Design, static structural analysis and experimental prototyping of a combined non-pneumatic tire utilizing additive manufacturing

Abstract

Non-pneumatic tires (NPTs) eliminate the need for internal air pressure and avoid common issues such as puncture or pressure loss. In this work, a hybrid NPT that combines cellular and spoke supports was designed and evaluated. A three-dimensional model of the proposed tire was developed and analyzed by using finite element methods under different static loading cases. The deformation behavior is mainly associated with elastic bending of the internal supported members, while the outer ring effectively redistributes applied loads and reduces localized stress concentrations. A scaled prototype of the proposed tire was produced by using fused deposition modelling. The prototype was printed with a flexible thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) filament and subsequently tested under vertical static load. Experimental deformation measurements were obtained by using an image-based technique. The results showed good agreement with the finite element analysis and exhibited an approximately linear relationship of load deformation within the investigated range. The maximum absolute error between the deflections of experiments and simulation was about 0.304 mm. The numerical and experimental results showed reasonable agreement in the global trend of vertical deformation within the investigated low-load static range. The derived stiffness values are based on the same load–deformation measurements and are not considered as an independent validation quantity.