Tension behaviour of polyester cord over a wide range of strain rates

Abstract Polyester cords, as critical reinforcement components in radial tires, are subjected to dynamic loadings during high-speed operations such as obstacle crossing. However, existing studies predominantly focus on their mechanical properties under quasi-static tension conditions. It is essential to understand their performance in dynamic tension, which is highly important for the impact resistance enhancement of radial tires. In this paper, the tension tests of polyester cords at medium and high strain rates of 2 and 600 s −1 were realized using a medium strain-rate tension setup and a tension impact system, respectively. Experimentally obtained tension stress-strain responses indicate that the polyester cord exhibits nonlinear deformation characteristics and significant strain-rate sensitivity. A modified ZWT model is given to characterize such deformation behavior related to the strain rate, and the applicability of the model across a broad range of strain rates covering from 10 −3 to 10 3 s −1 is verified. The experimentally acquired results of polyester cords under dynamic loadings provide material parameters for the numerical simulation of impact resistance design and performance optimization of radial tire structures.