Runway Friction Measurement

By
Thomas J. Yager
NASA Langley Research Center
Presented at
FAA/Aviation Industry Workshop on
Runway Condition Determination, Reporting and
Report Dissemination
FAA Headquarters; Washington DC
August 7-8, 2006

Test Aircraft

Falcon 20

Dash 8

B727-100

B737-100

B757-100

Ground Test Vehicles

Instrumented Tire
Test Vehicle

Diagonal Braked
Vehicle

Electronic Recording
Decelerometer Vehicle

Runway Friction
Tester

Airport Surface
Friction Tester

Surface Friction
Tester

Ground Test Trailers

IMAG Variable/Fixed
Slip

GripTester Fixed Slip

Runar Variable/Fixed
Slip

BV-11 Skiddometer

E-274 Skid Trailer

Aircraft vs. IRFI

CRFI Table
Bare
and Dry
Landing
Distance

0.60

0.55

0.50

0.45

0.40

0.35

0.30

0.27

0.25

0.22

0.20

0.18

1800
2000
2200
2400
2600
2800
3000
3200
3400
3600
3800
4000

3120
3480
3720
4100
4450
4720
5070
5450
5740
6050
6340
6550

3200
3580
3830
4230
4590
4910
5240
5630
5940
6260
6570
6780

3300
3690
3960
4370
4750
5090
5430
5840
6170
6500
6830
7050

3410
3830
4110
4540
4940
5290
5650
6090
6430
6780
7130
7370

3540
3980
4280
4740
5160
5530
5910
6370
6740
7120
7480
7730

3700
4170
4500
4980
5420
5810
6220
6720
7110
7510
7900
8170

3900
4410
4750
5260
5740
6150
6590
7130
7550
7990
8410
8700

4040
4570
4940
5470
5960
6390
6860
7420
7870
8330
8770
9080

4150
4700
5080
6520
6130
6570
7060
7640
8100
8580
9040
9360

4330
4910
5310
5880
6410
6880
7390
8010
8500
9000
9490
9830

4470
5070
5490
6080
6630
7110
7640
8290
8800
9320
9840
10180

4620
5250
5700
6300
6870
7360
7920
8600
9130
9680
10220
10580

CRFI

IRFI Table
Bare
and Dry
Landing
Distance

0.60

0.55

0.50

0.45

0.40

0.35

0.30

0.27

0.25

0.22

0.20

0.18

1800
2000
2200
2400
2600
2800
3000
3200
3400
3600
3800
4000

3032
3356
3610
3975
4326
4619
4929
5288
5572
5865
6146
6344

3125
3462
3732
4121
4476
4781
5105
5483
5781
6089
6386
6593

3225
3576
3864
4279
4637
4956
5295
5694
6008
6332
6645
6863

3334
3700
4007
4450
4813
5146
5502
5923
6254
6596
6926
7156

3453
3836
4164
4638
5005
5354
5729
6173
6524
6885
7235
7477

3585
3986
4338
4845
5218
5584
5979
6450
6822
7204
7576
7831

3733
4155
4531
5077
5455
5841
6259
6760
7155
7561
7957
8228

3831
4266
4660
5231
5613
6012
6445
6965
7375
7798
8209
8490

3900
4345
4751
5340
5725
6133
6577
7112
7533
7966
8389
8678

4013
4473
4899
5516
5906
6329
6790
7347
7786
8238
8679
8979

4094
4565
5005
5643
6036
6470
6944
7517
7969
8434
8887
9197

4180
4664
5118
5779
6175
6621
7108
7699
8164
8643
9111
9429

IRFI

Joint Program Summary

In nearly 10 years of the joint program, tests have
involved
10 aircraft
49 ground vehicles
10 test sites

450 individuals representing over 65 organizations

from 16 different countries have participated

The Canadian and the International Runway Friction

Indices have been established

Friction Measurement Variables

Operator
Equipment calibration & maintenance

Test procedure
Runway conditions

Braking methods
Compliance to existing standards

Future Activities and Recommendations

Prepare and publish Joint Program final report and
recommendations
Involve other organizations in ongoing research investigations,
e.g. collect aircraft/ground vehicle friction data at airport in
Traverse City, MI
Solicit more government/industry support and funding to
maintain availability of NASA B-757 test aircraft
Establish calibration centers for friction measuring equipment
Encourage ICAO to form a runway friction study group

Perform EMAS study at NASA Langleys ALDF test track

Conduct NASAs 14th annual workshop, May 14-18, 2007

YOKOSO
BENVENUTO

Fourteenth Annual
NASA Tire/Runway Friction Workshop
May 14-18, 2007
NASA Wallops Flight Facility
Website: http://runfric.larc.nasa.gov

Test Site 2
Taxiway 4/22 ECHO
R/W 4/22

Not to scale

300

222

LS1

Echo 3

M1

RS4

Echo 2

EK3

EK4

Echo 1

EK1

EK2

75

300

300
10

156

909

R-2

R-3

300

300

300

MS/0
MS/1
MS/2
MS/3

Asphalt Surface
48
4 P-1
Echo 4

R-1

R-5

300

N159
Ramp

N159
Ramp

10
10
10
10