What material are airplane tires made of??

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Do you know what material the rims or tires of cars are made of? planes? In this installment I tell you about their particular characteristics that make them so resistant..

exposed to large speeds, impacts and extreme operating conditions, Aircraft tires are key parts in the air safety and in an episode of Let's Talk About Aviation they asked me this question.

Before a clarification, tire is commonly called tread rubber (change from country to country), but really that part is the tire, but it is a less used expression. The rim is the metal part that the tire protects, but for reasons of practicality we will call it tire as it is the most used common expression.

visually, very similar to the one you use every day in your car, but with a big difference, they are much more resistant for everything they must resist day by day.

Just imagine how strong they are, supporting hundreds of tons of weight at more than 250 kilometers per hour at the time of hitting the track (varies from plane to plane) and rarely presenting failures, all this thanks to the engineering with which they have been designed and their materials.

What are airplane tires made of??

just like cars, its main material is rubber, but this is driver. Conductive rubber is an elastic material that is specifically designed to conduct electricity that is generated by friction during the different stages of flight..

The portal aviationpros.com goes further and offers us detailed information on each of the layers of the tires:

• tread: The tread is made of rubber mixed with other additives to obtain the desired level of durability and wear resistance..
• side wall: the sidewall is a protective layer of rubber that covers the outer shell layer. Extends from the edge of the tread to the heel area.
• tread reinforcement layer: one or more layers of fabric that strengthen and stabilize the tread area for high-speed operation. It also serves as a reference for the buffing process when tires are retreaded..
• Buff Line Cushion: The Buff Line cushion is made from a rubber compound to improve adhesion between the tread reinforcement layer and the breakers or carcass plies.
• breakers: Breakers are rubber-coated fabric reinforcement layers placed under the slick line cushion to protect the carcass plies and strengthen and stabilize the tread area.
• carcass layers: alternating layers of rubberized fabric (that extend at opposite angles to each other) provide tire strength.
• wire beads: High tensile strength steel wire hoops anchor the carcass plies and provide a secure mounting surface on the wheel.
• Apex Strip: a rubber wedge fixed to the top.
• fins: Rubber fabric plies help anchor the bead wires to the carcass and improve tire durability.
• folds: Lining pleats are anchored by wrapping around wire strands.
• Chafer: A protective layer of rubber and/or fabric located between the carcass and wheel plies.
• Coating: on tubeless tires, the liner is a layer of low-permeability rubber that acts as a built-in tube and prevents gas from moving to other layers.

what are they inflated with?

One of the best questions and the main difference from ordinary tires. On airplanes, their tires are inflated with nitrogen.

What pressure are they inflated to??

Varying from the aircraft model, are normally inflated to an average of 200 psi (Pound per square inch) which is equivalent to about six times what is used to inflate car tires.

What size are the tires?

It depends a lot on each plane, but as a reference a Boeing 737 It has tires of 68 centimeters in diameter and 19 centimeters wide on a rim 15.

Why does smoke come out of the tires on landing?

The moment of "impact" of the tire against the asphalt of the track, you are skating, not turning. At that moment the plane practically drags the tires along the runway until they match their rotational speed with the speed of the aircraft., That is why the smoke that we like to see so much on landings is generated..

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