Emerging Technology Research

            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