bar or coil through the die. The die
reduces the cross section of the original bar or coil, shapes the profile of the product and
increases the length of the original product. The drawn product, which is referred to as
Cold Drawn or Cold Finished, exhibits a bright and/or polished finish, increased
mechanical properties, improved machining characteristics and precise and uniform
dimensional tolerances.
The cold drawing of complex profiles may require that each rod be drawn several times
in order to produce the desired shape and tolerances. This process is called multi-pass
drawing and involves drawing through smaller and smaller die openings. Material is
generally annealed between each drawing pass to remove cold work and to increase
ductility. These Drawing Operation are generally done by either automatic machines or
in some cases manual labour may require.

Quenching and Oil -Tempering:

The process actually involves heating the wire to austinitizing temperature in a muffle
or direct fired furnace, followed by a rapid quench in oil or water based. The third stage,
tempering, is the reheating of the wire to an intermediate temperature in order to form
tempered martensite. Although typically done in lead, the fluid bed offers a more
environmentally friendly tempering furnace option. The final result is a wire with
superior ductility and toughness and with excellent fatigue, heat and deformation
resistance.
Oil tempering is a process in which the wire is heated to extreme heats. The wire is then
cooled with oil. This process strengthens the wire without making it brittle. Because oil
tempered wire is strong yet flexible, it is used for springs. Oil tempered springs are
often found in the automotive industry.
Properties or importance of oil-tempering:
 Strong, high-tensile springs for heavy loads, especially within the automotive
industry
 Garage door springs
 Wire forms for a wide range of purposes
The purpose of quenching is to transform the undercooled austenite into martensite or
bainite structure; quenching associated with tempering at different temperatures can
significantly improve the steel rigidity, hardness, wear resistance, fatigue strength,
toughness etc. Quenching can also give some special steels special physical and chemical
properties such as ferromagnetism and corrosion resistance.
Quenching is a metal heat treatment technology in which a metal workpiece is heated to
a suitable temperature for a period of time and then immersed in a quenching medium
for rapid cooling. Brine, water, mineral oil, air, and the like are the commonly used
quenching media. As quenching can improve the hardness and wear resistance of metal
workpieces, various tools, moulds, measuring tools and parts that require surface wear
resistance, such as gears, rolls, carburized parts, etc. will resort to this process. Through
quenching and tempering at different temperatures, the strength, toughness and fatigue
strength of the metal can be greatly improved.

Testing of Oil Tempered Spring Steel Wire:

Following test methods are required for testing spring steel wire quality :-
 Tensile test- The tensile test shall be carried out according to samples with the full
cross-section of the wire. For the calculation of the tensile strength the actual cross-
section based on the actual wire diameter is applied.
 Coiling test - The coiling test shall be carried out in the following manner: For
Example; A test piece - approximately 500 mm in length - shall be closely wound,
under slight but reasonably uniform tension on a mandrel three to three and a half
times the nominal diameter. The mandrel diameter shall however be at least 1,00
mm. The close coil shall be stretched so that after releasing the stress it sets to
approximately three times its original length. The surface condition of the wire and
the regularity of the spring pitch and individual windings shall be inspected with the
test piece in this condition.
 Wrapping test - The wrapping test shall be carried out according to EN 10218-1; the
wire shall be wrapped 8 turns around a mandrel with a diameter equal to the wire
diameter.
 Torsion test - For the torsion test, the test piece shall be clamped into the device in
such manner that its longitudinal axis is aligned to the axis of the clamping heads
and the test piece remains straight during the test. One clamping head shall be
turned at as uniform a speed of rotation as possible until the test piece fractures. The
number of complete rotations of the turning clamping head is counted. The free
length between grips shall be uniformly 100 x d (d = nominal diameter of the wire)
with a maximum of 300 mm.
 Bending test - For the bending test, a wire sample of sufficient length shall be bent in
U form around a mandrel with a diameter equal to twice the wire diameter for sizes
above 3,00 mm to 6,50 mm and equal to three times the wire diameter for sizes
above 6,50 mm. For practical reasons the wire shall be deemed to have met the
requirements of this standard if it withstands bending around a mandrel smaller
than the one specified. In carrying out the test the wire shall be free to move
longitudinally in the forming device.
Eddy current testing:
Eddy current testing is generally the best choice to inspect wire in-line with cold
heading operations such as spring making and other parts forming, and for checking
continuity, alloy and other conditions. Eddy current tests are also frequently used to
locate welds and splices in insulated cable. Eddy current systems are available to test
cold drawn wire on a processing machine such as a bull block or cold header. Two
methods are available, depending on the types of surface defects likely to occur.
Encircling coils including DC saturation on magnetic steel wire are used to detect short
defects, and rotating probes are used for longitudinal defects. Eddy current technology
is the go-to wire and cable testing method for checking continuity, alloy and other
conditions as well as for locating welds and splices.
Testing Fine Diameter Wire- Eddy current systems with specially designed small test
coils that operate at very high frequencies for inspecting ultra-small-diameter super
conductor wire, tungsten filament wire and other exotic alloywire sometimes used in
critical medical applications.
Testing Insulated Wire & Cable
Eddy current systems for insulated wire and cable such as multi-conductor automotive
and building wire, detect splices, welds and breaks at very high throughput speeds. Split
coils are available to accommodate oversize splices.
The main features of eddy current tester for sale are:
 The detection sensitivity of the surface of the conductive material and the near-
surface defects is high.
 A wide range of applications can be monitored for various physical and
technological factors affecting eddy current testing.
  Eddy current tester for sale is easy to realize high-speed, high-efficiency and
automatic detection of tubes, rods and wires without using a coupling agent.
 Under certain conditions, it can reflect information about the crack depth.
 Monitoring can be carried out in the case where other detection methods such as
high temperature, thin-walled tubes, thin wires, and the inner surface of the
parts are not applicable.
Eddy current testing is based on the physical phenomenon of electromagnetic induction.
In an eddy current probe, an AC flows through a wire coil and generates an oscillating
magnetic field. If the probe and its magnetic field are brought close to a conductive
material, such as a metal test piece, a circular flow of electrons known as an eddy
current begin to move through the metal like swirling water in a stream. That eddy
current flowing through the metal in turn generates its own magnetic field, which
interacts with the coil and its field through mutual inductance. Changes in metal
thickness or defects, such as near-surface cracking, interrupt or alter the amplitude and
pattern of the eddy current and the resulting magnetic field. This in turn affects the
movement of electrons in the coil by varying the electrical impedance of the coil. The
eddy current instrument plots changes in the impedance amplitude and phase angle,
which can be used by a trained operator to identify changes in the test piece.

Inspection and Packaging:

There are three main categories of common defects in oil quenched spring steel wire
1. Surface quality defects
2. Internal quality defects
3. Dimensional defects
 
1st The Surface Quality Defect:
 Surface Cracks: refers to the phenomenon of linear cracks on the surface of the steel,
generally should be consistent with the direction of forging or rolling.
Surface cracks can be inspected by visual observation, pickling, magnetic particle
inspection, colouring inspection and metallurgical methods.

 Heavy Skin and Folding: steel surface adhesion of the “tongue” or “scale-like” metal
sheet, the formation of local surface overlap, with obvious folding lines.

 Ears: refers to the steel surface along the rolling direction of the extension of the
concave.

 Scratch: also called scratch, refers to the steel surface under the action of external
forces in a straight or arc-shaped groove marks
 
2 Internal Defect:
nd

 Segregation: This is actually a general term for the phenomenon of uneven

distribution of chemical composition in steel. In the acid dip specimen, when the
segregation is susceptible to corrosion or gas inclusions gathered is dark in colour,
 irregular in shape, slightly depressed, flat at the bottom, and many dense
microporous spots, if the corrosion-resistant elements gathered, it is light in colour,
irregular in shape, relatively smooth micro-concave spots.

 Looseness: Pores inside the steel, such pores in low times on the sample generally
show irregular polygons, the bottom of the sharp narrow craters, usually more
appear within the bias spots. In severe cases, there is a tendency to form a sponge.
Central sparsity is generally found in the head and middle of the ingot, and the
difference between general sparsity is that it is distributed in the steel section and
the central part rather than the whole section. Usually, the higher the carbon content
of the steel, the more serious the central sparring.
   
 Shrinkage: In the low times on the sample, shrinkage is located in the central part, its
surrounding is often deviated, inclusions or sparse dense, sometimes in the
corrosion can be seen before the cave or gap. After corrosion, the pores are partially
darkened and are irregularly folded holes. Formation reasons: ingot pouring, after
solidification of the part (heart) steel solidification shrinkage is not filled and left
behind macroscopic pores, shrinkage is mainly formed in the ingot head.

 Bubbles: Sometimes sample, is roughly perpendicular to the surface of the crack,

near a slight oxidation and decarburization phenomenon, the presence of the
location below the surface is called subcutaneous bubbles, deeper subcutaneous
bubbles called pinholes.

 Crack: In the sample, the axial location along the intergranular cracking, into a
spider web, in serious cases, radial cracking. Formation reasons: mainly two, one is
the ingot in solidification and cooling, for some reason and the internal tearing,
failure to weld in the forging and rolling process.

 White Spots: In the low times on the sample is a thin short crack, generally
concentrated in the interior of the steel because the crack is not easy to distinguish,
should be supplemented by fracture test to verify.
 
3rd The Shape and Size Defects:
 Size Difference: Including the length, diameter, thickness, positive and negative
tolerances, grinding depth, width and other dimensions of steel does not meet
the requirements of the ordering standard.

 Ellipticity: The difference between the larger and smaller diameter of the steel
cross-section of the circular section.

 Curvature: Steel in the length and width direction is not straight, different
materials have different names for curvature, profiles to curvature; plates, strips
are sickle bend, wave bend, floating curvature.

 Twist: strip steel twisted into a spiral along the axial direction.

The Oil-Tempered wires are packaged in the form of coils with the help of motorized
coiling machines and then transported.
Certain specification, like diameter width and other properties are listed and
distinguished accordingly sometime colour strips are used to differentiate between
quality, specification, properties or particular steel wires for particular purposes or
applications. These steel wires can be coiled with many weight specifics depending on
vendors needs