Performance of tire-asphalt pavement adherence according to rubber removal on runways

ABSTRACT

Adherence between tire and pavement surface is essential to safe landing and take-off operations. The accumulation of rubber, originated from aircraft tires, impairs adherence by filling the macrotexture and decreasing the friction coefficient of the surface. Thus, it is necessary to carry out rubber removal procedures on the surface to re-establish adherence conditions. This paper features three Brazilian airports that had their runways analysed, which constitute three different pavement surfaces: asphalt concrete, asphalt concrete with grooving, and porous friction course (PFC). The macrotexture depth and the friction coefficient were analysed between 2014 and 2018, observing these parameters after rubber removal procedures. The analysis was performed in the zones of the runway where the rubber removal process is carried out and was achieved using Hypothesis Testing. It was found that the rubber removal procedure is effective in maintaining the runways, as it ensures that the values of macrotexture depth and friction coefficient remain above the values required by current regulations. However, its performance has not provided an increase of more than 50% in the measurements studied. Consequently, rubber removal should not be considered as the only factor interfering in friction coefficient and macrotexture on runways.

KEYWORDS:

• Surface
• macrotexture
• friction coefficient
• runway
• safety

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was financed in part by Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement – Brazil (CAPES): [Finance Code 001].