Car stuff
For those of you that are into the auto world, here is something I found very interesting.
Michelin,
the world's largest tire maker has announced a revolutionary
replacement for the air-filled tire and called it the Tweel™. A fleet
of Audi cars criss-cross Europe as part of the long term testing.The
invention holds out the promise of incredibly increased performance and
is already in production. What's so special about an engineering design
that the company that invented radial tires can get so excited? How
about not using any air? Michelin's Tweel is a radical departure from
the tire we know today.
".... a new century has dawned and Tweel™ has proven its potential to
transform mobility. Tweel™ enables us to reach levels of performance
that quite simply aren't possible with today's conventional pneumatic
technology," says Terry Gettys, president of Michelin Americas Research
and Development Center in Greenville, S.C. "Major revolutions in
mobility may come along only once in a hundred years." "The Tweel
automotive application, as demonstrated on the Audi, is definitely a
concept, an application with strong future potential," said Gettys.
"Our concentration is to enter the market with lower-speed,
lower-weight Tweel applications. What we learn from our early successes
will be applied to Tweel fitments for passenger cars and beyond."
The
simple "hub and spoke" design is much more than meets the eye. The
secret lies in the spokes' and wheel's ability to deform and reform to
original shape. Michelin's flexible spokes and wheel use no air, but
will deliver ride characteristics like today's pneumatic tires. So much
so that the Tweel prototype, demonstrated on the Audi A4, is within
five percent of the rolling resistance and mass levels of current
pneumatic tires. That translates to within one percent of the fuel
economy of the OE fitment. Additionally, Michelin has increased the
lateral stiffness by a factor of five, making the prototype unusually
responsive in its handling. Most importantly, Michelin says the spokes
and wheel portions can be tuned independantly of each other - meaning
vertical stiffness (ride comfort) and lateral stiffness (handling and
cornering) can be adjusted to performance levels not available in
traditional technology.
Don't look for this technology on the racks anytime soon. Form will
follow function in the developement cycle and it will be some time
before this technology "looks pretty". For the meantime, Michelin will
take the lessons it learns today to improve its conventional radial
tire offerings. However, in the future the Tweel may change everything
we know about tires - imagine driving a future Audi without tire
pressure guages, no flats or better yet, no blowouts. It's coming.