   July 15, 2009 > TechKnow Talk: Where the rubber meets the
road  TechKnow Talk: Where the rubber meets the road  Most of us
think of our tires only when we find ourselves on snow or ice,
when making an emergency maneuver, or when a tire suddenly
deflates. Most of the time, these underappreciated workhorses
roll along, the critical interface between the driver and the
road, providing the traction necessary to keep us in control of
our vehicle and cushioning the ride. Tire failures on passenger
cars have become rare due to improved materials, designs, and
manufacturing methods.  Pneumatic tires, those pressurized with
air, have been around even longer than the automobile. They have
been used on bicycles since the 1880s. The explosive growth of
the automobile industry, beginning in the early 20th century,
triggered an accompanying expansion of the market for pneumatic
tires. About 300 million tires were produced in the U.S. in
2008, in excess of one billion worldwide. More than half of
these were for passenger