Overseas Returnee Invents Non-air Tire

A few days ago, CCTV interviewed an entrepreneur of a high-tech company, who adopted new structure and advanced material and invented a negative poisson’s ratio non-air tire.

Sixty-three-year-old Dr. Ma Zhengdong is the inventor of the new negative poisson’s ratio tire.

Dr. Ma participated in an investment briefing held by the administrative committee of Ningbo Free Trade Zone in Detroit, U.S., and his enthusiasm was ignited.

Finally, the researcher of University of Michigan decided to go back home with the negative poisson’s ratio non-air tire technology invented by him.

In 2013, Tianqu Non-air Tire Technology Co., Ltd. was established in Ningbo Free Trade Zone. The company engages in research, development and production of non-air tires. Ma was the board chairman.

To extend the maximum milage an auto tire can run, Ma led the R&D team and made efforts to adjust techniques and technologies, trying to optimize the stress structure of non-air tire.

By adding wear resistant elements in advanced composite materials to enhance wearability, the bottleneck was quickly broken through. The weight of the new non-air tire samples was much lighter.

The negative poisson’s ratio micro-structure material developed by his team offered a new way of thinking in reducing the weight of automobile. The Interlocked inner supports of a tire are capable of absorbing the power surge, thus meet their demand which cannot be satisfied by a single material.

In 2014, the negative poisson’s ratio non-air tire project became one of the key sci-tech projects of BAIC Motor Corp., Ltd.

BAIC cooperated with Tianqu and made special investment to support the R&D and trial produce of non-air tires. Soon, the non-air tires were carried by BAIC’s new concept SUV BJ100 and mass produced SUV BJ40.

Currently, Dr. Ma and his R&D team are busier, they will roll out non-air tire products in the U.S. market.

They cooperated with Guizhou Tyre Co., Ltd. in an industrial forklift non-air tire development project which valued at 500,000 U.S. dollars.

Tianqu will launch mature industrial forklift non-air tire products in the forklift market to substitute the solid rubber tire products.

Tianqu has also developed bicycle non-air tire and cooperated with FAW in developing the crush beam and carbon fiber hair cap projects.

The bicycle non-air tire project is expected complete first round of sample trial production in March 2017.