Goodyear "spring Tires" Designed Of The Moon

By Cornelius Nunev

Goodyear, the leading name in tires, will show that the R and D department has not been slouching when it uncovers many cutting-edge ideas at this year's Geneva Motor Show. One tire inflates itself and regulates its own pressure. Another huge model is loaded with springs and is designed to use on the moon.

Tires for the future

New tires are important to Goodyear. It has a research and development team there solely to make sure the needs in the industry are being met.

Jean-Claude Kihn is the senior vice president and chief technical officer of Goodyear. He explained:

"Goodyear has always been proactive in research and development, and we are looking forward to displaying a range of innovations that people will never have seen before. These technologies have been specifically developed to meet the ever-changing requirements of modern consumers and society focused on performance, sustainability, the environment and convenience."

Going green

The global need for petroleum is one that Goodyear wants to get rid of. This is why it used "BioIsopren" in one of its tires on display. Instead of using petroleum-based isoprene that most tires have, this tire uses bio-based material.

Another tire that is good for the environment is the Air Maintenance Technology tire. This allows the tire to self-inflate and regulate its tire pressure. This is supposed to help fuel consumption decrease.

Kihn explained:

"Consumers often overlook the importance of maintaining proper tire pressure. We believe this technology will have immediate positive impact for drivers in terms of performance and for the environment through improved fuel efficiency, reduced emissions and extended tire life. Goodyear has taken on this challenge and the progress we have made is very encouraging to the point that we are now ready to demonstrate it in Geneva for the first time."

Could be sent into space

For very harsh areas of our planet, you can try the brand new "spring tire." This was developed with help from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to be able to create a tire that might be used on the moon or other extraterrestrial areas.

The spring tire is intended to be able to carry a lot of weight for long distances in tough areas. It has 800 springs in it, which is why it got its name. The types will do better than the wire-mesh tires that Goodyear designed for use on the Lunar Roving Vehicle in the Apollo moon missions in 1971.

According to Goodyear's lead research Joe Lettieri:

"This tire is extremely durable and very energy efficient. The spring design contours to any surface providing maximum traction. All of the energy used to deform the tire is returned when the springs rebound, so it will not generate heat like a pneumatic tire."

Hot and cold changes rubber

Goodyear and NASA chose to eschew rubber the lunar tires due to the material's susceptibility to extremes of heat and cold. Also, the unfiltered solar radiation on the lunar surface would degrade rubber.

R&D award given

The R&D 100 honor for 2010 was given to the tire producer for the spring tires. This technology has not been shown off to the general public for practical application though.

The Geneva Motor Show opened its doors to the public Thurs, March 8. Goodyear will display its brand new technology there until March 18.

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