Effect of aircraft wheel load and configuration on runway damages

Abstract

According to the growing trend of aircraft industry, a variety of different aircrafts exist in the market which varies in types of use, geometric shape of the wheels and main gear configuration. In this paper, we used LEDFAA software for research about effect of Airbus and Boeing gear configuration on runways rigid and flexible pavement. Cumulative Damage Factor (CDF has been calculated for Airbus and Boeing aircrafts in this research as well. Also for validation of this numerical study, CDF curves were drawn by using FAARFIELD software. The effect of gear configuration and lateral distance from centreline of runway were evaluated and critical zones of runway were detected. This paper confirms AC150/5320-16 about B-777; that canceled airport pavement design in mixed traffic for the Boeing 777 Airplane. In other hand, among Airbus group aircrafts A - 340 - 500/600 have the most damage factor contribution on flexible and rigid pavements.