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Re: [Phys-l] Another tire question



At 04:49 PM 11/7/2007, you wrote:
....I am
now inclined to say that the wheel/rim/bead unit hangs from the upper
sidewall.

Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.


Perhaps a not too unrealistic counter-example will moderate this
idea of "hanging on an upper sidewall/bead."

Let us take a tire and leaving the two beads circumferentially intact,
let us excise the upper half of the tire, and regain the airtight
interior by installing two partitions which have the form of a tire's
cross section and which seal across the wheel/rim.
Let us place this creation on the lower half of the wheel mounted
in its usual orientation.
Let us inflate this creation, and place a weight bearing down on the
wheel from the wheel's center.
The partitions are placed in a horizontal diameter across the wheel.
The tire compresses as before in the ground foot print.
The partitions naturally tend to bulge out with the internal pressure
they are withstanding.
But look: there is NO upper sidewall off which the wheel may hang.
The ground reaction is now transmitted to the wheel largely by
the lower bead and sidewall.......



Brian Whatcott Altus OK Eureka!