To assess the skid-resistance in wet conditions of a range of airfield surfacings a series of tests was carried out on the runway at the college of aeronautics, Cranfield. Locked wheel and peak braking force coefficients were measured for three concrete and three asphalt surfaces using the heavy load test vehicle fitted with an aircraft tire. Two of the concrete and one of the asphalt surfaces had been grooved, another asphalt surface had been surface dressed to improve their skidding resistance. It was found that:(1) the treatments given to both the concrete and the asphalt surfaces were beneficial in improving skidding resistance. (2) the peak coefficients were substantially greater than the locked wheel coefficients. (3) generally, increasing the inflation pressure of the test tire from 276 to 1100 km/m squared (40 to 160 lb/in) reduced the peak coefficients. It reduced the locked wheel coefficients on the surface dressing and scored concrete sections. And (4) the greatest tire damage was produced by the surface dressed asphalt and scored concrete surfaces when testing in the locked wheel condition and using an inflation pressure of 1100 km/m squared (160 lb/in squared).
Abstract