The Basics of Aircraft Tires
It’s easy to take aircraft tires for granted. They look so simple that it’s easy to forget how even minor flaws can lead to disastrous results. But, a lot of critical design factors go into manufacturing aircraft tires such that they are able to go faster than a racecar while simultaneously supporting more weight than the largest land moving machines.
The design process is intense. Tire manufacturers only start the design process after aircraft manufacturers send the necessary dimensions; manufacturers also have to follow all regulatory requirements, including ones from foreign bodies. Manufacturing only begins after the prototypes pass all mandatory tests and meet all requirements from the aircraft manufacturer and airworthiness authorities.
Types of Aircraft Tires
There are two types of aircraft tires, bias-ply tires and radial tires.
- Bias-ply tires are popular choices for aircraft tires because they’re durable and retreadable as a result of several different components made up of various layers of strong protective material.
- Radial tires have rigid belts that provide increased landing and reduced rolling resistances. They also have fewer components and are lighter than their bias-ply counterparts.
In order to ensure safety and increase tire life, it’s important to carry out regularly scheduled inspections. The treads should be visually checked for wear, cuts, and other foreign damage. Things like overinflation, underinflation, sidewall damage, bulges, flat spots, fraying, groove cracking, and indentations are all signs that the tires need to be repaired or replaced. One of the most critical things to inspect is the tire’s inflation.
Overinflation can cause uneven tread wear, reduced traction, cutting, and increased stress on the wheel assemblies. And underinflation can be even worse by causing flex heating which can lead to damage to the rubber compounds, tread and carcass separations, and bead failure.
Other things to note about aircraft tires are temperature changes, contaminants, and operational considerations. There are many ways in which aircraft tires can be damaged. Simply making sure that you regularly inspect and maintain your tires and follow the recommended operational procedures should be more than enough to avoid disasters and extend the life of your tires.
At Accelerating RFQs, owned and operated by ASAP Semiconductor, we want to be your first choice in supplier for all your aviation and aircraft part requirements, from the new to the obsolete and hard-to-find. Visit us or call us at +1-780-851-3631 to get started on a quote.
