Assessing the impact of the slopes on runway drainage capacity based on wheel/path surface adhesion conditions

Abstract

Aircraft braking distance is dependent on the friction between the main gear tires and runway pavement surface.Pavement texture, which is divided into macrotexture and micro-texture, has a noticeable effect upon friction, especially when the surface is wet. A risk analysis framework is developed to study the effects of longitudinal and transverse slopes on the aircraft braking distance in wet runway conditions and their influences on the probability of landing overrun accidents.This framework is operating under various water-film thicknesses, Maximum Landing Weights (MLW), and touchdown speed probability distributions for an acceptable range of longitudinal/transverse slopes and pavement texture depths.A simulator code is developed that initially computes the existing water-film thickness, as the result of intense precipitation,under aircraft main gear (depend on aircraft category) and then applies this variable as one of the main inputs to the aircraft braking distance computation. According to the obtained results, longitudinal gradient does not have a significant effect on the existing water depth on the surface although it affects the flow path length. Furthermore, 1% to 1.5% transverse slope causes rapid drainage of water from the runway surface and considerably decreases the probability of runway excursion accidents.

Keywords

• longitudinal and transverse slopes
• pavement texture depth
• drainage capacity
• water-film thickness
• aircraft braking distance
• airport risk analysis