Posted on 06/22/2019 9:45:42 AM PDT by simpson96
Michelin's new Unique Puncture-Proof Tire System (Uptis) does away with one of the defining aspects of tires as we've known them for more than 100 years: the air inside. Unlike past attempts at airless tires, Uptis functions the way other modern tires do and, Michelin claims, will provide a similar driving experience.
Unveiled at the company's sustainable-mobility-focused Movin'On Summit in Montreal today, Uptis is a tire without a traditional sidewall that carries its load by the top thanks to a new resin-embedded fiberglass material that Michelin was granted over 50 patents for. "The idea was to develop a technology that was strong enough to carry the load but light enough to replace the air," Cyrille Roget, technical and scientific communication director for the Michelin Group, told Car and Driver. "If you have a load on the tire and you cut all the spokes at the bottom, you will see that nothing will change, demonstrating that the load is carried by the top of it, not by the under parts." Other airless tires, he said, often carry the load at the bottom of the tire, which is very inefficient and causes extra heating due to compression.
Uptis is not Michelin's first airless concept tire. It builds on the Vision concept that was introduced at the 2017 summit meeting. That concept had four main components: it was airless, connected, could be 3D printed (or have a rechargeable tread pattern), and was 100 percent sustainable. Uptis tackles the first of those problems as part of what Roget called a "step by step" process to the tire of the future. Michelin will test Uptis in the real world with General Motors. GM will outfit a fleet of its Chevrolet Bolt EV hatchbacks with the concept tires for
Michelin Introduce Puncture Proof Airless Tire
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
What happens if a medium sized rock gets wedged in the middle?
Watched the film and I noticed the cushioning reacts to the extreme when it is facing a jar of two or more inches in height like the brick it ran over in the utube.
This has to create a real problem for rims and CV joints when that type of contact happens. So hitting road debris may be an adventure.
Hydroplaning may also be a problem. Hydroplaning is caused by a combination of standing water on the road, car speed, and under-inflated or worn-out tires. The way the tread is set up on the tires, to make it collapsible, will collect a lot of water and may be contributory to it. I didn’t see any testing on the film of high speeds or water.
rwood
“This has to create a real problem for rims and CV joints when that type of contact happens. So hitting road debris may be an adventure.”
A friend who has a new Euro luxury car was on vacation and her husband was driving and hit a brick in the road with new tires.
The tires came out okay but the a very expensive rim didn’t fare very well. The couple spent an unplanned week in a remote area waiting for a new rim.
Spike strips probably wouldn’t work very well. I wonder what the cops have to say.
The concerns you list are the same for conventional tires.
M has extensive experience with this type of tire in the industrial field.
Looks interesting. Wondering how they operate at medium to high speeds in corners.
“The couple spent an unplanned week in a remote area waiting for a new rim.”
How many times has that been a movie plot?
When you hit the highway, it would vibrate from being out of balance. We live on a gravel road. It also gets muddy. Maybe they plan to cover the sidewalls on the final product and this is just to show how they work?
Will these come in 10 ply?
“”” Uptis is an assembled airless wheel structure technology made accessible to passenger vehicles, which offers many advantages. “””
That makes it sound like it’s a wheel and tire in one assembly. Weird and sounds expensive as hell.
I need some tires.
What lug pattern?
What?
Supposedly these are bio-degradable tires. Does that mean that small critters will feast on your tires, like they now do with wire insulation?
What happens if a medium sized rock gets wedged in the middle?
Could not be any worse than having a rock in a dual.
I hear that they can be recapped with a 3D printer.
World war 1 solid tires ?
What happens if slush gets in there and freezes solid? Massive imbalance?
I expect this will be of interest to commercial airlines.
Commercial planes takeoff and land on reactively debris free runways.
Air plane tires are not pre spun before landing so they land over 100 mph with stationary tires and take a beating until the tires spin up to speed.
Replacement cost will be a factor since airplane tires get recapped when they wear down. - Tom
At what Temp do they Melt ?
“What happens if slush gets in there and freezes solid? Massive imbalance?”
Good point. I had ice collect asymmetrically in my wheels a couple of winters ago. My car started shaking so bad I thought it was a major mechanical failure.
That’s funny!!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.