The air-filled or pneumatic tire is composed of a core filled with airtight sealed pressurized air. Normally, a tread made with reinforced steel belting or other materials, seals this inner core and provides the contact area with the road.
The tire will remain inflated with all the vehicle's weight resting on it, as the air pressure within the tire is more than atmospheric air pressure. The air pressure within the tire provides resistance against forces that try to deform the tire. This gives the tire a slight degree of a cushioning effect when the tire hits bumps in the road. If you have ever taken a ride in an old-fashioned carriage that had wooden wheels, you understand exactly how huge of a difference a set of pneumatic tires makes.
Surely, there are several drawbacks to pneumatic tires. For example in high-performance situations or highly dangerous applications, these tires can suffer a puncture and this will result in a complete failure. The consequence of a blowout at high speeds could lead to a dangerous car crash. Military planners must take into account tires getting blown out by shooting of guns or explosion shrapnel. A vehicle crew's worst nightmare is becoming trapped within a fire zone due to all of their tires becoming flat. Airless tires evidently don't suffer from these issues and therefore, may be more suitable in certain applications.
Pneumatic tires have one more issue involving variations in air pressure and tire performance. Lower tire pressure could create increased comfort and improved traction. This is due to the fact that tires flatten a little and more tread is touching the road. The pressure of the air inside of the tire works to maintain the "up and down" stiffness as well as maintain the lateral stiffness of the tire. Therefore, reduced air pressure allows the tires' sidewalls to flex. Unfortunately, this leads to poor handling. In an airless tire, the stiffness in those two dimensions is independent.
There are other problems with air pressure. Consumers are notoriously unreliable when it comes to maintaining proper air pressure. Tires which have improper air pressure could result in unsafe situations. It is essential to note that pneumatic tires are prone to temperature changes too, that can be responsible for changing the internal pressure of the tire. It is vital to take into consideration the kind of environments you would be requiring your machine to operate in so that you could frequently check the tires and keep the machine as safe as possible.