An airless tire is a new emerging technology where the
tire is not supported by air pressure. Another name for the airless tire is a
non-pneumatic tire. They are being used on smaller vehicles like lawn mowers
and golf carts. Another piece of equipment that they are used on is backhoes,
which are used on construction sites with higher chances of tires going flat. The
airless tires are made up of closed-cell polyurethane. The main concept of the
airless tire is that they don’t go flat. Michelin is in the process of
developing a combination of a wheel and tire called the “Tweel”, which is airless.
Michelin has said that the “Tweel” has load carrying, shock absorbing, and
handling abilities that are a solid comparison to pneumatic tires. Bridgestone
is also in the process of developing an Air-Free Concept Tyre, which is similar
to Michelins “Tweel”. The “Tweel” is composed of conventional tire rubber with
molded tread, a shear beam, series of polyurethane spokes, and an integral
inner rim structure. The “Tweel’ is not made up of compressed air. This is good
because it prevents potential leaks in pressure, bursting, and the tire
becoming flat. Michelins “Tweel” has many strengths to it, but it also has some
weaknesses to it also. A strength of the “Tweel” is its safety and obviously
never getting any flat tires. The “Tweel” could eventually have the ability to
break through a significant performance compromise that is inherent to
pneumatic tires. It could also potentially reduce hydroplaning because the
tread patterns can incorporate water evacuation through holes in the design. A
weakness of it is the noise and high speed vibration. An opportunity for the “Tweel”
could be getting rid of compressed air tires entirely and just using the
airless ones. A potential threat to this product is durability and how long the
airless tires can last before eventually not being able to go no more.
Sources: Wikipedia
