The Engineering Behind the Small But Mighty Airplane Tires
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Airplane tires are a crucial part of ensuring that an airplane's take-offs and landings are always safe and secure. However, they seem quite small compared to the weight of the airplane that they carry.
This brings us to the following question: what are these impressive tires made of and how can they succeed in carrying so much weight? A lot of science and engineering goes into making airplane tires beginning with reinforcing them with aramid.
Aramid is an incredibly strong synthetic fiber known for its heat-resistant properties. For comparison, aramid has a melting point of 932°F (500°C) whereas average rubber begins melting at around 500°F (260°C). Finally, aramid is also resistant to abrasion, which means the tires can last on a plane for nearly 500 flights, which is useful as changing them is quite a hassle.
But that's not all the science behind airplane tires. There are many more things that engineers do to ensure plane tires achieve their tasks to perfection carrying unbelievable loads and never exploding or eroding. In this video, we explore all the technology behind plane tires and explain exactly what makes these small tires so powerful and mighty.