ABSTRACT
In order to evaluate the real effects and the degradation of the airfield pavement due to airport operations, the knowledge of the aircraft traffic spectrum and its relative loading of the main and secondary landing gears is essential.
With the aim to characterize the airplanes load distributions on runway pavements, which generally present more severe damages, different airplane types and landing and take-off operations data on Ciampino Airport, have been collected and analyzed.
The longitudinal and transversal statistical distribution of the wheel-path of the aircraft during the landing and take-off operations have been investigated and, according to the aircraft speed, the map of wheel coverage have been derived.
Finally, in function of different damage criteria, a software for the evaluation of a coverage contour map of runway pavements has been developed. It can represent an helpful tool for airport authorities to develop more effective planning programs of runways maintenance.
