How the Tweel Airless Tire Works

Tweel has some flaws (excluding names). The worst thing is vibration. When it exceeds 50 miles per hour, Tweel vibrates greatly. This may not be a problem in itself, but there are two other things to happen. It is noise and heat. Tweel moving fast is unpleasantly noisy [Source: CBS News]. High speed long distance driving generates more heat than Michelin engineers desire

Another problem is related to the tire industry. Making Tweels is quite different from making a tire. Not to mention the tire balance adjustment and installation equipment at thousands of automobile repair shops, the necessity to remodel many factories is so great that it is important (but not overcomeable) barriers that impede the spread of airless tires there is.

Because of these shortcomings, Michelin is not going to promote Tweel to consumers soon. Michelin's press release will promote the development of Tweel, "Radial tire technology will continue to be standard in the future." Originally devoted to using Tweel in low-speed applications such as construction vehicles. Tweel is very suitable for this purpose because fast vibration problems do not work and the robustness of airless design is a major advantage of construction sites. Michelin is also investigating the military use of Tweel.

In a public demonstration of Tweel, Michelin has deployed a prototype at Segway Centaur, a four wheel ATV vehicle using self-balancing technology for iBOT and Segway, a personal mobile device for people with physical disabilities.

Michelin is not the only company specializing in designing airless tires. Resilient Technologies has developed its own airless tire called NPT (non-pneumatic tire). The company employs more aggressive development and marketing strategies for military purposes. Although the NPT is based on different spoke configurations, the overall way of thinking is the same as Tweel [Source: Fox News]

In 2005, Michelin launched an airless tire concept car called Tweel. This design combines tires and wheels with one unit, central rigid hub, tread, and spokes between them. Polyurethane spokes are strong enough to support the tires but are flexible enough to absorb road vibrations due to a more comfortable ride. Vision's concept was developed from Tweel, but Michelin said it intends to provide it as a passenger car tire. This is not made up of three separate units, but is connected as Tweel, but it consists of a single component. Through 3D printing, engineers are strong in the center and can support the wheels, but to create an open weave honeycomb structure that can turn flexibly toward the edge to improve ride quality I can do it.

Michelin is not the only company specializing in designing airless tires. Resilient Technologies has developed its own airless tire called NPT (non-pneumatic tire). The company employs more aggressive development and marketing strategies for military purposes. Although the NPT is based on different spoke configurations, the overall way of thinking is the same as Tweel

Bridgestone Airless Tire Concept - This is Bridgestone 's answer to Michelin Zeal. Structurally, it also has a thin rubber tread supported by flexible thermoplastic spokes mounted on aluminum center wheels. This type of tire is not like Tweel's V-shaped profile, but has inner and outer spokes in the opposite direction to provide undistorted vertical support. The company claims that high-speed noise and vibration are not a problem with this type of tire, but there are other problems as well. Before the concept tires became a practical solution for everyday use, they needed to prevent the spoke from trapping waste. Bridgestone also emphasized the environmental benefits of the tire using all the materials that are easy to recycle to the design.