Also handy for Michelin revenues that the wheel is integrated.
Yes, I get that it might be hard for them to be separate.
Michelin Airless
111–120 of 316 posts
Re: Michelin Airless
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hmm, why water filled? I can't think of any advantages, but can think of downsides such as a massive increase in unsprung weight.
Ballast for increased traction and tipping capacity with the positive side effect of lower COG.
Ah! That's a good idea.
Re: Michelin Airless
#113The magic of the pneumatic (air-filled) tire is that the entire air-filled space of the tire acts to absorb shock and vibration from the road surface. Airless tires give up this advantage, and only the tire structure between the wheel and contact patch are available to do the same work. The result is always a heavier tire that is a harsher ride. All the materials science in the world can't and won't find a solution t…
or a country that has its roads together like japan and china
Have you driven around within China much?
Re: Michelin Airless
#114Weren’t we trying to reduce plastic waste? This seems to need multiple times the amount of rubber that a normal tire needs. And for what? To prevent a fixable puncture that may or may not happen in a lifespan of a tire?
Have you ever been driving when a tire blew out at high speed? It's extremely dangerous not only for the driver but all the nearby cars. This is a tradeoff between environmental concerns and safety, as are most safety features on a car. We could make a car that gets insanely good milage and has little raw material, but it would be terribly unsafe.
You are not talking about a puncture. You are talking about a catastrophic collapse of the tire from an impact (damn potholes) that has happened to me.
I don’t see how these tires are immune to catastrophic failure that typically can take with it the rim and the suspension.
Re: Michelin Airless
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of heavy equipment drives around with water-filled tires, so it's already there. Definitely not what you meant though.
Hmm, why water filled? I can't think of any advantages, but can think of downsides such as a massive increase in unsprung weight.
Water's basically incompressible, if some Michael Crichton book I read like 25 years ago is to be believed.
My guess would be one or more of: the above; greater heat capacity; or, something to do with surface area vs. volume meaning that at a large enough size water in a tire is far lower-pressure and easier to contain than air at a high enough pressure to keep it inflated, and/or, relatedly, something to do with heat dissipation from compressing gasses being really hard to deal with once you hit a certain surface-to-volume ratio.
[EDIT] LOL, guess all these were wrong and it's just for the extra weight.
Re: Michelin Airless
#116Former automotive engineer chiming in. "Tweels" have been around a long time, but have always failed in terms of "NVH" (noise, vibration, harshness). Michelin is claiming that this generation of tweels are appropriate for passenger cars, which means that they think they've solved the NVH problem. They seem to be marketing these alongside EVs, I wonder if they're only really intended for lighter, compact-style cars. (…
Complete layman here, every 6 months or so for the past decade I see an article claiming someone got air-less tires working. What are the chances this would be it ?
I use nitro oxygen in my tyres. Pressure problems are gone.
Re: Michelin Airless
#117Would these work on Mars rovers too?
Or how about bicycles?
Spring tyres were used on bicycles in World War One
Re: Michelin Airless
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hmm, why water filled? I can't think of any advantages, but can think of downsides such as a massive increase in unsprung weight.
https://tractoraddict.com/tractor-tires-filled-with-water/ Beet juice is interesting! lol
It's a lot better than the calcium chloride that they used to use, when a telehandler blew out a tire and drained hundreds of pounds of saltwater into my parents' lawn a few years ago it did a lot of damage.
Re: Michelin Airless
#119Former automotive engineer chiming in. "Tweels" have been around a long time, but have always failed in terms of "NVH" (noise, vibration, harshness). Michelin is claiming that this generation of tweels are appropriate for passenger cars, which means that they think they've solved the NVH problem. They seem to be marketing these alongside EVs, I wonder if they're only really intended for lighter, compact-style cars. (…
This does still look to be a marketing excercise for now - I see no product availability to market in 6-12 months still.
Re: Michelin Airless
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you ever been driving when a tire blew out at high speed? It's extremely dangerous not only for the driver but all the nearby cars. This is a tradeoff between environmental concerns and safety, as are most safety features on a car. We could make a car that gets insanely good milage and has little raw material, but it would be terribly unsafe.
You are not talking about a puncture. You are talking about a catastrophic collapse of the tire from an impact (damn potholes) that has happened to me. I don’t see how these tires are immune to catastrophic failure that typically can take with it the rim and the suspension.
Punctures can cause those catastrophic failures, especially when they hit the edge near the sidewall.