Damage Sensing ‘Smart Tire’ Developed
A team at Purdue University recently developed a new type of “smart” tire with the ability to sense damage when a tire goes flat or loses treads. This latest development in tire technology has the potential of greatly increasing highway safety.
Development as been led by Gary W. Krutz, the director of Purdue’s Electrohydraulic Center and a professor of agricultural and biological engineering. The concept behind their technology is to have the entire tire act as a sensor that transmits information back to onboard computers. This real time monitoring would allow for detection of damaged or defective tires before a potential failure occurs.
“I became interested in this after I had to replace all the tires on my daughter’s and son-in-law’s car after just 10,000 miles and suspected problems after seeing dozens of truck retreads along interstates,” said Krutz, who earned his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. “This motivated me to do some research and find a way to improve tire safety. Our prototypes were tested, and the results showed significant damage can be quickly detected.”
Krutz’s sensing system responds to significant changes in a rubber tire. The prototype system was designed by determining critical aspects of tire design and performance. Sensors can alert drivers of low air pressure or unbalanced air pressure between tires, though that’s nothing new.
What’s exciting is potential problems associated with damage not related to air pressure. Road hazards such as rocks, nails and other debris can cause cuts, imbalance, and other potential problems that drivers likely won’t notice until it’s too late. This new technology can sense those problems as well.
“Beyond the importance of safety, an added bonus to this sensor technology is that drivers can get their tires repaired before the condition has degraded to the point of where it needs to be replaced,” Krutz said. “This can save time and effort in repairing or changing the tire during a highway emergency.”
Even better is the fact that this technology can be utilized on all types of rubber tires. Everything from lawn mowers to airplanes and even other types of rubber products like bushings, seals and isolators.
“It also can be used on most polymers, such as airplane wing composites, boat hulls and sporting goods,” Krutz said. “We’ve tested this technology on more than 100 different products from shoes to accumulators.”
Tires are one of the more often overlooked safety items. Needed for pretty much everything that moves, stopping or manuvering an automobile with a blown tire can often be life threatening situation that’s best avoided. With any luck new vehicles and products will be able to utilize the technology within a few years, making our daily lives a bit safer.