The pneumatic tire or air-filled tire consists of a core filled with airtight sealed pressurized air. Usually, a reinforced steel belted tread or other materials, provides the contact part with the road and seals this inner core.
The tire will remain inflated with all the vehicle's weight resting on it, as the pressure of the air in the tire is more than atmospheric air pressure. 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 that had wooden wheels, you understand precisely how huge of a difference a set of pneumatic tires could make.
Surely, there are some drawbacks to pneumatic tires. Like for instance in high-performance situations or highly dangerous applications, these tires could suffer a puncture and this would result in a total failure. The consequence of a blowout at high speeds could result in a serious car accident. Military planners need to consider tires getting blown out by firing of guns or explosion shrapnel. A vehicle crew's worst nightmare is becoming trapped within a fire zone due to all of their tires becoming flat. Airless tires obviously don't suffer from these kind of issues and therefore, may be more suitable in certain applications.
Pneumatic tires have another problem involving variations in tire performance and air pressure. Lower tire pressure can create increased comfort and improved traction. This is due to the fact that tires flatten slightly and more tread is placed in contact with the road. The pressure of the air in the tire works to maintain the lateral stiffness of the tire as well as maintain the "up and down" stiffness. Thus, less air pressure enables the sidewalls of the tires to flex. Unfortunately, this results in poor handling. Within an airless tire, the stiffness in those two dimensions is independent.
Air pressure factors into other issues also. With regards to to maintaining proper air pressure, customers are notoriously unreliable. Improper air pressure inside tires could result in really unsafe situations. It is very essential to note that pneumatic tires are also susceptible to temperature changes, that could be responsible for changing the internal tire pressure. It is important to take into account the kind of settings you would be needing your machine to function in so that you can inspect the tires on a regular basis and keep the machinery as safe as possible.