Abstract
The accumulation of snow on runways is a significant problem for airplane landings. This is because the existence of snow between the tires and runway reduces the friction coefficient and increases the braking distance required for landing. Therefore, in Japan, where sudden weather changes can occur within a day, the development of a system that can predict the friction coefficient from the runway conditions immediately before the airplane lands is needed to determine whether an airplane can land safely. This study focuses on the interposition of snow between a landing unit with a rotating tire and a stainless-steel plate and investigates its influence on the friction coefficient. The investigation uses electrical conductivity to observe the microscopic separation between the silicon rubber and stainless-steel plate. The results show that when using this method, the microscopic separation due to snow can be observed as a range between 0 (direct contact) and 1 (noncontact). In addition, we suggest that the friction mode that occurs during landing may be classified based on the state of snow.
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