Abstract
The evaluation of friction is a key factor in monitoring and controlling runway surface characteristics. For this reason, specific airport management and maintenance are required to continuously monitor the performance characteristics needed to guarantee an adequate level of safety and functionality. In this regard, the authors conducted years of experimental surveys at airports including Lamezia Terme International Airport. The surveys aimed to monitor air traffic, features of geometric infrastructure, the typological and physical/mechanical characteristics of pavement layers, and runway maintenance planning. The main objective of this study was to calibrate specific models to examine the evolution of friction decay on runways in relation to traffic loads. The reliability of the models was demonstrated in the light of the significance of the friction measurement patterns by learning algorithms and considering the traffic data by varying the geometric and performance characteristics of the aircraft. The calibrated models can be implemented into pavement management systems to predict runway friction degradation, based on aircraft loads during the lifetime of the surface layers of the pavement. It is thus possible to schedule the maintenance activities necessary to ensure the safety of landing and takeoff maneuvers.
Highlights
As a result of the fast growth of the civil aviation industry over the last decades, there have been numerous accidents involving aircraft overruns or deviations from wet or contaminated runways during takeoff and landing
The aim of this study was to carry out a theoretical–experimental analysis of the evolution of friction decay on runways, focusing on developing procedures for the preliminary analysis of the raw data collected and on the construction of models to reliably represent the evolution of the surface friction characteristics on the basis of traffic loads
Airport pavement management systems (APMSs) can only benefit from data if the findings are studied in such a way that they provide a reliable image of how decay develops
Summary
As a result of the fast growth of the civil aviation industry over the last decades, there have been numerous accidents involving aircraft overruns or deviations from wet or contaminated runways during takeoff and landing. Aircraft operational performance at landing or takeoff is highly dependent on runway surface conditions. Methods and means must be implemented to characterize runway surface conditions and give pilots the relevant information on how well the surface will perform. A plane may find itself off the runway because it has landed at too high a speed or has touched down too late. It is possible to lose wheel alignment during takeoff and landing. Planes can lose control as they brake when landing. Runway conditions are a dominant factor in overrun accidents/incidents as the plane comes into land or when taking off
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