An analytical solution for friction coefficients of grooved pavements considering tire rubber-groove interaction

To reduce the loss of skid resistance of pavement in wet weather, pavement grooving is used to improve aircraft operation safety on runways. This study presents an analytical solution to analyze mechanical interactions between tire tread rubber and pavement surface grooves for calculating friction coefficients of aircraft tires on runway pavements. The energy dissipation theory is utilized to calculate the contribution of rubber-groove interlock and the friction on plane part of pavement surface due to surface texture is accounted using Brush model. The comparison of model results and field measurements proves the capability of the proposed method to predict friction coefficients of aircraft tire on runway pavements with various groove configurations. The evaluation of trapezoidal grooved pavement shows similar friction coefficients compared to the standard square grooved pavement regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The friction coefficients of grooved pavement vary depending on the inclined angles of groove and edge-to-edge spacing that are two important geometry parameters. The findings demonstrate the pronounced influences of rubber deposits and groove deterioration on skid resistance of runway pavements. The analysis results can be further used to design optimized groove configuration and determine maintenance threshold for safe operation of aircraft on runways.