A tyre or tire (see spelling differences) is a device covering the circumference of a wheel. It is an essential part of most ground vehicles and is used to dampen the oscillations caused by irregularities in the road surface, to protect the wheel from wear and tear as well as to provide a high-friction bond between the car and the road to improve acceleration and handling. Today most tires, especially those fitted to motor vehicles, are manufactured from synthetic rubber, however other materials such as steel may be used.
Tire types
Wagon tires
The earliest tires were hoops of metal placed around wagon wheels. The tire was heated in a forge, placed on the wheel and quenched, causing the metal to shrink, which drew the rim against the spokes and provided stiffness to the wheel. This work was done by a wheelwright, a craftsman who specialized in making wagon wheels.
Pneumatic tires
Air-filled tires are known as pneumatic tires, and these are the type in almost universal use today. Pneumatic tires are made of a flexible elastomer material such as rubber with reinforcing threads/wires inside the elastomer material. The air compresses as the wheel goes over a bump and acts as a shock absorber. Tires are inflated through a valve, typically a Schrader valve on automobiles and most bicycle tires, or a Presta valve on high performance bicycles. Attempts have been made to make various types of solid tire but none has so far met with much success. The air in conventional pneumatic tires acts as a near constant rate spring because the decrease in the tire's volume as the tire compresses over a bump is minimal. "Airless" tires usually employ a type of foam or sponge like construction which consists of a large number of small air filled cells. As a result compression is localised within the tire and the effective spring rate rises sharply as the tire compresses. The result is a tire which is less forgiving, particularly with regards to sharp transient bumps and provides poor ride and handling characteristics. The "steering feel" of such tires is also different from that of pneumatic tires, as their solidity does not allow the amount of torsion that exists in the carcass of a pneumatic tire under steering forces, and the resultant sensory feedback through the steering apparatus; as a result they feel as if they are pivoting on bearings at the contact point. They are more popular for bicycles than for automobiles, which have tires which are much more robust and immune to puncture.
The common motor vehicle tire is mounted around a steel or aluminum alloy wheel at service stations or repair shops for vehicles using a special tire mounting apparatus while the wheel is off the vehicle. After mounting, the tire is inflated (pressurized) with air through the valve stem to manufacturer's specified pressure, which is more than atmospheric pressure. The wheel and tire assembly are then attached to the vehicle through a number of holes in the wheel using lug nuts. Because tires are often not made with perfectly even mass all around the tire, a special tire-balancing apparatus at a repair shop spins the wheel with the tire to determine where small weights should be attached to the outer edge of the rim to balance out the wheel. Such tire balancing with these kind of weights avoids vibration when the vehicle is driven at higher speeds.
With the introduction of radial tires, however, it was found that some vibrations could not be cured by adding balance weights. This was because the structure and manufacture of a radial tire lends itself to the problems of variation in stiffnes around the tire. These variations are measured as Radial Force Variation and Lateral Force Variation, which are measured on a Force Variation Machine at the end of the manufacturing process. Tires outside the specified limits for RFV and LFV are rejected. This is known in general throughout the industry as Tire Uniformity.
Automobile tires
Automobile tires have numerous rating systems. New automotive tires now also have ratings for traction, treadwear, and temperature resistance (collectively known as UTQG ratings); as well as speed and load ratings.
Some tread designs are unidirectional and the tire has a rotation direction indicated by an arrow showing which way the tire should rotate when the vehicle is moving forwards. It is important not to put a 'clockwise' tire on the left hand side of the car or a 'counter-clockwise' tire on the right side. Tire rotation moves tires between the different wheels of the vehicle as front and back axles carry different loads and thus the tires wear differently.
Tire tread gauges are small rulers designed to be inserted into tire treads to measure the remaining tread depth. Local legislation may specify minimum tread depths, typically between 1/8" (3.2 mm) and 1/32" (0.8 mm). Wearbars may be designed into the tire tread to indicate when it is time to replace the tire. Essentially, part of the tire tread is shallower than the rest and will show when the tire is worn down to that level.
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