New honeycomb tire is 'bulletproof'

The University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Wausau, Wis., company have come up with a 37-inch, bullet and bomb-proof Humvee tire based on a polymeric web so cool looking there's no need for hub caps.

Resilient Technologies and Wisconsin-Madison's Polymer Engineering Center are creating a "non-pneumatic tire" (no air required) that will support the weight of add-on armor, survive an IED attack, and still make a 50 mph getaway. It's basically a round honeycomb wrapped with a thick, black tread.

The military wants an alternative to the current Humvee "run flat" tires, which despite the name, still need a minimal amount of air pressure to roll and can leave troops stranded after being shot or blown out.

"You see reports all the time of troops who were injured by an IED or their convoys got stranded because their tires were shot out," said Resilient's General Manager Mike Veih. "There's all sorts of armor on the vehicle, but if you're running in the theater and get your tire shot out, what have you got? You've got a bunch of armor in the middle of a field."

In developing the design, the Wisconsin team studied other airless tires, like the Michelin "Tweel," but in the end settled on lessons learned from nature.

The patent-pending design mimics the precise, six-sided cell pattern found in a honeycomb and best duplicates the "ride feel" of pneumatic tires, according to the developers.

"The goal was to reduce the variation in the stiffness of the tire, to make it transmit loads uniformly and become more homogenous," said mechanical engineering professor Tim Osswald. "And the best design, as nature gives it to us, is really the honeycomb."

This particular geometry also does a great job of reducing noise and heat levels while rolling-two common problems with past models.

Costs per tire are expected to be the same or less than current units. Delivery is anticipated for 2011.

[paul613]

The concept is not new. Back in 1980, I was cycling to work on non-pneumatic, honeycomb bicycle tires made of polyurethane. They were heavy, to be sure, but for this urban commuter, the extra mass was worth it for the assurance that would not--could not--get a flat. By the way, my tires needed no air pressure whatsoever. I wish I could recall the brand.

[tipoo_]

Yea, i remember having a bike which didnt need air in the tyres!

[Bear834]

Having had to drive on spring thaw roads with the top 6 inches mud on frozen ground I wonder where all that mud is going to go. My guess it will go into the honey combs and add around 40 pounds not to mention trying to clean them out. Of course I can't see into the honey combs to see if there is something they are doing to keep mud and other debris out of the tire. If it ever makes it to the public good luck and keeping them cleaned out.

[Get_Bent]

If mud gets in the honeycombs and freezes, that could be a big problem. Otherwise, it's nothing that a pressure washer couldn't take care of.

This is a prototype with open sides to show off the technology. The production model will probably be covered to keep junk out of the webbing.

[BrandonR]

I really doubt the mechanical engineers spent this long designing these tires and forgot something as elementary as keeping mud and snow out of the honeycomb. No doubt it will be somehow sealed in the production model.

[assman]

Yeah, it'll probably look like a regular tire from the outside in the production model. The prototype only shows the honeycombs in order to display the technology.

[jc1972]

i'm sure they will cover the sides of the tires in final production, they just aren't in the picture so you can see what the design looks like.

[kzemach]

This is ridiculous. No one in the military is going to use a wheel like this without some reasonable redesign. Whoever came up with this has clearly never actually BEEN to Iraq of Afghanistan. One trip off the paved road into a little mud (which is everywhere, even on base) and your wheels are going to be so out of balance it'll be a driving disaster.

[kieranmullen]

It would be trivial to seal up the sides.

KieranMullen
http://360oregon.com

[fdunn3]

yeah for about 5 minutes while it's throwing it off by centrifugal force, that is if they don't cover the honeycomb.

Also think about when you have gotten stuck in the mud. The only surface area to get out was the surface of the tire, now the honeycomb would actually assist in proving more surface are to get un-stuck.

This is a really good innovation for Humvees as a piece of shrapnel could go right through this and still keep going.

[Greg Langelius]

Brilliant. I think we're looking at the future here.

IMHO, the honeycomb matrix might just as easily be configured in a donut shape, and be inserted inside existing tire technology.

As for mud, snow, ice, gravel, magma (try to envision this all being made from spring steel), etc., conventional road and terrain should easily provide enough flex and other mechanical action to shake and vibrate that stuff loose and free. Keeping brakes operational in such an environment might be interesting.

My primary concern would be about their effects on tire balance while all that's occurring.

Allowing the stuff to sit and congeal into a concretion while parking could be an issue.

On the other hand the open construction would lend itself to air cooling of the tire and brake elements in a way that's perhaps far better than anything currently in production. Adding directional vanes to the basic concept could turn the tires into cooling fans for the brakes (and maybe other things too, like electric motors imbedded in the hubs.)

The honeycomb might be made as a separate module, with replaceable/interchangeable tread bands. By compressing/distorting the outer band of the honeycomb module, its circumference could be reduced, allowing tread bands to be lifted off and replaced by hand. Those tread bands could be configured on their inside circumference with an interlocking interface that engages a complementary interface on the honeycomb module's outer circumference, thus ensuring a slip free mating relationship. Configuring the tread and honeycomb with aligned perforation patterns would eliminate hydroplaning once and for all.

I give it an eleven...

Greg

[Greg Langelius]

Another possibility would be allow building in varying amounts of support under various zones of the tread pattern, adding an additional component to suspension design (as in... racers?), which would not be possible using pneumatic support.

Greg

[Greg Langelius]

For anotehr example, NASCAR racers would no longer need to worry about melting their tire beads because of brake overheating.



This design has literally bunches and bunches of new possibilities.



Greg..

[Galaxy5]

I doubt these particular tires have fantastic lateral stability. Such a design should be possible given sufficiently advanced materials, though.

Still no guarantee against heat-induced tire failure, though. If this wheel/tire is made of composites with a rubber tread, the heat from brakes will have to shed somewhere; material like this, with poor thermal conductivity and a relatively low melting point (at least compared to a steel wheel) would need to be especially resistant to heat. With big braking loads, the heat from braking would all have to be shed at the rotor and hub, instead of passing through the wheel and tire's greater surface area.

[mooreoftom]

If this tire works as the article states in that it will be "bomb proof", then I don't think you have to worry about heat from the brakes melting away the tire.

[buddesatva]

These comments are a signal example of what is wrong with our culture. The hyperbolic criticism, the unreasonable, over the top pronouncements declared as the very laws of god. Very little thought or real discussion of what is before them as the topic. Maybe these forums are simply an outlet for lunatics, I certainly hope so. If this level of reasoning and discussion is typical we are all in trouble.

[quirK]

We ARE in trouble. =)

[AnotherReader]

Most of the replys I see on forums around the world (ok, the English speaking world!) are pretty much the same: Idiots and malcontents opening there mouths and running there typing fingers without a single THOUGH being expended to see if they are going to look like idiots or morons because of there stupid comments.

Personally, I think it has two main causes: 1) People feel they are anonymous (and let's face it, for all intents and purposes, they are), so they can say what ever they want without worrying about it. So they do. And 2) the education systems don't teach logic or analytical thinking nor science very well (or at all), so they truly are idiots and simply don't KNOW their comments will shine such a bright light on it.

You see the same problem with voting. People are full filling PART of their patriotic duty of voting, but they are failing UTTERLY in their duty to be a KNOWLEDGEABLE voter and they go out and vote based simply on party affiliation, how he/she looks, how tall he/she is or simply because they remember their name from all the adds running.

Of course, the quality of the politicians we have running these days doesn't help much either...

But yeah, we are in trouble.

[gridwerk]

I think that this is a failure of the American Ideal in general and it all stems from the unpopular war for oil, the looming financial crisis and terrorism- not to mention Brittney Spears for some reason and how its all Bush's fault.

But back to reality...

M'Man you are absolutely right. Trained, highly educated engineers designed these things to work in the environments in which they'll be used. I personally find it interesting that some of the morons posting here would really believe that these designers never let enter into their minds the variable of THE VERY SURFACES THESE TIRES WOULD BE USED ON. This is one of those non-debatables that the trolls find easily debated.

Personally I'd like to have a set. Then I wouldnt need an Obama Approved tire pressure gauge.

[Quark666]

[quote from AnotherReader]

"diots and malcontents opening there [sic] mouths and running there [sic] typing fingers without a single THOUGH [sic] being expended to see if they are going to look like idiots or morons because of there [sic] stupid comments."

Without a single "though," this moron puts a capital "I" in irony.

We are so beyond "n trouble."We have sunken into illiteracy hell.

[Quark666]

Not only illiteracy hell, but inability to manage blog comment hell. :-)

[Maccess]

I wonder when it will be out as a consumer product.... looks promising.

[SJ2571]

It'll never be a consumer product because (a) cops can't shoot out tires of escaping fellons and (b) spike strips will be obsolete in secure places. So, not gonna happen.

[billybiplane]

...and cell phones will only be sold in small quantities to very rich businessmen!

[savagesteve13]

This is no substitute for bad foreign policy.

[Magicland]

If this thing works now, why won't it be available until more than 2 years from now (2011)? We won't need them by then (hopefully). I can't see another 2 years of testing being required, you're not injecting it into people.

[xspeeedracerx]

wow. this is really old news. this is the same technology Michelin designed years ago.

http://www.clubdub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=535&highlight=airless+tires

[galeso]

Well not exactly the same as Michelin which uses what looks like spokes.

I need a set of these because of all the bombs going off in Illinois, not. Run flat would be nice but at what cost? Lower gas mileage? Higher cost?

Is it possible that they self balance?

Are treads a design flaw because pebbles can get caught in them and cause them to become unbalanced?

I agree that these can not possibly work until proven otherwise. Of course, the UWi aided in the development and they invented reinforced concrete, so maybe we are wrong.

No need to test them for two years, who would sue a tire company? http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504EFDF1731F931A1575BC0A9679C8B63

[gjkezski]

Just like Ford is the same old technology as Chevy? Similar concept but different execution. I do agree that the Michelin design appears that it may have somewhat better resistance to lateral stress but those spokes could possibly be more vulnerable to explosive shear. Military use rarely has to worry that much about high-speed hard turns, most military vehicles are Far more top-heavy than is allowed in vehicles for use by civilians. Take a hard turn at high speed in Most military vehicles & shedding a tire is the least of your worries as you will find yourself doing a rapid barrel-roll through the air shedding personnel & equipment in all directions. Been there, done that & managed to walk away under my own power. The Hummer is pretty much the only exception to that problem. The Hummer also carries something that can alleviate the clogging problem at least somewhat. Beef up the built in air compressor & run some high pressure air lines along the upper sides of the wheel well aimed to blow through the honeycomb towards the outside while the vehicle is moving & it would probably blow most of the smaller debris & mud out of the tire. I do not want to hear someone raving about all the noise that this will produce, is there anybody naive enough to think that a Hummer runs across country silently?

[cwclifford]

Just wanted to throw in that if the engineers HADN'T thought about the problem of mud collecting in the honeycomb (you'd be silly to think there isn't a bit of denial about limitations when a project comes this far) that this could be easily rectified by sloping the lateral surfaces at an angle conducive to sloughing it off by the force generated from the wheel turning.

[NURREDIN]

I live in Vegas.I can see big wheel covers that "spin" to take care of the debris problem!

[bfrazier]

"Now why didn't I think of that!"

[troublemaker2025]

i think that any improvement on the wheel that has been around for so long and yet change so little is a welcome development. as for the other problems like mud collecting on the honeycomb design is something i can live with...in ur profesion anything we can walk away from is a good thing....
if mud collects on this desing it can be rid off by pressure washing it when you get back to base..if you live it here for a long time that it hardens enough to actually have an effect on the product is a maintanance issue not a design problem

[pcblakeley]

I would love to try a set of these out on my Hummer.......they look awesome.....do they come in black?

Great job guys!