Airless Honeycomb Tyre a Potential Lifesaver

In the US a National Guard unit is trialling a non-pneumatic tyre that could protect military vehicles from becoming sitting ducks in combat zones due to punctures. The tyre, developed by Resilient Technologies LLC and the University of Wisconsin-Madison over a two-year period for the US Department of Defense, features a patent-pending six-sided honeycomb construction.

The honeycomb design was chosen after other shapes were tested with less success in Resilient’s research and development facilities. “We wanted to create more of a matrix of cells within the tyre, and it seemed kind of natural to go with the honeycomb’s hexagon shape,” said UW-Madison Polymer Engineering Center graduate student Eric Foltz, one of the team working on the design, production and trialling of prototypes.

Resilient is now using a large rolling-road flywheel device to test the durability of the prototypes by simulating thousands of miles of highway driving. If the tyres and wheels hold up to these stresses, the opportunity beckons for their employment on military Humvees, a favourite target for both hostile and friendly fire when immobilised by punctures.