The pneumatic tire or air-filled tire is composed of a core filled with airtight sealed pressurized air. Usually, a reinforced steel belted tread or other kind of materials, provides the contact part with the road and seals this inner core.
The tire would remain inflated with all the vehicle's weight resting on it, because the pressure of the air inside the tire is greater than atmospheric air pressure. The air pressure inside the tire gives resistance against forces which attempt to deform the tire. This gives the tire a slight degree of a cushioning effect when the tire hits bumps in the road. If you have ever taken a ride in an old-fashioned carriage that had wooden wheels, you know how big of a difference a set of pneumatic tires can make.
Pneumatic tires also come with drawbacks. Highly dangerous applications or high-performance situations for instance, these tires could suffer a puncture and this will lead to a total failure. The consequence of a blowout at high speeds can result in a dangerous car crash. Military planners should take into consideration tires getting blown out by explosion shrapnel or shooting of guns. A vehicle crew's worst nightmare is becoming trapped in a fire zone due to all of their tires becoming flat. Airless tires obviously don't suffer from these kind of issues and hence, in certain applications, may be more suitable.
Pneumatic tires have another problem involving variations in tire performance and air pressure. Lower tire pressure can create increased comfort and improved traction. This is because of the fact that tires flatten a little and more tread is touching the road. The pressure of the air inside of the tire works to maintain the "up and down" stiffness as well as maintain the lateral stiffness of the tire. Thus, less air pressure enables the sidewalls of the tires to flex. Unfortunately, this leads to poor handling. Within an airless tire, the stiffness in those two dimensions is independent.
There are other problems with air pressure. Customers are notoriously unreliable when it comes to maintaining proper air pressure. Tires that have improper air pressure can result in unsafe situations. It is really essential to note that pneumatic tires are prone to temperature changes too, which could be responsible for changing the internal tire pressure. It is vital to take into account the type of settings you will be needing your machine to function in so that you can inspect the tires on a regular basis and keep the equipment as safe as possible.