No air in your tires?

[unixronin]

No problem!

In developing the design, the Wisconsin team studied other airless tires, like the Michelin "Tweel," but in the end settled on lessons learned from nature.

The patent-pending design mimics the precise, six-sided cell pattern found in a honeycomb and best duplicates the "ride feel" of pneumatic tires, according to the developers.

"The goal was to reduce the variation in the stiffness of the tire, to make it transmit loads uniformly and become more homogenous," said mechanical engineering professor Tim Osswald.  "And the best design, as nature gives it to us, is really the honeycomb."

This particular geometry also does a great job of reducing noise and heat levels while rolling — two common problems with past models.

Costs per tire are expected to be the same or less than current units.  Delivery is anticipated for 2011.

Comments

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

Will they pick up, or pack in, snow? I would hate to have an unbalanced tire because it picks up winter road drek.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I would think the flexing would tend to make it self-clearing, especially if the surface has a hydrophobic coating.

[otherbill.livejournal.com]

Much prettier than pictures of Tweels that I'd seen. The regularity is very elegant. The engineer in me approves. :-)

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd expect this to have more consistent and predictable behavior in terms of radial and rotational stiffness.

Minor win: Non-puncturable.
Major wins: Impossible to over- or under-inflate, and no need to carry a spare tire any more.

[milktree.livejournal.com]

Can you replace the "tire" without replacing the hub?

I bet the wind resistance of that honeycomb is pretty high compared to a flat (smooth) sided tire.

The article says "up to 50mph", which is fine for a Hummvee on crappy streets or off-road, but inadequate for anywhere around here.

I bet they could be made with a thin sidecover like thing to keep rain/snow/sand/hoodlums out and decrease wind resistance some.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I'll bet it's not too different to existing styled alloy wheels. And is the 50mph limit the tire or the Humvee?

[milktree.livejournal.com]

I would guess that the 50mph limit is the wheel/tire, since a Humvee will exceed 50mph pretty easily, and if it was a vehicle limitation they would have said something about them not being a limit on the vehicle's speed.

I guess my thinking on wind was that alloy wheels have a lot fewer edges, (even the fussy ones) and all the edges are rounded, and they're closer to the hub. The tire moves faster than the hub, so would have more of an effect.

But really, I'm talking out of my ass.