One day in the not too distant future, automobiles could run on the Michelin Tweel Airless Tire. What sets the Tweel apart from traditional tires is that the Tweel doesn’t use air, and doesn’t need to be replaced.
Drivers can’t argue that traditional car tires are tried and true. Over the past century, tires have been composed of rubber surrounding a tube of air. Because the tire’s inside pressure is greater than that of the outside air, the tire remains inflated even when significant weight is applied.
Traditional Tires Are Old News
Unfortunately, the traditional pneumatic tire has many faults. For one, it’s susceptible to extreme wear and tear over time says used cars Salt Lake City dealers. As such, it has a short lifespan and has to be replaced over time. Although some used tires can be salvaged and recycled notes Honda Trenton, they still seriously impact the environment and fill up landfills while depleting huge amounts of rubber. The pneumatic tire also is prone to ruptures. A puncture while the vehicle is underway could cause a complete blowout and render the tire useless. Even operators of military and emergency vehicles are therefore very interested in alternatives that can withstand debris and other dangers that can impair vital services.
The Tweel combines the tire and the wheel. It uses a solid hub in the middle that mounts to the axle of the vehicle. From there, the design changes dramatically compared with traditional tires. The hub is surrounded by spokes composed of polyurethane, a type of plastic. The spokes are arranged around the hub in the form of wedges which stand in for the tube of air in traditional tires. Over the spokes is a band of rubber and over that is the tread which will be the only part of the Tweel actually touching the road.
Tweel Technology Hits The Road
On the road, the spokes are designed to give somewhat, mimicking a similar effect that air has in traditional pneumatic tires. When traveling over a bump, the Tweel’s tread is able to bend before springing back into place. Michelin has said that the spokes that makeup the Tweel can be manufactured with different levels of tension to provide a wide range of handling dynamics.
Less flexibility in the Tweel will provide sportier handling characteristics while less tension helps improve general comfort, especially over road imperfections.
Airless Tires Have Limitations
Despite the incredible advantages of the Tweel over the traditional tire construction, the Tweel has its drawbacks. When vehicles are moving over 50 miles per hour, the Tweel reportedly produces significant vibration. Noise is also a factor. Due to the air moving through the spokes, the Tweel is much loader than pneumatic tires.
In addition to minor drawbacks to the Tweel while driving, which the engineers at Michelin are working on improving, the Tweel is also constructed in a very different way than traditional tires. This new construction will require tire manufacturers to overhaul their entire manufacturing operations to help facilitate the adoption of the Tweel and airless tires. Meanwhile, retailers such as one Toyota parts store are eager to see more innovative parts made available to consumers.
Not only is Michelin working on the Tweel, but other tire manufacturers are working to develop an airless tire that offers greater durability for drivers and improved sustainability for the environment. While comfort and the enviromental impact is crucial, Auto Body Greensburg and New Hampshire Volvo dealers, to name a few, hope that safety remains paramount in the development of this new tire.
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