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Old 23rd May 2002 | 14:58
  #25 (permalink)  
Trislander
 
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 409
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From: Costa Del Solent
Arrow Idiot's guide

To get a simpler view on this tyre (tire, US) explosion business, I find its much easier to work with numbers as well, rather than word equations alone.

Example:
Tyre pressure gauge (gage, US) indicates tyre is inflated to 600 lbs/square inch.

Outside (or ambient) air pressure gauge indicates 15 lbs/square inch on the ground.

Outside air pressure gauge at a typical airliner cruising altitude indicates 2 lbs/square inch.

Actual tyre pressure=Indicated tyre pressure - outside air pressure

Tyre pressure on ground=600 - 15
which equals 585 lbs/square inch.

Tyre pressure at altitiude=600 - 2
which equals 598 lbs/square inch.

So the total difference between the pressure on the ground and at altitude equals 13 lbs/square inch (15 - 2).

The tyre is only therefore increased in pressure by 13 lbs/square inch, which is not a lot, so the tyre is not under enough strain to burst or explode.

I hope that has helped!

Cheers, Tri
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