Solid Tyres from Sri Lanka

As the global hub for solid tyre manufacturing, Sri Lanka caters to nearly 25% of the global demand for solid and industrial tyres with almost all leading brands in the solid tyre industry in the world claiming a stake in the local production landscape. Although an older version of the rubber tyre, that predates pneumatic tyres, the solid tyre still plays an important role in agriculture, industrial and logistic sectors as they are used in a unique variety of industrial applications owing to their special features. Extremely stable, economical, puncture-resistant, and maintenance-free solid tyres have a high load-bearing capacity in extreme service condition. Best suitable for forklift trucks, airport vehicles, heavy-duty transport vehicles, platform trucks, and other industrial vehicles, solid tyres are broadly classified into three main categories;

Resilient Tyre

A solid rubber block of a tyre with two or three-layer construction. A two-layer resilient tyre is built from an inner heel layer composed of a hard rubber compound and an outer tread layer made of an abrasion-resistant rubber compound for long tyre life. The three-layer resilient tyre features a third middle layer of special, soft rubber compound added to maximize shock absorption qualities of the tire, which replicates the cushioning effect of pneumatic tyres and helps to reduce internal tyre temperature.

Press-on Tyres

Typically made from a single rubber compound bonded to a steel band which is pressed as an interference fit onto a wheel. Press-On tyres are popular due to their ability to handle a higher load with greater stability compared to a similar-sized resilient or pneumatic tyre. Widely used in airport ground support equipment such as passenger boarding bridges the tyres provide high load and high strain bearing capability to the equipment and vehicles involved.

Cured-on Tyres

Moulded or vulcanized directly to the wheel casing, forming an integral unit which is attached to the axle, cured-on tyres are used for the free-rolling wheels and normally do not have a tread pattern.

Moreover, Sri Lankan solid tyre manufacturers also produce more technically specified tyres such as non-marking tyres and specially engineered aperture tyres. Available in white, grey and green colours the non-marking tyres do not make marks on the grounds and are suitable for hygienic indoor application such as pharmaceutical, food, paper, textile manufacturing facilities. Providing the same riding comfort like that of a pneumatic tyre, specially engineered aperture tyres offer the cushioning effect with zero down time. The aperture tyres are less in material consumption compared to conventional solid tyres and its lightweight influences the performance of the vehicle positively.