NPT: The Airless Tyres for

Indian Roads

Submitted to:- Mrs. Bhavna

Mathur Mam
Submitted by:- Naveen
CONTENTS:-
o Introduction of NPT
o Problems in Pneumatic tyres
1) NASA and Apollo Lunar Rov
o What is Airless Tyre? 2) Michelin
o Main parts of NPT 3) Bridgestone
o 4) Resilient Technologies, L
Different Design approaches
5) SciTech
o Advantages and of NPT 6) Hankook I-Flex
o Disadvantages of NPT
o Application of NPT
o Conclusion
o References
o Introduction of
NPT:-
Michelin first announced the tweel in 2005.
The name is combination of the words tire and wheel
because the tweel doesn’t use a traditional wheel
hub assembly.a
A solid inner hub mounts to the axle. That’s
surrounded by polyurethane spokes
arrayed in a pattern of wedges.
A shear band is stretched across the spokes,
forming the outer edge of the tire (the part
that comes in contact with the road).
 Airless tires, non-pneumatic tires (NPT), or flat-free
tires are tires that are not supported by air pressure.
 They are used on some small vehicles such as riding lawn
mowers and motorized golf carts. They are also used on heavy
equipment such as backhoes, which are required to operate on
sites such as building demolition, where risk of tire
punctures is high.
 Tires composed of closed-cell polyurethane foam are also made
for bicycles and wheelchairs. They are also commonly found
on wheelbarrows which may be used for yard work or
Airless
construction. Tyre

Pneumatic
tyre
 o Problems in
Pneumatic tyres
֍ The main problem is that a puncture of the tire results in
total faiure.
֍ A blowout at high speeds can lead to a dangerous car accident.
֍ can blow out bygunfire or explosion shrapnel.
֍ variations in air pressure and tire performance.
o Main Parts of
NPT: -
The 4 main parts of the non-pneumatic tyres
includes:
Polyureth
ane
 Hub

Spokes
Polyurethane
Spokes
 Shear Band
 Tread Band

Shear
Band

The Hub
Tread
Band
  Hub
 The hub is generally made up of Steel or Aluminum alloy. The
average weight of the hub if its made of steel is roughly 4
Kg and of Aluminum alloy (AL7075-T6) is 2.5 Kg. It is a
rigid structure and cannot deform while running.
 The frame of the vehicle is connected to the hub using nuts
and bolts just like the hub used in the Pneumatic tyres. It
is the component in the Non Pneumatic tyre which has the
longest life than any other component.
 The hub is an integrated part of the tyre and cannot be
removed or replaced.
 Separating a Non Pneumatic tyre from its hub is not as
simple as the process for a tyre because the polyurethane
spokes of a tire are molded directly to the steel hub with a
bond that is not easily broken. The hub is made by ordinary
casting process just like theHub
making of ordinary hubs.
 Polyurethane
spokes
 The discovery of polyurethane [PU] dates back to the
year 1937 by Otto Bayer and his coworkers at the
laboratories of I.G. Farben in Leverkusen, Germany.
 With the decades, PU graduated from flexible PU foams to
rigid PU foams (polyisocyanurate foams) as several
blowing agents, polyether polyols, and polymeric
 isocyanate such as is
This polyurethane poly methylene
used as the diphenyl diisocyanate
(PMDI)
spokes became
in the available. These
Non PMDI based PU foams
showed good
Pneumatic thermal
tyres. It resistance
serves the and flame retardance.
function of air in this tyre. It
has a capacity to take heavy
loads and can deform its
shape temporarily and can regain
it. These are made in wedge
shaped designs or in honeycomb
designs. The wedge shaped design
is introduced by Michelin and
the honeycomb structure by
Polyuretha
Resilient Technologies, LLC.
ne spokes
 
Shear Band
 It is a flexible band which is between the polyurethane
spokes and the tread band.
 The shear band mainly consists of steel wire wound in
circular shapes.
 It gives reinforcement to the tread band from shearing off
while running.
 Its manufacturing is done with the tread band so that it
firmly sticks together with the tread and provide great
cornering stiffness to the vehicle.
 The making of the shear band involves winding steel chord on
top of a drum until desired base thickness of 15mm is
obtained. The material used as the shear band is ANSI:4340
(American National Standard Instruction codes) which is a
high strength steel.
  Tread
Band
It is the part of the non-pneumatic tyre which comes in
contact with the road. It contains rubber grip or tread for
traction and grip on the road surface or any other terrains.
The design of the tread depends upon the terrain in which the
vehicle meant to move.
The manufacturing process of the tread band is similar to
that of the tread making in pneumatic tyres which is the
extrusion process.
The extruded tread is rolled on the shear band of desired
thickness so that it forms the part which comes in contact with
ground.
The whole assembly is vulcanised so as to give the rubber
tread more durability and strength.
 Vulcanisation is done by treating the rubber tread with
sulphur so that it forms links within the material and becomes
difficult to break.
  Different Design
Approaches
1)NASA and Apollo
Lunar Rover
֍ The first major attempt at creating an airless tyre was in
1970 for NASA’s Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle.
֍ The tyres were made of steel strands woven together to form
the shape, and then were coated with zinc.
֍ In order to gain traction, titanium chevrons were added to the
outer surface.
Limitation
s
֍This design worked well on the moon, where comfort of the
֍Even though it is well
drivers was not an issue (i.e. cushioning effect of pneumatic
working on the moon but it
tyres).
would not have been
practical on earth. The
design would also be very
 2)
Michelin
֍ The next main attempt at creating an airless tyre was called
the Tweel (combination of tyre and wheel) by the tyre company,
Michelin. Their design consisted of a thin rubber tread with
V-shaped spokes made of polyurethane.

֍ This development has very positive implications because it

means that the tyre would last about two times longer than a
standard pneumatic tyre before it would have to be retreaded.
 3)
Bridgeston
e
֍ Another model for the non-pneumatic tyre came from the well-
known tyre company, Bridgestone. Although very similar in
concept to Michelin’s Tweel,

֍ There are some key differences.The core is made of rigid

aluminum and has thermoplastic spokes radiating outward at an
angle in opposite directions on each side. This creates more
stability and less lateral movement in the tyre.

֍ Bridgestone also fixed the vibration and noise problem in

this way as well.
 4) Resilient
Technologies, LLC
֍ As stated before, the production of airless tyres would
be extremely beneficial to the military. The group
Resilient Technologies, LLC is working with the military
to develop such a tyre for Humvees.

֍ To meet the requirements of heavy loads and rough

terrain, these tyres are quite industrial-looking. They
consist of a thick outer tread with a honeycomb-like
structure inside. This allows for the load to be evenly
distributed around the tyre.
5)
SciTech
֍ The most convenient design for
everyday vehicles comes from a
company called SciTech.
֍ Instead of supports radiating
from the center, their
supports are spring-like.
There are a hundred supports
in every tyre and nine are in
contact with the road at any
one time.
֍ There is also a secondary
support system in order to
distribute load to all of the
supports which have 550 pounds
of strength each and are made
of a thermoplastic glass fiber
 6) Hankook
i-Flex
֍ A futuristic design concept, the Hankook i-Flex is an airless
wheel and tyre, all in one.
֍ With the HankookTyres i-Flex, the company presents the
prototype of a non-pneumatic tyre that will help increase the
overall efficiency of vehicles thereby improving their energy
balance.
֍ With 95 percent of its construction being recyclable, the
Hankook i-Flex is made from polyurethane synthetics, with the
tyre manufactured in conjunction with its rim as one unit.
֍ It is considerably lighter than conventional wheel-tyre
combinations and does not require air like conventional
pneumatic tyres, able to offer shock absorbency through the
unique design.
֍ Fuel consumption and noise emissions are thus optimised while
simultaneously increasing vehicle safety.
 o Advantages
and NPT
֍ Eliminates air leaks or tyre blow outs
֍ Enhancing look of the vehicle
֍ You won’t need a Spare Tire
֍ vehicle-heavy Industries Can Save Money
֍ Durability & Long Life.
֍ Can take gunfire or explosion
֍ Its flexibility provides an increase in surface area
of contact
֍ No maintenance needed
֍ With no air pressure you are left with consistent
economy and handling
֍ Less environmental impact
o Disadvantages
and NPT
֍ Lack of adjustability
֍ Not as economic as pneumatic tyres
֍ Vibrationa
֍ Different Manufacturing process
֍ Heavier than pneumatic tyre
֍ More fuel consumptions beacuse of rolling
resistance
 o Applications
and NPT
There are a number of vehicles using non-pneumatic tyres.
Some of them are below:
I. Earth movers
II.Wheelchairs
III.NASA Lunar rover
IV.Military vehicles
V. Bicycles