D. E.

PICCOLI

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

North Chicago, Illinois 60064

HOSE DESIGN FOR UNUSUAL HOSE APPLICATIONS*

(Received July 26, z

INTRODUCTION

REVIEW OF the components of hose construction, basic reinforcing methods

Aand reinforcing
unusual
materials is required before we discuss designing hose for
applications.
Hose can be described as a flexible conduit. Its purpose is to contain and convey
fluids from one place to another or to transmit energy in the form of hydraulic or
pneumatic pressure from one place to another. The advantages of hose over rigid
pipe are as follows:
1. Flexible
2. Absorbs vibration
3. Dampens sound
4. Installs easily
5. Corrosion and abrasion resistant

ELEMENTS OF HOSE CONSTRUCTION

Hose is constructed of three basic elements (Figure 1):

A. The TUBE or inner liner.
the tube is the element that contains the material being conveyed.
B. The REINFORCEMENT or strength member.
The reinforcement reacts to and resists the internal pressures or external forces
acting on the hose.
C. The COVER.
The cover protects the hose reinforcement from physical and environmental
damage.
TYPES OF HOSE REINFORCEMENT
The five basic types of machine applied reinforcements are identified by the
method of manufacture. The five types are:

’Presented at the 107th Meeting of Division of Rubber Chemistry, ACS, Cleveland, Ohio,
May 7, 1975.

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1. Braid
2. Spiral
3. Wrapped Ply
4. Loom
5. Knit

Figure 1. Elements ofhose. Figure 2. Braid remforcement.

Braid Reinforcement

The most popular method of reinforcing hose is to braid one or more plies of
yarn or wire over the tube (Figure 2). A braid is formed by interweaving the strands
while they are being applied in a helical spiral over the tube. One-half of the strands
are spiraled to the right, and the other half to the left. The most common hose

braiding machines weave strands in a two-over, two-under pattern.

Braided hose is produced in a wide range of sizes up to six inches inside diameter
and can be braided to close braid angle tolerances to give controlled reactions to the
pressure of the fluids contained. The braid angle is the angle between a longitudinal
element parallel to the hose axis and the tangent to the helical spiral at this ele-
ment. (Figure 3). There is an angle of the braid that will not produce any change of
hose length or diameter when internal pressure is applied. This angle, which is
54°44’, is called the &dquo;neutral angle&dquo;. When the braid angle is smaller than neutral,
the hose will shorten in length and increase in diameter when subjected to internal
pressure.

Spiral Reinforcement
Spiral reinforcement is applied in separate plies (Figure 4). The first and second
plies are laid in a left-hand and right-hand spiral, respectively. Successive plies are
applied in a similar manner, each ply separated by a thin adhesive layer. One pair of
spiral plies duplicates one braid ply reinforcement in hose reaction. The neutral
anale of 54°44’ also Booties to soiral reinforcement.

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 Figure 3. Braid angle.

Figure 4. Spiral reinforcement.

Spiral reinforcement can be produced using a machine that lays the individual

yarn or wire elements or the reinforcement elements in the form of tapes of

calendered cord fabrics.
The advantages of spiral reinforcement over braided reinforcement are greater
resistance to fatigue and increased strength in the same envelope dimensions. The
interweaving of braided cords ties them together quite well but it also produces a
&dquo;crimp&dquo; or wavy shape in the cords as they weave from underneath the oppositely
laid cords to the top side of the ply. The spiral plies receive no crimp, as all the

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cords form a layer over the tube. (Figure 5). The spiral plies can react to the fluid
pressure without interference by the oppositely laid spiral and, therefore, utilize
their strength more efficiently. An additional benefit that the spiral ply has over the
braid ply is that more reinforcement elements can be used because the space re-
quired for the oppositely laid cords to pass through is available for additional
reinforcement cords. As much as 10% greater strength can be incorporated in one
pair of spiral plies, compared to an equivalent braid ply.

Flgure 5.
Wrapped Ply Reinforcement
Woven fabric made of cotton or synthetic yarns can be used as a hose reinforce-
ment, usually in a series of multiple plies. (Figure 6). The fabric is prepared by
frictioning or coating the fabric with rubber compounds. This enables the fabric to
adhere to adjacent plies, to the tube and to the cover. Fabric used in a wrapped ply
hose is generally square woven with an equal number of longitudinal yarns, referred
to as &dquo;fill yarns&dquo; and lateral yarns, referred to as &dquo;warp yarns&dquo;. To make wrapped
ply hose, a strip of fabric is usually slit 45 degrees to the warp direction. This fabric
then is referred to as &dquo;bias cut&dquo; fabric. This bias cut fabric is wrapped around the
tube so that the warp and fill yarns lay 45 degrees to the axis of the hose. The bias
cut permits the hose a reasonable degree of flexibility but gives undersirable stabil-
ity characteristics under pressure.

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 Figure 6. Wrapped ply reinforcement. Figure 7. Loom reinforcement.

Wrapped ply reinforcement is one of the oldest methods of hose reinforcement

and is not very popular today.

Loom Reinforcement

Loom hose is made with cords wound at a close circular pitch, while longitudinal
(warp) yarns are interwoven with the circular wound (fill) cords (Figure 7). When
textile yarns are used throughout, the jacket can be woven without a tube inside of
it. The tube may be drawn into the jacket as it is being loomed or inserted just prior
to vulcanization. This style of hose may have a cover applied, but it usually is made
without a cover. Fire hose is a popular type of loom hose. If a wire is substituted
for some of the circular woven (fill) cords, the hose changes from a highly collapsi-
ble hose to one with high resistance to collapse. Some suction hose is made in this
fashion.

Knit Reinforcement

Reinforcing yarns may be applied over the tube with a circular knitting machine
(Figure 8). Variations of the knit pattern include a plain knit, lock stitch or wrap
knit, depending on the design of the knitter used. Features of a knitted construc-
tion usually limit it to a relatively low burst class of hose, such as garden hose and
automotive radiator hose.

Reinforcement Materials

The selection of the material to be used as hose reinforcement depends on the

application.The factors that have to be considered are the method of manufacture,

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 Figure 8. Kntt remforcement.

the required strength of the hose, the size, the material to be conveyed, the operat-
ing temperature range, and the outside environment encountered. The following is a
list of common materials used in hose reinforcements.
A. Textiles, yarns and fabrics
1.Cotton
2. Rayon
3. Nylon
4. Polyester
5. Glass
6. Aramids

Cotton is a natural fiber which gains strength with increased moisture content. It
must be protected against chemical and fungal activity. Very little cotton is used
for hose reinforcement material these days.
Rayon is a regenerated cellulose and is in extensive use as a hose reinforcing
material. It is similar to cotton in chemical and fungal resistance. The dry strength
is substantially greater than cotton, however, its strength is reduced with increased
moisture but it retains a wet strength level above cotton.
Nylon is a polyamide with high strength and elongation. It has good resistance to
abrasion and fatigue and high resistance to fungal activity. It is not affected by
moisture.
Polyester has high strength, exceptionally good abrasion and fatigue resistance.
It is not affected by fungal activity or moisture.
Glass has very high strength and low elongation when compared to the pre-
viously mentioned fibers. Its main use in hose is as a reinforcement for high temper-
ature applications such as some styles of steam hose.
Aramids have exceptional strength with low elongation and exceptional heat
resistance and are just starting to be used as hose reinforcement material.
B. Wires and Cables
1. Carbon Steell
2. Stainless Steel
3. Non-Ferrous

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 Carbon steel accounts for the bulk of wire consumed by the hose industry. Its
selection as a major engineering material for reinforcement of high pressure and
suction hose is dictated primarily by its high strength, fatigue resistance and low
cost. Braiding wire and wire cables are usually brass-plated to promote adhesion to
the rubbers used on tubes and covers.
Stainless steel is used as reinforcement where it is necessary to have corrosion
resistance as well as high strength. It is commonly used in the form of fine wires.
Non-ferrous wires are also employed in the reinforcement and production of
hose. Aluminum wire is available in standard and special alloys and is used primarily
as a reinforcement in hose where light weight is essential.
Desired characteristics of hose reinforcements are high tensile strength, relatively
low elongation and resistance to fungus, chemicals and corrosion. In making the
final selection of reinforcement material, the designer also considers the other
qualities of the reinforcing materials such as resistance to fatigue, flexibility and
compatibility with the rubber compounds it is to contact as well as the cost,
especially when more than one type will satisfy the specification requirements.

Designing for the New Application

The first step in the process of designing hose is to define the operating require-
ments. The designer will be able to select the type and kind of reinforcement or
combinations of types and kinds of reinforcement based on an analysis of the
pressure requirements, operating temperature range and any externally applied
forces. The rubber chemist will be able to select the proper rubber compounds for
the tube and cover based on an analysis of the material to be conveyed, the
operating temperature range and the outside environment.
The variety of hose design combinations is only limited by the number of
services they must meet. Here are a few examples of unusual hose applications and
the hose designs finally selected.

Irrigation Hose
You are all familiar with an ordinary traveling lawn sprinkler. It travels across a
lawn doing a rather good job of watering, totally unattended. Some commercial
irrigation is carried out in a similar fashion except on a larger scale. Throughout the
country, annual rainfall, although most often adequate, does not always arrive at
crucial periods of crop development. Today’s competitive farm market does not
allow for a crop failure. Thus, more and more commercial farmers are looking to
the use of traveling sprinklers as a means of assuring successful crops. These travel-
ing sprinklers cover an irrigation lane 350 feet wide by 1600 feet long in one pass.
A typical unit can deliver as much as 2’/Z&dquo; of artificial rain uniformly on ten acres in
24 hours.
The lifeline of these traveling sprinklers is a continuous length of hose 4&dquo; in
diameter and 660 feet long. The traveling sprinkler is comprised of a high volume

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spray nozzle mounted on a four-wheel cart. The cart is pulled through the field by a
steel tow cable. The water to the nozzle and the power to wind the cable that drives
the sprinkler is supplied through the hose which is dragged behind the cart as it
travels across the field.
The hose in this particular application has to withstand pressures up to 150
pounds per square inch and end loads in excess of 5,000 pounds. It has to be
lightweight, yet rugged enough to withstand the previously mentioned forces. It has
to be relatively stable under pressure, that is, low in elongation yet flexible enough
to be reeled for transporting from one irrigation lane to another. The tube has to be
smooth to hold friction loss to a minimum and the cover has to withstand the
abrading action of varying soil types, the reinforcing material has to be capable of
withstanding exposure to moisture and mildew, should the cover become accident-
ally damaged.
Since continuous 660-foot lengths were required, loom type of reinforcement
was chosen. This type of reinforcement produces a very flexible hose that reels
easily and has high end strength. Polyester yarn was selected for the reinforcement
material because of its high strength and resistance to mildew and moisture. In
order to make the hose more stable under pressure to prevent &dquo;snaking&dquo; in the
irrigation lane and to reduce the elongation, the hose is cured under tension. The
tube is a smooth, continuously extruded, water resistant SBR compound and the
cover selected is usually a Nitrile-PVC blend providing excellent weather and abra-
sion resistance. Hose fabricated in this fashion has performed very well in its in-
tended service.

Concrete Placement and Boom Hose

Concrete pumping equipment has been used in the United States for a number
of years. Early equipment did a creditable job but was very limited in its applica-
tion for several reasons, among which was that heavy 6&dquo; and 8&dquo; pipe was required.
This and other factors restricted concrete pumping equipment use to large jobs
where placement by other means was impractical. With the development of small
line concrete pumps, a 2&dquo; delivery hose to pump pea gravel concrete came into use.
Further developments in concrete pump manufacture resulted in pumps that are
capable of delivering up to 60 cubic yards of concrete containing 1’/z&dquo; aggregate per
hour. This flow rate requires at least a 4&dquo; inside diameter hose and pipe. Today
these pumps handle good structural concrete, can be mounted on a truck chassis for
greater portability and with the addition of articulating booms, make for a very
versatile and flexible concrete placement system.
Two distinct types of hose have been developed for this system. One is the
placement hose. This hose is used as a delivery line from the top of the boom or
from trailer skid mounted pumps to the pour site. The other is the boom hose
which acts as the flexible member at each boom articulation.
The severity of this service presents stringent hose design requirements. Pressure
exerted on the delivery line alternates rapidly between head pressure and pump

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pressure which may be as high as 500 psi. The hose must be very stable and have
very high resistance to elongation. If the elongation is high and stability under
pressure is poor, extreme cover and, ultimately, reinforcement wear results because
of the high rate of pulsing encountered in this service. Placement hose wear may
occur at any point the hose touches the concrete forms. Boom hose wears points
occur where this hose contacts the boom structure.
Spiral wire cord fabric reinforcement was chosen as the reinforcement for this
application. This type of reinforcement gave the necessary pressure stability to
eliminate the external abrasion due to pulsation and, at the same time, provided
sufficient strength with good resistance to fatigue to handle the internal pressures
encountered in the service. The placement hose was reinforced using two plies of
wire cord fabric to minimize the weight for ease of handling. The boom hose used
at the articulated points was reinforced with four plies of wire cord fabric to give
the required crush and kink resistance for boom hose service. Both the tube and
cover material have to have exceptional resistance to abrasion so that an abrasion

resistant natural rubber compound was selected as the tube material and a weather
and abrasion resistant SBR compound was selected as the cover.

Ship-to-Ship and Ship-to-Shore Refueling Hose

The U.S. Navy uses a lightweight 6&dquo; or 7&dquo; I.D. hose

to refuel ships at sea and to
convey fuel from tankers to storage facilities shore. This hose is normally rein-
on
forced using four spiral plies of nylon tire cord using a nitrile fuel resistant tube and
a chloroprene weather resistant cover. Whenever a long length of coupled hose was

used, a steel cable was attached to each end of the hose and any place wherever
lengths were coupled together to protect the hose from bearing excessive end loads
that could stretch or damage the hose. This cable, when wound onto a reel along
with the hose, often damaged the cover which lead to premature failure. When the
cable and the hose were wound on separate reels, a safety problem was encountered
for the handlers. The solution to this problem was to design a hose with a built-in
tensile member that would reel easily and not require the use of a cable.
The solution to this design problem was to include two relatively narrow longi-
tudinal tapes of polyester cord 180° apart between the second and third nylon tire
cord spiral plies. These two longitudinal tapes imparted sufficient end strength to
eliminate the need for the auxiliary cable and yet permitted the hose to be easily
reeled.

Hydraulic Brake Hose

In the automotive area, one of the most critical hose uses is in the hydraulic
brake system. Each automobile uses at least three lengths of hydraulic brake hose.
They act as flexible connections between the brake lines on the chassis and the
wheels, one each for the two front wheels and one length for the rear wheels. The
hose has to withstand repeated flexing as the wheels bounce up and down on the

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pavement and when the front wheels the steering mechanism. The hose
react to
must also have a minimum amount of cubical expansion when pressure is applied to
transmit the brake pedal force quickly and positively to the brakes. Controlled
flexibility is required for proper routing characteristics.
One successful design consists of a two rayon braid hose combined with a
chloroprene tube and cover. Rayon was chosen as the reinforcement material be-
cause of its strength for size and its resistance to the brake fluids. Two braids were
chosen for obtaining the required strength and flexibility. In this case, the first
braid is applied very close to neutral angle to control the cubical expansion of the
hose and provide for the main strength of the hose. The second braid is applied at
an angle higher than neutral to give the controlled hose flexibility required. Chloro-

prene is employed as the tube material because of its resistance to the brake fluids
currently in use. It was also chosen as the rubber for the cover for its oil, weather
and ozone resistance.

Power Steering Hose

A large percentage of the automobiles produced in the United States are

equipped with power steering. Two distinct requirements for hose have been iso-
lated for this application. The pressure line, which is the pump discharge line,
connects the pump to the steering gear. It serves two functions:

1. Acts as a flexible connection to absorb flexing and vibration.

2. Acts as a sound attenuator in the power steering system.

The return line is simply a low pressure flexible line to return the power steering
fluid to a sump. The pressure line and return line are usually 3/8&dquo; I.D. The pressure
line has by far the most demanding requirements. This hose must be able to operate
at pressures between 1300 and 1600 psi with oil temperatures up to 300°F and
ambient temperatures up to 275°F. In addition, the cubical expansion of the hose
must be controlled to rather narrow limits within a specified pressure range.
Due to the temperatures involved, compound selection is extremely critical in
this hose. Both nitriles and chloroprenes have been used successfully as tube mate-
rial. Chloroprene is the most common polymer used for the cover material. As far
as the reinforcement is concerned, nylon is usually chosen because of its ability to

operate at the required temperature range, its strength and its elongation character-
istics.
To meet the pressure requirements, a two-braid hose is required. Braided rein-
forcement was selected because braid angles can be controlled very closely. The
combination of braid angle control and control of the elongation characteristics of
the nylon reinforcement enable hose to be produced with the desired expansion
range.

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Automotive Freon Hose

Hose is used in automotive air conditioning systems for compressor discharge

lines, liquid lines and suction lines.
Here is how an air conditioning system operates in an automobile. Warm freon
gas is delivered from the evaporator through a suction line to the compressor. The
compressor increases the pressure and temperature of the freon gas. The hot gas is
delivered through the discharge line to a condensor which is mounted in front of
the radiator, cooled and condensed to a liquid. The liquid is then passed through a
dryer to remove any moisture and is conveyed through the liquid line to the
expansion valve in the evaporator. The expansion from a liquid to a gas in the
evaporator provides the cooling for the air.
The requirements for a freon hose are that it operates through a temperature
range of -40°F to 250°F at pressures up to 350 psi. The tube material must be
resistant to the freon and limit its effusion through the hose wall. Several tube
materials have been successfully used for this application including nitriles, chloro-
sulfonated polyethylene and polyamides.
Because resistance to freon effusion is important, the tube gauge in freon hose is
usually double the gauge normally used in rubber hose. Rayon and polyester have
been successfully used as reinforcement materials in braided constructions. Since
freon effusion is a function of the tube material as well as the internal surface area
exposed to freon, the key to reinforcing freon hose, assuming we have sufficient
strength, is to control the braid angle to minimize expansion of the hose, thereby
keeping the surface area constant.
Although we have primarily concerned ourselves with the design of reinforce-
ments, a hose is a blend of the reinforcement and the rubber compounds utilized
and both have equal importance in producing a satisfactory hose product.

SUMMARY

The variety of hose design is only limited by the engineer’s imagination and
innovation in the selection of types and kinds of reinforcements or combinations
thereof to meet the needs of the specific application. Designing hose for any hose
application requires a detailed analysis of the parameters of the application. The
material to be conveyed, the operating temperature range and the outside environ-
ment will enable the rubber compounder to make the proper rubber compound
selection. The pressure requirements, operating temperature range, flexibility re-
quirements and any externally applied forces will enable the designer to select the
type of reinforcement or combinations of type and kinds of reinforcement to
produce a satisfactory hose. The success or failure of a specific hose design is
dependent upon how well the selection of rubber compounds are reinforcement
types and kinds is made.

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