Shuttle landing runway modification to improve tire spin-up wear performanceThis paper presents the results of a series of tire spin-up wear tests on a simulated Kennedy Space Center (KSC) runway that were carried out to investigate the tire wear problem for Space Shuttle landings on the KSC runway and to test several modifications of the runway surface designed to alleviate the problem. It was found that the runway surface produced by a concrete smoothing machine using cutters spaced one and three-quarters blades per centimeter provided adequate wet cornering while limiting spin-up wear. Based on the test results, the KSC runway was smoothed for about 1066 m at each end, leaving the original high friction surface, for better wet steering and braking, in the 2438-m central section.
Document ID
19890040824
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Daugherty, Robert H. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Yager, Thomas J. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Stubbs, Sandy M. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)