CompositesWorld
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TRENDS AUGUST 2015 22 CompositesWorld It's every motorist's fondest wish: The automobile tire that won't go fat. In the past few years, several technologies aimed at realizing this dream have made news in the trade press: Tire manufacturer Bridgestone has introduced a devel- opmental concept, Resilient Technologies has a prototype for military vehicles, and Michelin introduced its TWEEL polyure- thane and steel-belted airless tire. Among the most recent, however, is SciTech Industries LLC's (Boca Raton, FL, US) airless tire. It reportedly fts a standard rim, runs cool and quiet at normal road speeds, and cannot go fat or blow out. Unlike Michelin's TWEEL, with its shaped plastic spokes from the wheel's center, SciTech's New Tech Tire features glass fber-reinforced polyethylene terephthalate (PET) springs that support conventional rubber tread from the inside. "It looks and even smells just like the tires on your car now, but our manufacturing process requires only three opera- tions vs. the 36 diferent steps required for today's standard tires," says Morris Corn, president of SciTech Industries. Corn adds that the SciTech airless tire costs no more to make than current tires, yet should boost fuel efciency by at least 2% because tire infation and shape will no longer vary and weight is saved by eliminating the need for a spare tire. SciTech worked with Sarasota, FL-area company Rapid Composites to help develop the process and equipment for manufacturing the tires on a commercial scale. Rapid Composites president Alan Taylor explains the process starts with preconsolidated glass fber/PET tape, which is cut into blanks and loaded into an automated cell that includes high-speed transfer shuttles and heater systems and a custom hydraulic press. "The current short- run setup can produce eight springs in a 2.5-minute molding cycle," says Taylor, "but Phase 2 tooling will bring that cycle time down further and enable 50 springs in one press." Standard automotive tires use 116 omega-shaped springs. But springs also can be tailored to thin wheels for bicycles, wide wheels for lawn equipment or 4.5m-diameter tires for heavy equipment. The composites can use continuous E-glass or S-glass in a variety of deniers and may exploit nanofbers or nanoclay for a reported 40% boost in fexural strength. Given the potential variety of application, Corn also presides over New Tech Tire LLC and Turf Tech Tire LLC (Boca Raton, FL, US), two additional companies formed to market the concept to other than automotive markets. Read more about airless tire alternatives | short.compositesworld.com/NoFlatTire AUTOMOTIVE "Non-pneumatic" tires: Glass fber/PET springs replace air Source | SciTech Industries