Assessment of Airfield Runway Macrotexture and Friction Using Three-Dimensional Laser-Based Measurements

This paper presents three-dimensional (3D) texture measurement and friction assessment for a concrete runway of a major commercial service airport in Canada. The relationship between runway macrotexture and friction is also explored in this paper. This study focuses on the sections of a Portland cement concrete runway. The recovered 3D texture height map is decomposed by using discrete wavelet transform to classify macrotexture and microtexture at various scales. A set of 3D indices are calculated for macrotexture. A statistical analysis confirmed that the relationship between 3D mean texture depth and 3D root mean square deviation is significant. The latter indicator is thus recommended to represent pavement surface texture amplitude. The combination of 3D root mean square deviation and skewness can be used to predict runway friction. The model reflects the combined contributions of texture amplitude and texture distribution to pavement friction. As would be expected, the analysis shows that aged concrete pavement surfaces are represented by negative skewness due to traffic wear. Following a treatment involving texture improvement, the measured texture shows positive skewness. 3D texture measurements are a viable low-cost alternative for measuring and monitoring surface friction. These findings are useful for airport authorities to manage runway pavement asset in a more economical and efficient manner.

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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AV070 Standing Committee on Aircraft/Airport Compatibility.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Liu, Qingfan
  • Tighe, Susan L
  • Shalaby, Ahmed
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 96th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2017-1-8 to 2017-1-12
• Date: 2017

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 12p
• Monograph Title: TRB 96th Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airport runways; Evaluation and assessment; Friction; Lasers; Macrotexture; Portland cement concrete; Statistical analysis
• Geographic Terms: Canada
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Maintenance and Preservation; Pavements; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01622470
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 17-01393
• Files: PRP, TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Jan 17 2017 9:35AM