German startup company BigRep might have put an end to punctures in tires with their 3D-printed tires. They have taken their new development to the streets in Berlin to show off their product. The bicycle tire prototype was developed to “demonstrate the ease and speed at which flexible spare parts can be 3D printed.”
It also promotes the company’s thermoplastic polyurethane Pro FLEX filament. The company’s ONE 3D printer was used to create the filament. The printer has a one cubic meter build volume and does not require any post-processing or gluing.
“We have expanded our technical portfolio with a high-impact, high-temperature-resistant material in Pro FLEX, which has higher interlayer-bonding than we have ever seen before, and robust chemical resistance for a range of technical applications,” said company CEO Stephan Beyer. “There is a clear use case for flexible parts that can be customized and printed on a needs basis, across med-tech, aerospace, automotive and other industries.”
These 3D-printed tires not only show how convenient it is to manufacture parts using 3D printers, it also shows how better these parts perform as compared to their counterparts. BigRep prototype replaces the air inside the tire with complex support structures in the shape of a three-layered honeycomb.
The pattern and the density can be changed and customized for different biking activities. The 3D-printed tire is capable of withstanding all the demands of city cycling. You can check it out in the video below:
