Foamed Concrete-Based Material as a Soft Ground Arresting System for Runways and Airfields

Abstract

A soft ground arresting system (SGAS) is an alternative solution on airport runways where the runway safety area (RSA) does not meet international Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards. If an SGAS is installed on both ends of the runway, the length of the runway can be shortened. In this paper the options of using foamed concrete as the arresting bed material in an SGAS are investigated. Tests were conducted on the foamed concrete to determine whether it has the ability to withstand support vehicle loadings, while failing underneath loading from an overrunning aircraft. The objective of this paper is to present the required and measured properties of foamed concrete and results of an evaluation into its possible implementation as an SGAS as an alternative to engineered material arresting system (EMAS) on airports. The following conclusions are drawn. Foamed concrete properties allow it to be used as a possible arresting material, with the unit weight/density of foamed concrete the most important property to consider. The compressive strength and energy absorption of foamed concrete are two of the major properties allowing it to be used as an arresting material. Foamed concrete with densities of 600 and 800 kg/m3 allowed for more settlement while the stress/deformation relationship was very similar to that of material currently used in arrestor beds. The large contact diameters of airport rescue firefighting (ARFF) vehicles’ tires allows them not to penetrate/destruct foamed concrete at densities as low as 600 kg/m3.