Flat tyres are one of the most common and frustrating problems drivers and passengers have to deal with. In this regard, the engineers at National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Glenn Research Center have come up with a massive breakthrough.
In a Space Act Agreement with the SMART Tire Company, NASA has made airless tyres that never get flat. They have created puncture-proof airless tyres with the most distinctive feature of them being that they would never go flat or blow out. Below, we take a detailed look at NASA airless tyres.
NASA Airless Tyres vs. Conventional Tyres
In the history of automobiles, there have been countless car innovations and the invention of these NASA airless tyres must surely be counted among them.
The key difference between NASA airless tyres and tyres we use at present is that NASA airless tyres are non-pneumatic, whereas the tyres we use currently are pneumatic. Pneumatic tyres have a metal hub on which a rubber tyre is placed. They are filled to the desired pressure level with air or foam.
Non pneumatic tyres, on the other hand, are airless tyres that do not require air and hence do not blow out. In addition to this, unlike the tyres we see at present which use general synthetic rubber, NASA smart tyre uses nitinol — a superelastic shape-memory metal alloy which consists of almost equal atomic percentages of titanium and nickel.
Properties of Nasa’s Next-Gen Tyres
This section explains the properties of NASA’s next-gen tyres in detail. The following are the properties of these tyres:
- These tyres have a mesh-like structure on the surface that makes it possible for you to see through to the other side.
- They are made up of inter-connected springs, so there’s no need to worry about punctures or changing tyres regularly because springs are not inflated and they do not require air to keep their shape.
- As mentioned above, nitinol – of which these tyres are made up of – is a shape memory alloy. Thus, these shape memory alloy tyres are capable of changing their shape depending upon the conditions.
NASA’s Tyres on Roads
Although NASA’s research and work centers on exploration of space and their inventions are for the use of space explorers, they plan to make these tyres usable on Earth and distribute them here in the markets in near future. According to the company, these tyres are still in the prototype stage. It is worth noting that there are also a few caveats of using these tyres which we will discuss in this section.
Firstly, a metallic tyre would transmit a lot of road vibration to the vehicle making it a rough driving experience. Secondly, non-pneumatic tyres have a higher rolling resistance when they roll on a surface. This means that it takes more power to drive a vehicle with non-pneumatic tyres as compared to when the vehicle is driven with pneumatic tyres. In addition to this, non-pneumatic tyres offer less suspension. The lower the suspension is, the less comfortable it would be to drive.
At present, these tyres can be used only for small-sized modes of transport like bicycles or motorcycles. However, these NASA airless bike tyres or airless bicycle tyres have already been successfully tested on Mars Rover missions and the future looks promising. Thus, it would not be a surprise that space tech’s smart tyres gradually replace the tyres we use right now.
Until these airless tyres become mainstream, you can check out these good-quality tyres for sale in the UAE. Besides, if you are looking to buy another vehicle, you can find a variety of used cars for sale in the UAE on dubizzle at reasonable prices.
To keep up with all what’s happening in the world of automotive industry, stay tuned to UAE’s leading auto blog.
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