The pneumatic tire or air-filled tire is composed of a core filled with airtight sealed pressurized air. Normally, a tread made with reinforced steel belting or other type of materials, seals this inner core and provides the contact area with the road.
As the pressure of the air inside the tire is more than atmospheric air pressure, the tire remains inflated even with the weight of the vehicle resting on it. The air pressure within the tire gives resistance against forces which try to deform the tire. This gives the tire a slight degree of a cushioning effect as the tire hits bumps in the road. If you have ever taken a ride in an old-fashioned carriage that had wooden wheels, you know exactly how huge of a difference a set of pneumatic tires makes.
Pneumatic tires also come with drawbacks. Highly dangerous applications or high-performance situations for example, these tires could suffer a puncture and this will lead to a total failure. The consequence of a blowout at high speeds could result in a dangerous car crash. Military planners must consider tires getting blown out by explosion shrapnel or gunfire. A vehicle crew's worst nightmare is becoming trapped in a fire zone because of all of their tires becoming flat. Airless tires evidently don't suffer from these kind of problems and therefore, can be more suitable in some applications.
The pneumatic tire might have problems as well with the variation in tire performance and air pressure. The lower pressure inside a tire could increase the traction and the comfort level. This is because of the fact that tires flatten a little and more tread is touching the road. The air pressure inside of the tire works to maintain the lateral stiffness of the tire as well as maintain the "up and down" stiffness. Hence, reduced air pressure allows the sidewalls of the tires to flex. This leads to poor handling unfortunately. In an airless tire, the stiffness in those two dimensions is independent.
There are other issues with air pressure. Customers are notoriously undependable when it comes to maintaining correct air pressure. Tires that have wrong air pressure could result in unsafe situations. It is really important to note that pneumatic tires are also susceptible to temperature changes, which could be responsible for changing the internal tire pressure. It is really essential to consider the type of settings you would be needing your machinery to function in so that you can regularly inspect the tires and keep the equipment as safe as possible.