TWEEL(AIRLESS TYRE)

Presented by,

TOMSON MATHACHANS7 Mechanical Engineering

Register No: 11006695

What is a TYRE?

A tire (U.S. English) or tyre (British English) is a

ring- shaped vehicle component that covers the

wheel’s rim to protect it and enable better vehicle

performance. Most tyres, such as those for

automobiles and bicycles, provide traction

between the vehicle and the road while providing

flexible cushion that absorb shock.

The materials of modern pneumatic tyre are

synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric and wire,

along with carbon black and other chemical

compounds.

They consist of a tread and a body.

The tread provides traction while body provide containment

for a quantity of compressed air.

Tyre is used to transmit the driving and braking forces t o the

road.

It is also used to provide concerning power to smooth

steering

Why Compressed Air in a Pneumatic

Tyre?

A pneumatic tyre is comprised of an airtight inner core that filled with compressed air.

The compressed air inside the tyre maximizes the tire’s load-carrying capacity, absorb shock’s, and provide resistance against cutting and abrasion.

The compressed with in the tyre is greater than the atmospheric pressure outside the tyre. As a result, the tire is able to remain inflated even under the weight of the vehicle. It is actually the tyre’s air pressure that protects the tyre from deformations and general wear and tear and gives the tire its cushioning effect.

TWEEL

Introduction Tweel is an “airless”, or “non-pneumatic” tyre

that is the hope for future automobiles. This may seems like bicycle wheel, but unlike one.

Tweel tire aims at performance levels beyond those possible with conventional pneumatic technology because of its shear band design, added suspension, and potentially decreased rolling resistance.

As the Tweel is extremely resistant, wear working on a range of other application including smaller earth mover and military vehicle.

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The name “Tweel” is the

contraction in English of

“ t yre” and “W h eel”. Rather

than a wheel + a tyre , we

now have a single product

TWEEL. Mounting and

removal operation will be

simpler. To start with, Tweels

could be fitted on vehicles

with small wheels, such as

wheelchairs, thus

substantially improving the

mobility of disabled people.

What makes tyre “AIRLESS”?

The structure of SPOKES stretching along the

inner side of tyres supporting the weight of the

vehicle.

A synthetic resin that becomes flexible when

heated, can be processed into a variety of

shapes, and become hard when cooled.

The changes from heating and cooling can

generally repeated , making it easy to both

mold and recycle the material

Why Tweel? The heart of Tweel innovation is its simple

looking hub and spoke design that

replaces the need for air pressure while

delivering performance previously only

available from pneumatic tyres.

Tweel still delivers pneumatic –like

performance weight-carrying capacity, rde

comfort, and the ability to “envelope” road

hazards.

Main parts of TWEEL1. TREAD

2. SHEER BAND

3. DEFORMEBLE

WHEEL

4. FLEXIBLE

SPOKES

Tread :- The rubber layer that wrap around the

circumference and touches the pavement.

Flexible spokes :- Made up of polyurethane

material with are flexible, help to absorb road

impacts.

Sheer band :- Which surrounding the spoke

Deformable wheel :- Which is in between spokes

and hub, which deforms together with flexible

spokes during road impacts. It is also called as

ENERGY WHEEL.

Hub :- A rigid attachment point to the axle.

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The injection molded polyurethane spoke are flexible; this allows effectively absorb impacts.

The key advance that this system offers a tube of air is that it separates several important ride characteristics.

Lateral stiffness improves cornering; the only way to get that with a traditional tyre is to increase tyre pressure.

The Tweel can be engineered to give five times the lateral stiffness as a pneumatic tyrewithout any loss in ride comfort.

How does it works?.

Flexible spokes are fused

with a flexible wheel which

deforms to absorb shock.

The Tweel also has a unique

capability to have different

vertical and lateral stiffness.

The vertical stiffness affects

ride comfort, and lateral

stiffness affects handling and

cornering.

The best of both worlds, ride

comfort and superb handling!

On working the Tweel is a single unit, though it

actually begins an assembly of four pieces

bonded together: the hub, polyurethane spoke

section, a “sheer band” surrounding the spoke

and the tread band.

The sheer band surrounding the spokes

effectively takes the place of air pressure,

distributing the load.

The tread is similar in appearance to a

conventional tyre.

Tweel works well over rocky terrains, so it

should work well for four-wheel vehicles too.

The tension of the sheer

band on the spokes and the

strength of spokes

themselves replace the air

pressure of a traditional tyre.

The tread is then attached to

the sheer band.

The Tweel looks sort of like a

very large, futuristic bicycle

wheel.

When the Tweel put to the

road, the spokes absorb

road impact the same way

air pressure does in

pneumatic tyres.

The tread and sheer bands

deform temporarily as the

spokes bend, then quickly

spring back into shape.

Advantages of Tweel

MAIN ADVANTAGES

The tyres require less maintenance. The materials used in the tyres and spokes are 100% recyclable.

Provides low rolling resistance and contributing to reduction CO2 emissions.

Nothing to do with fuel efficiency in a direct way, only offering the benefit that it will never influence consumption.

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.1. Increased versatility:

Using high- strength but

flexible high- performance

resin as a material has

increased versatility through

improved load- bearing

capabilities and driving

performance.

High speed travel

(maximum 60 km/h) in ultra

light vehicles has also

become possible.

2. Low rolling resistance :

About 90% of energy losses from tyre rolling

resistance comes from repeated changes in the

shape of tyres as they roll.

Bridgestone was succeeded in making a

significant reduction in energy losses by using

proprietary material technologies and

simplifying the structure of the tyres.

As a result, these “Air Free Concept Tyre” have

achieved the same level of low rolling

resistance as our pneumatic fuel- efficient

tyres, making possible a contribution to

reduction in CO2 emissions.

3. No Maintenance:-

o Tweel is one single unit replacing the current

tyre/wheel/valve assembly.

o There is no need for complex wheel/tyre

mounting equipment.

o Once they are bolted on, there is no air pressure

to maintain

4. No Compromise with Conventional Tyre :-

Productivity can be increased be because the

Tweel provides greater stability and enables a skid

steer to work faster with more comfort for the

operator, reducing driver fatigue while improving

productivity.

The Tweel delivers a consistent footprint with

strong wear life that is two to three times that of the

pneumatic tyre at equal tread depth.

Additionally, the unique energy transfer within the

poly-resin spokes reduces the “bounce” associated

with pneumatic tyres.

5. No Downtime :-

• Tweel performs like a

pneumatic tyre but without

the risk and costly down

time associated with

penetrations and impact

damage.

Disadvantages of Tweel1. Lack of adjustability :-

One of the biggest disadvantages of the Tweel

is that once manufactured, it cannot be

adjusted.

In this case if car needed a different kind of

setting, a whole new set of Tweel will be

required.

2. Not economic as Pneumatic Tyres :-

Vehicles are currently working on enabling the

Tweel to be as fuel efficient as pneumatic tyres.

Currently they are within 5% of the rolling

resistance and mass levels.

3. Vibration :-

This is the one of the Tweels biggest downsides.

Vibrations becomes considerate once a vehicle

is driving above 50 mph, while

causing a lot of noise.

Also disturbing is the amount of heat the Tweels

generate.

Long distance journey with tweel would be very

un pleasant unless these areas are improved

upon.

Future challenges :

Goodyear in collaboration with NASA Glen

Research Center (GRC), develop non-pneumatic

tyres for use first on Moon, and eventually on

Mars.

“The basic rubber pneumatic design used on

Earth does not have the same utility on Moon” –

NASA Principle Investigator Vivake Asnani.

There is no Lunar roads, Lunar tyres need to be

designed to develop traction on sandy undulated

terrain, in regions that humans have never been

seen up close

The spring tyre has now been recognized with a so called “Oscar Of Innovation” at 44th

Annual R&D 100 Awards in Orland, Florida.

ANY QUESTIONS?

THANK YOU