new bridgestone air-less tires

[M-type]

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so i saw this in missisauga news and had to post

pretty neat stuff


article begins......


The spokes are made of reusable thermoplastic resin. In design, interest is drawn toward the thermoplastic fins, staggered so that connections to the hub and the rim do not torque and there is no structural breakdown. The tires’ resin spokes radiate from rim to tread. They curve to the left and right to support vehicle loads.

Bridgestone is not the first to experiment with an airless tire concept. Observers point to Michelin’s debut in 2005 of its airless Tweel tires. These were seen with much interest as a novel departure from the traditional wheel hub assembly, though concerns were raised in some quarters about their being noisy and vibrations at high speeds. The name Tweel is a combination of the words tire and wheel. Michelin used polyurethane spokes arrayed in a wedge pattern.

In describing differences between the Michelin and Bridgestone concept, observers say a key contrast is in size of the ribs. Michelin’s tires were viewed as more suitable for military applications—this is not like the Bridgestone concept, which is suited for something more consumer-driven.

Another tire concept innovator has been Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. The company announced in October this year its airless tire concept which relies on mechanical rather than pneumatic support. Yokohama introduced its tire concept earlier this year at a design expo in Japan.

Bridgestone’s airless tires have a deeper structure of plastic ribs than either of the other two approaches, and it has a higher aspect ratio, according to Plastics News.

Obviously, the key benefit for the consumer will be seen in the fact that the Bridgestone tires cannot suffer punctures. On the other hand, these have a way to go before seeing car commercialization.

The tires are in prototype stage only and due for further evaluations. The company has tested the tires, nine inches across, on single seater electric carts in Japan.

Observers see similar uses, at this earlier level, as potential for use in motorized golf carts, lawnmowers and vehicles for the elderly.


© 2011 PhysOrg.com

[Tony-R32]

Very cool, would be interesting to see how this can be used in a racing application.

[MKIV]

Very cool, would be interesting to see how this can be used in a racing application.

X2

Looks interesting, wonder if this is the future for certain auto tires. Lol

[mikey]

I doubt it's going to go anywhere, I mean Michelin made an "airless" tire back in 05 or 06 and that didn't become much more than just a concept.

It looks interesting though, I just don't see how they're going to make it durable, comfortable and cheap enough to meet the demands of consumers.

[Marus92]

Very cool, would be interesting to see how this can be used in a racing application.

I don't see it as being possible, since the design focusses on pure radial load which would suffice for low speed / even ground applications. Any axial loading and I see the hub blasting through the wheel.

My reasoning is also reinforced by their own design refinement which focusses on the spokes transferring load purely in compression by having the spokes ends in tangent hub contact so that they don't get sheered off with fatigue. (I'm assuming that the image is a accurate depiction of the prototype)

[purestock240]

there was a prototype similiar to this a few years ago that was intended for humvees in the military

[M-type]

there was a prototype similiar to this a few years ago that was intended for humvees in the military

yes it the story touches on that there way a tank application too

I don't see it as being possible, since the design focusses on pure radial load which would suffice for low speed / even ground applications. Any axial loading and I see the hub blasting through the wheel.

My reasoning is also reinforced by their own design refinement which focusses on the spokes transferring load purely in compression by having the spokes ends in tangent hub contact so that they don't get sheered off with fatigue. (I'm assuming that the image is a accurate depiction of the prototype)


relax dude they still are calling it a phototype and even says right now it is only capable for low speed low weight ,
like old ppl scooters and such

and this design has come along way from the michellen design so stop hatin so much

it is neat and cool and scaling up to racing application is just a matter of time give it 10 years and this will be as common as hybrid/electric is today

[Xeno-Vibe]

Too bad that design limits aesthetic preferences like low offset and once everyone is rolling with those ultra low profile tires, nobody will be baller status anymore.

[DarkCaporaL]

Here's the video of an Audi going around a track with the Michelyn Tweel 5 years ago, at about low to medium speeds.

[Marus92]

yes it the story touches on that there way a tank application too

I don't see it as being possible, since the design focusses on pure radial load which would suffice for low speed / even ground applications. Any axial loading and I see the hub blasting through the wheel.

My reasoning is also reinforced by their own design refinement which focusses on the spokes transferring load purely in compression by having the spokes ends in tangent hub contact so that they don't get sheered off with fatigue. (I'm assuming that the image is a accurate depiction of the prototype)


relax dude they still are calling it a phototype and even says right now it is only capable for low speed low weight ,
like old ppl scooters and such

and this design has come along way from the michellen design so stop hatin so much

it is neat and cool and scaling up to racing application is just a matter of time give it 10 years and this will be as common as hybrid/electric is today

Relax? I never said I hated it? I'm an engineer so it just comes naturally to overanalyze. Yes, it was a prototype at this stage since axial load is limited, which I wholly referring to Tony-R32 racing application comment. It was just for the sake of discussion and general interest.

Edit:
I'm suprised to see the Audi video, the tweel distributed the load very well. Anyway all and all I agree it's a novel idea and I'd like to see it fully developped. Just thought about something though, why not use some kind of ribbed (but porous) rubber matrix over the tweed to keep the axial deflexion in check?

Edit Edit:

The honeycomb design here looks more durable, I wonder what's the deformation plane of the honeycomb structure compared to the Michelin one.