Goodyear - NPT
Catalyst PDG
Problem
Goodyear came to Catalyst Product Development Group with a concept for a non-pneumatic (airless) tire. The goal was to simulate a normal tire in terms of compression but create a tire that could never puncture.
Solution
Our Catalyst team created a multi-layer, injection molded tire interior for the NPT that was implemented on commercial lawn mowers.
Role:
Product Design Engineer - responsible for inner layer development
Timeline:
9 months
Brainstorming
(one of many)
In-House Tooling
Layer Design
Each layer had its own specific requirements and required multiple iterations of design and FEA before molding
Exploded Assembly
Once we came to a direction on the layer concept, we had many different layer types to better simulate the function of a pneumatic tire.
Initial Assembly of Tooled Parts
Skills Demonstrated
FEA analysis
Material research and evaluation
Mechanical truss design
CAD (SolidWorks)