Understanding how tire tires support tons

In your opinion, what technology is used to make aircraft the safest means of transport in the world? A lot, that's right! And everywhere … try to imagine even more the technology that is delivered here in the cabin of an Airbus A320? Or in this giant turbine with carbon propellers – the most modern engine in civil aircraft? But what about here on the tires ?! Even those who are used to flying (and even working in aviation), sometimes despise, forget or pay little attention to the airplane tires, after all … these are just tires, is not it? False!

Despite the lack of glamor, aeronautical tires are a key element to ensure the safety of pbadengers and the integrity of the aircraft. It is these pieces of rubber that hold the tens of tons of a plane, absorb much of the huge impact at the time of landing, run over 300 miles per hour on takeoff and support always extreme temperature variations. If during the flight the tire can reach less than 60 degrees centigrade, friction with track increases heats the rubber above 80 degrees.

In common with the car tire, only the name and format. The aircraft tires are made of natural rubber, extracted from the rubber tree, which guarantees resistance to high temperatures. In cars, most tires are synthetic rubber. Inside, the tire structure of the aircraft is composed of several layers of canvas. When landing, the carbon brake of an Airbus A320 like this can reach 900 degrees centigrade. A powerful fan designed inside the wheel works at a very high speed to dissipate this heat. The tires are monitored by sensors in real time and always have a particular safety device installed on the wheel; the thermal fuse which comes into action if the temperature of the rubber exceeds 150 degrees.

There are more than 500 different tire sizes for aircraft. With so many quirks, none of them is cheap. The main tire of a landing gear can exceed $ 5,000 the unit; more than 17 thousand reais! Behind the fuel alone, tires represent the second highest operating cost of a plane.

Another major difference from airplane tires is that they are manufactured to be retreaded. Again, forget the comparison with car tires. The carcbad of an air tire has its own structure for several retreads. The advantage is that a refurbished tire costs about 35% of the value of a new tire. Today, around 80% of the tires on the world are retreaded and this can not mean less safety.

For obvious safety concerns, thorough inspections are performed daily on the aircraft tires.

As these air giants evolve to be even safer, carry more and more cargoes and reach even higher speeds, the aerospace tire industry follows the same pace to develop lighter and more resilient tires. The type of equation that is only solved with a lot of technology