PRESENTATION ON

TWEELS

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 WHAT ARE TWEELS ?

TWEEL IS NOTHING BUT A BLEND OF TYRE AND

WHEEL.

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 TYRE AND WHEEL
WHEEL TYRE
 A wheel is a circular  Tyres are ring-shaped
device that is capable of parts made of rubber,
rotating on its axis. metals and plastic
 In order for wheels to composites, that fit around
rotate, a moment needs road wheels to protect
to be applied to the wheel them and enhance their
about its axis, either by effect.
way of gravity, or by  Tyres are used on many
application of another types of vehicles, such as
external force. bicycles, motorcycles,
cars, trucks, and aircraft.

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 FEATURES OF TYRES

Tyres enable better vehicle

performance by providing traction,
braking, steering, and load support.

Tyres form a flexible cushion

between the vehicle and the road,
which smooths out shock and makes
for a comfortable ride.

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 FEATURES OF TWEEL

 As they don't use air to support the weight of the car, they cannot be
punctured or become flat in order to bring the car to a complete halt.
 A set of spokes made out of polyurethane material supports the outer rim
on which the running tread is placed.
 Between the spokes and the tire hub, there is a matrix of deformable
plastic structures which flex under the load and return to their original form
afterwards.
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 PARTS OF A
TWEEL
When mounted on a car, the Tweel is a single unit consisting of four pieces:

 The hub
 Polyurethane spokes
 A "shear band"
surrounding the
spokes
 The tread band.

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 BENEFITS OF TWEEL

No more air valves.

No more air compressors at Petrol Pumps.

No more flat tyres in the middle of long drives.

The tweel promises performance levels beyond those

possible with conventional pneumatic technology.

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VEHICLES USING TWEELS
The first commercial applications of the Tweel will be in lower-speed, lower-
weight vehicles such as the iBOT mobility device and Segway's Concept
Centaur. Designed by Segway-inventor Dean Kamen, the iBOT mobility
device has the ability to climb stairs and navigate uneven terrain, offering
mobility freedom impossible with traditional wheelchairs. Additionally,
Segway's Concept Centaur, a prototype that applies self-balancing
technology to a four-wheel device, has also been equipped with Tweel to
increase its performance potential.

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AUDI A4

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 ADVANTAGES OF TWEEL
 These special characteristic gives the tweel the capability of providing a more
comfortable ride and increased vehicle handling.

 The flexible spokes also provide a better lateral stiffness and lower rolling
resistance, which ultimately translates into an economy in fuel.

 The injection-moulded polyurethane spokes are flexible; this allows

them to effectively absorb impacts by "shortening" (i.e., bending) when hitting
a bump.

 Lateral stiffness improves cornering; the only way to get that

with a traditional tyre is to increase tyre pressure. Unfortunately, when you
increase tyre pressure, you ruin another important characteristic, namely,
ride comfort.

 The Tweel can be engineered to give five times the lateral stiffness as a
pneumatic tyre without any loss in ride comfort.

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 BENEFITS
 Potential benefits of the Tweel include the obvious safety
and convenience of never having flats.

 Also, the concept has the potential for true performance

gains.

 Because the tread around the circumference would be

disposed of when worn as opposed to a whole tyre, the
environmental impact should be less.

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 DRAWBACKS
 The Tweel can also withstand a police spike strip, making it
hard for law enforcement to catch a suspect with a Tweel.

 The Tweel does have several flaws, however, the worst

being vibration. Above 50 mph, the Tweel vibrates
considerably. That in itself is a big problem.

 It also causes two other things: noise and heat. A fast

moving Tweel is unpleasantly loud .Also, long-distance
driving at high speeds generates more heat than engineers
would like, which might lead to premature failure.

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 REFERENCES
 www.wikipedia.org
 www.gizmag.com
 www.howstuffworks.com
 www.autoblog.com

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