Tire pressure monitoring is set for a major expansion. Based on NHTSA's TREAD mandate, legislation finalized last year requires that all new light passenger vehicles weighing less than 4500 kilograms built or imported into the U.S. to be equipped with tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) by the 2008 model year. Rising gas prices are also spurring interest from commercial vehicle manufacturers and fleet operators wishing to maximize fuel efficiency. SmarTire Systems Inc. (Canada), is manufacturing a new low-cost system for tire pressure monitoring, that uses rugged, extremely lightweight sensors made with DuPont Zytel HTN (HTN54G15HSL) high performance polyamide and Zytel nylon 66 (71G13HS1L).
"We needed high strength, stiffness and toughness at elevated temperatures in order to meet the lowest possible weight design goals," said Kian Bahaie, senior mechanical engineer for SmarTire. Weight is an important consideration for parts mounted inside the tire as they must withstand centrifugal forces up to 3,000 times that of gravity. The in-tire sensor weighs just 30 grams.