ADHIYAMAAN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,HOSUR

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DESIGN OF SELF INFLATION OF TIRES

SUBMITTED BY

HARIHARASUDHAN.M

HARISUDHAN34@GMAIL.COM

(9600850864)
ARUL PRAKASH.C

ARUL90@GMAIL.COM

(9944526297)
PREFINAL YEAR
 Abstract
Properly inflated tires are required for good performance of the vehicle. Self inflation is
a growing field in military vehicles, but it is not popular among the commercial vehicles.

In this paper, we have designed a self inflation system for the commercial vehicle tires.
The inflation system is very compact such that it could be fitted with the wheel itself. The
system consists of an air compressor, air tank, pressure sensor and electronic indicators.

The pressure sensor constantly checks for the pressure drop in the tire and maintains the
required pressure. The compressor is so compact and it can be controlled manually by the user.

The increase in rolling resistance of the vehicle due to under inflation is calculated and
analyzed. We have implemented our own design of self inflation system and calculated the
compressor power.

Thus by this concept we can maintain perfect tire pressure and save fuel in commercial
vehicles, as the military vehicles does with self inflation system.

Need for self inflation

Most of the cars and other vehicles run with one or more tires underinflated. This is due
to the improper maintenance of the tire pressure. Most of the People forget to maintain constant
pressure in their tires. About 80% of the cars of the road are running with underinflated tires
(according to good year). (1) This under inflation causes a loss of 10% in fuel efficiency.

Also the underinflated tires get heated up quickly, this causes wear of the tires soon. One
of the major problems is air leakage in the vehicle tires. So a self inflation system is required in
the tires to rectify this problem.

By designing a self inflation system we can thus reduce the fuel loss, rolling resistance,
wear of tires, etc.
Various Inflated tires

Underinflated tires:

In the case of the underinflated tire the edge portion of the tires have more contact with
the road surface and thus they wear more quickly than the middle portion of the tires.

Overinflated tires:

In the case of the over inflated tires the tire bulges sidewise and middle portion of the tire
wear up quickly than the edges of the tire.

Only properly inflated tires lie evenly on the surface of the road.
Reason for increase in fuel consumption

Contact patch
The contact patch plays a major role with the tire pressure. If the pressure of the tire
decreases the contact patch increases so more amount of energy is spent on moving the vehicle,
also the heat generated is high. This heat is transmitted into the tires and some are transmitted to
the road. This causes the wear of tires and loss of fuel.

Contact patch = weight of the vehicle / pressure in the tire

Weight of vehicle = contact patch pressure in the tire

So if the pressure decreases, the contact patch increase, thus the weight of the vehicle
also increases. Which in turn contribute to the increase in the force required to drive the vehicle.

Rolling resistance
Rolling resistance is the force required to move the vehicle. The rolling force of the
vehicle can be calculated by

F=Crr * Nf

Where

F = Rolling Resistance

Crr = Coefficient of rolling friction (CRF)

Nf = Normal force acting

When the contact patch increases, the normal force acting

on the vehicle increases, so the Rolling resistance increases. Due
to the increase in the rolling resistance, more energy is required
to drive the vehicle. This obviously increases fuel consumption
of the vehicle.

Thus the contact patch of the vehicle is more essential

factor in deciding the fuel consumption of the vehicle based on
the tire pressure.
Older self inflation system
Some of the self inflation systems are available for military vehicles and hummer. They
follow the CTIS (Central Tire Inflation System) and AIRGO systems (1). Though these systems
efficiently manage the inflation of tires, they are very costly and require more maintenance since
the wear of the mechanical parts is more.

In the recent year some companies have come up with the inflation systems of the
scooters and two wheelers but not affordable by all due to its high cost.

Working of self inflation system

The compressor and the air tank are fixed with the tire rim itself. A pressure sensor
constantly monitors the pressure drop in the tires. So whenever there is a pressure drop in the tire
the pressure sensor inflated the tires and brings it to the required psi.

The compressor is fixed to maintain a constant psi in the air tank. So whenever the psi
falls in the air tank, the pressure sensor indicates the user to turn on the inflation system.

When the inflation system is turned on, the rotary motion of the wheel is converted into
the reciprocating motion of the compressor piston by means of a cam arrangement. After the
required psi is reached in the air tank, the pressure sensor indicates the user to turn off the
system.

The pressure sensor also monitors the pressure drop in the tire and fills it to the required
psi and cuts off automatically.
Self inflation system
The Self inflation system design

Compression stroke:

Suction stroke:
Parts of the system
 Air compressor
Cam arrangement
Air tank
Pressure sensor
Pressure drop indicator

Air compressor
The air compressor is compact enough so that it could fit in the wheel assembly itself.
The compressor arrangement rotates as the wheel rotates. The reciprocating motion is enabled by
a spring setup. The compressor inlet and outlet is fitter with an air drier.

The piston shaft end is fitted with a rubber roller arrangement so that the production of
heat due to the friction and wear of the cam arrangement can be reduced.

Cam arrangement
The rotary motion is converted into reciprocating motion by the cam action on the piston.
The piston is fixed with a immovable shaft and ends up with a roller. The height of the cam is
the stroke length of the piston in the air compressor. The cam arrangement can be made of
rubber or any suitable material in order to reduce the friction loss and wear.

Air tank
The air tank is connected with the air compressor. The air tank made to hold a pressure of
particular psi. The air tank is made into a circular tube so as to fit the tire rim.

Pressure sensor
The pressure sensor detects for the drop in pressure in the tire, as well as in the air tank.
If the pressure drops in the tire, the pressure sensor inflates air from the tank to the tire. The
sensor can be made to indicate the user that the tire is being inflated.
 If the pressure drops in the air tank, the pressure sensor indicates the user to switch on
the inflation system to refill the air tank. And also indicates the users to turn off the system if the
air tank reaches the required psi. The operation of turning on/off of the compressor can also be
made automatic.

Model calculations
Let us consider a car of mass, m=1000 kg

The coefficient of rolling friction of normal car tire is Crr = 0.015

Let the correct pressure of the car tire be 28 psi

The normal force acting on the vehicle at a flat surface = 1000*9.8 = 9800N

28 psi = 28/14.7 bar

= 1.9047 bar

1.9047 bar = 1.9047*105 pa

Contact patch = weight of the vehicle / tire pressure

= 9800 / 1.9047*105

= 0.05145 m2

Rolling friction = Crr * Nf

= 0.015 * 9800

= 147.0 N

This 147.0 N is the actual Rolling resistance of the vehicle

Now if the pressure in the tire drops below 28 psi, the contact patch increases and the
calculations are as follows
 27.5 psi = 27.5/14.7 bar

= 1.8707 bar

1.8707 bar = 1.8707*105 pa

Contact patch = weight of the vehicle / tire pressure

= 9800 / 1.8707*105

= 0.05238 m2

If the normal force acting is 0.05144 m2 for 9800 N then the normal force acting for
0.05238 m2 will be

Nf = (9800 * 0.05238) / 0.05144

= 9977.1 N

Rolling friction = Crr * Nf

= 0.015 * 9977.1

= 149.6 N

Similarly the rolling resistance for the decrease of pressure in the tires is calculated.

The tabulation below, show the various rolling resistance for decrease in tire pressure of
the vehicle.

Now, it is clear the when the tire pressure drops the rolling resistance of the vehicle
increases. Because of the increase in the rolling resistance, more amount of work is necessary to
move the vehicle, so the vehicle consumes more amount of fuel than its normal condition.
S.no. Tire pressure Contact patch Normal force Increase in Rolling
acting mass resistance
(psi) (m2)
(N) (kg) (N)

1. 28 0.05145 9800.0 0 147.0

2. 27.5 0.05238 9977.1 18.0 149.6
3. 27 0.05335 10161.9 36.9 152.4
4. 26.5 0.05436 10354.2 56.5 155.3
5. 26 0.05540 10552.3 76.7 158.2
6. 25.5 0.05649 10760.0 97.9 161.4
7. 25 0.05762 10975.2 119.9 164.6

Design calculations
Air compressor:

Let the Diameter of the piston D = 4 cm

Let the stroke length be L = 3 cm

Inlet pressure = P1 = 1.03 bar

Outlet pressure = P2 = 2.5 bar

Let the polytropic index n = 1.3

Since the compressor is directly coupled with the tire, the rpm of the compressor varies with
time to time.

Volume flow rate = Va = A*L*N/60

Where

A = Area of the piston

L = Stroke length

N = RPM of the wheel

For 500 RPM

Va = (3.14 4210-4 310-2 500)/(460)

= 3.14*10-4 m3/s

Work done by the compressor = (n/n-1)P1Va( (P2/P1)n-1/n 1 )

= (1.3/0.3)101.33.1410-4( (250/101.3)0.3/1.3 -1 )

= 0.03245 kW

Accounting the frictional loss as 20% the required power for the compressor will be

Power required = 0.03245+20% = 0.03894

Similarly for different RPM the Power required for the compressor is calculated.

For four wheelers

The maximum wheel RPM for a diesel engine = 900 rpm

The maximum wheel RPM of a petrol engine = 2000 rpm

The tabulations shows the volume flow rate, required power and horse power consumed by
compressor at every RPM of the tire.

S.no. RPM Va Actual Power Required Horse power

power
(m3/s) (kW) (HP)
(kW)

1. 250 1.7510-4 0.01808 0.02169 0.02908

2. 500 3.1410-4 0.03245 0.03894 0.05181

3. 750 4.7110-4 0.04867 0.05840 0.07831

4. 1000 6.2810-4 0.06491 0.07789 0.10445

5. 1250 7.8510-4 0.08112 0.09734 0.13505

6. 1500 9.4210-4 0.09736 0.11683 0.15667

7. 1750 1.0910-3 0.11264 0.13516 0.18125

8. 2000 1.2510-3 0.12920 0.15504 0.20791

 From the graph and the tabulations, it is seen that the work done by the compressor
increases with the increase in the rpm.

The discharge of air also increases with the increase in the rpm level. So the air tank is
filled sooner in higher rpm.

The work consumed by the air compressor is comparatively low to the work output of the
vehicle. So much energy is not wasted in compressing air into the air tank. The size of the air
tank varies from one type of vehicle to another. And the configurations of the compressor can
also be changed according to the type of the vehicle.
Uses
Rolling resistance is reduced.

Fuel efficiency is increased.

Wear of the tire is reduced.

Long life of the tires.

Heat generated due to friction in tires is reduced.

Loss of tire pressure due to leakage is reduced.

Useful for long traveling vehicles.

Low affordable cost by all customers.

Fitted within the rim tire.

Tires can be inflated even at running condition.

Conclusion
This compact self inflation system can be used for any type of vehicles since it is easy to
fix it within the wheel assembly of the vehicle. This can be further modified so that it could even
be fitter with the heavy duty vehicle.

The wear of the system parts are minimized comparing to the older self inflations
systems. Also the purpose of maintaining constant pressure in the tire is established.

The air compressor is designed with a cam assembly which reciprocates the piston when
the wheels turn. So in general the compressor is made to rotate with the wheel itself.

The compressor maintains constant psi in the tires even if is some leakage of air in the
tire, so this system is very much useful for the customers.

REFERENCES:

(1) www.auto.howstuffworks.com