Análise de índices de irregularidade longitudinal em pavimentos aeroportuários por meio de avaliações objetiva e subjetiva

Abstract

Runway roughness is a parameter related both to directional control and aircraft fatigue, and to the comfort of landing, takeoff and taxiing operations. Indices for roughness evaluation allow decision making regarding maintenance and rehabilitation strategies in an Airport Pavement Management System. However, commonly, an index developed for automobiles is used to evaluate the irregularity of airport runways, which does not adequately represent the phenomenon. Therefore, the general objective of this work is to propose new classification criteria for roughness, based on a comparative analysis between indexes and questionnaires applied to pilots. For this purpose, the International Roughness Index (IRI) and the Boeing Bump Index (BBI) were evaluated by means of correlations and linear regressions, relating them to the Runway Roughness Index (RRI). The indices were obtained through simulations involving two representative aircraft (B737-800 and B747-400 SP), twelve longitudinal profiles from a Federal Aviation Administration database, three runway stretch lengths, and ten different speeds. For the subjective evaluation, an electronic form was applied to evaluate the responses of pilots of national airlines, after landing operations, about their perception of comfort on eleven runways of ten Brazilian airports, comparing them to the IRI of the analyzed runways. The analysis of correlations and linear regressions indicates that IRI and BBI explain less adequately the behavior of RRI as speed increases. The survey resulted in a high coefficient of determination between the average IRI values of the tracks and the pilots' score, resulting in a comfort rating based on acceptable IRI values lower than those currently in effect. It is concluded that using RRI or changing the current limit of IRI based on comfort rating may be more appropriate options for evaluating runway roughness. With this, the airport infrastructure is kept safer through more rational decision making in maintenance and rehabilitation activities, considering the pilots' perception and the consequent guarantee of operational safety for landings and takeoffs.