The pneumatic tire or air-filled tire consists of a core filled with airtight sealed pressurized air. Typically, a tread made with reinforced steel belting or other materials, seals this inner core and provides the contact part with the road.
Because the air pressure within the tire is greater than atmospheric air pressure, the tire remains inflated even with a vehicles' weight resting on it. The pressure of the air inside the tire provides resistance against forces that attempt to deform the tire. When the tire hits bumps in the road, this gives the tire a slight degree of a cushioning effect. If you have experienced taking a ride in an old-fashioned carriage which had wooden wheels, you know how huge of a difference a set of pneumatic tires can make.
Pneumatic tires also come with disadvantages. High-performance situations or highly dangerous applications for instance, these tires can suffer a puncture and this will lead to a total failure. The consequence of a blowout at high speeds can lead to a dangerous car accident. Military planners need to take into account tires getting blown out by explosion shrapnel or firing of guns. A vehicle crew's worst nightmare is becoming trapped within a fire zone due to all of their tires becoming flat. Airless tires evidently don't suffer from these type of problems and therefore, in certain applications, could be more suitable.
Pneumatic tires have one more problem involving variations in tire performance and air pressure. Lower tire pressure could create increased comfort and improved traction. This is because of the fact that tires flatten a little and more tread is placed in contact with the road. The pressure of the air in the tire works to maintain the "up and down" stiffness as well as maintain the lateral stiffness of the tire. Therefore, less air pressure enables the sidewalls of the tires to flex. Unfortunately, this leads to poor handling. In an airless tire, the stiffness in those two dimensions is independent.
Air pressure factors into other issues also. When it comes to maintaining correct air pressure, customers are notoriously unreliable. Incorrect air pressure inside tires can lead to really unsafe situations. It is really vital to note that pneumatic tires are susceptible to temperature changes also, which can be responsible for changing the internal tire pressure. It is important to take into consideration the type of environments you would be requiring your machinery to function in so that you can frequently inspect the tires and keep the machine as safe as possible.