{"id":10337,"date":"2015-08-31T22:37:08","date_gmt":"2015-09-01T05:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=10337"},"modified":"2015-08-31T22:37:08","modified_gmt":"2015-09-01T05:37:08","slug":"a-lighter-zippier-tire-for-electric-airplanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/a-lighter-zippier-tire-for-electric-airplanes\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lighter, Zippier Tire for Electric Airplanes?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tires are not usually the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of airplane design.\u00a0 On most aircraft, the landing gear is an awkward necessity, something to help one get airborne and settle on after committing aviation.\u00a0 Our future electric aircraft might have power-driven wheels to shorten takeoff and landing distances, making them less inconvenient and more beneficial.<\/p>\n

Conventional rubber tires and wheels are heavy, though, and reducing their avoirdupois would enable better performance from a lighter airplane, or allow more batteries for longer range or better performance.\u00a0 Dr. Brien Seeley, founder and President of the CAFE Foundation, wants to visit the best of all possible tire worlds by exploring the potential of polyurethane tires, reducing the need for rubber-based tires along with eliminating the use of fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

Polyurethane tires have some advantages worth exploring<\/a>, while we maintain some objectivity about the reasons we don\u2019t see more of them on our cars, for instance.<\/p>\n

\"Pugnacious<\/a>

Pugnacious slogan takes pride in wheelbarrow tire’s capability to haul 1,000 pounds<\/p><\/div>\n

Rubber tires are weighty and require internal bracing (plies) to retain their shape.\u00a0 Look at a bicycle tire which has relatively little heft and a mesh-like internal reinforcement.\u00a0 It\u2019s a bit floppy and not unlike its\u00a0inner tubes used to hold air.\u00a0 On some tires, especially for cars, rubber and polyurethane both need similar internal structure to enable tires that can grip the road and corner, but the polyurethane tire generally comes out much lighter. \u00a0For all that, polyurethane tires have not had the “grip” of softer rubber compounds, and earlier versions, at least, lacked the handling capabilities of high-speed performance tires. \u00a0These matters are being addressed by several manufacturers.<\/p>\n

Because of its relative hardness, a polyurethane tire will roll more easily, but offer a stiffer ride. \u00a0This lack of comfort is not of great consequence on a lift truck rolling on a level warehouse floor, but might ruin a long drive with the family.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8KE-lU-rOEs<\/p>\n

These qualities are not as essential to aircraft tires, which rarely intentionally go sideways.\u00a0 The idea is to follow the straight line down the runway.\u00a0 For electric aircraft with driven wheels, foam-type polyurethane offers two distinct advantages.\u00a0 They average around 45 percent less rolling resistance than rubber tires, translating to about 10-percent better gas mileage in a car and shorter takeoffs in an airplane.\u00a0 They also last 30 percent longer than rubber tires, mainly because they run 30 percent cooler, suffer less abrasion, and do not harden, crack or deteriorate from exposure to ultraviolet light.<\/p>\n