Composite tread member for track-laying vehicles.

摘要

A composite tread member (14) used in a track (10) for a track-laying vehicle (12) is moulded from a polymeric material (18) reinforced with abrasion-resistant monofilaments (30). It can be moulded in a reaction-injection-moulding (RIM) process or in a resin-transfer-moulding process by first placing a metal support member (16) and a plurality of reinforcing monofilaments (30) in a mould and then injecting said polymeric matrix material (18) into the mould. The reinforcing monofilaments (30) used in a preferred novel composite tread member (14) can be a silicon carbide particle-filled Nylon 12 monofilament or a monofilament formed by polyaramid fibre bundles extrusion-coated with a polyamide material. The polymeric matrix material (18) used in the composite tread member (14) can be either a Nylon 6 RIM material, a polyurethane RIM material, or a polyurea RIM material. The novel composite tread members of the invention have superior abrasion-resistant properties and durability when compared to a conventional unreinforced tread member.