VARYING CONTACT AUTOMOTIVE PNEUMATIC TIRE

Tire is a major factor that determines the performance and the fuel economy of a vehicle. The tire that is available in the market cannot offer both fuel economy and vehicle performance. Using tires of high width increases the torque that can be sent to the wheels and hence the performance of the vehicle increases, but at the same time it results in increased fuel consumption because the rolling resistance of the tire increases. On the contrary using tires of low width decreases the torque transmitted to the wheels, but the fuel consumption reduces. In order to achieve both performance and fuel economy in a vehicle, a concept of tire that can vary its width continuously according to the speed of the vehicle is proposed. This concept of varying contact tire uses the principle of centrifugal force that is acting on the central part of the tire during its rotation, due to which the width of the tire is varied. Thus it changes shape based on the needs of the car.