Iterative Framework for Performance and Environmental Impacts of Airfields

2019 ◽  
Vol 2673 (9) ◽  
pp. 179-187
Author(s):  
Izak M. Said ◽  
Imad L. Al-Qadi
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Federal Aviation Administration ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Traffic Loading ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Field Instrumentation ◽  
Airport Pavement ◽  
Performance Check ◽  
Layered Design

The main goal of a durable and sustainable airfield is to withstand repeated aircraft traffic loading while minimizing the environmental impact. The objective of this study is to develop a design-life cycle assessment (LCA) framework considering a balanced evaluation of structural adequacy, minimizing emission, and optimizing total energy demand. To achieve this objective, three steps are introduced: an evaluation of the structural adequacy of the design using the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) pavement design software FAA rigid and flexible iterative elastic layered design; a preliminary performance check using field instrumentation responses; and a LCA of airfield sections using both deterministic and probabilistic approaches. In addition to presenting the design-LCA methodology, this paper offers a comparative evaluation that covers two perpetual designs (LFP1-N and LFP4-N) and one conventional section (LFC5-N). These pavement sections were built and tested at the National Airport Pavement Test Facility as part of construction cycle 7, funded by the FAA. Responses collected from instrumentation were used to compute field-based coverages to failure. Moreover, life cycle inventories from secondary sources were used to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions and energy demand associated with the construction of these sections. Results show inconsistencies between the field-predicted and theoretically predicted performance. This suggests the need for the additional calibration of the currently used performance models. Moreover, this study shows that under a specific asphalt concrete (AC) thickness limit, conventional AC may be more eco-friendly than a perpetual design.

Subgrade stress ratios as airfield pavement rutting performance indicators

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-198
Author(s):  
Kasthurirangan Gopalakrishnan ◽  
Marshall R Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Flexible Pavements ◽  
Federal Aviation Administration ◽  
Flexible Pavement ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Airport Pavement ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Us ◽  
Stress Ratios ◽  
New Generation

Rutting is a major distress in airport flexible pavements. Subgrade vertical strain criteria are used in many airport flexible pavement design procedures to consider the development of rutting. Several research studies have identified the limitations associated with these criteria. Design criteria based on subgrade stress ratios (SSRs) are being considered for evaluating subgrade rutting in airport flexible pavements. In this paper, the SSRs based on measured vertical subgrade stresses are related to surface rutting in flexible pavements subjected to repeated trafficking of Boeing 777 and 747 simulated test gears at the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF). The results indicated overstressing of the subgrade in two test sections, and this was confirmed by trench study results. A good correlation was obtained between the SSRs and the surface rut depths, supporting the validity of developing SSR-based rutting transfer functions for airport flexible pavements serving the next generation of aircraft.Key words: rutting, subgrade stress ratio (SSR), National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF), pressure cell (PC), new generation aircraft, airport flexible pavement.

Airport Pavement Groove Identification and Analysis at NAPTF

2013 ◽  
Vol 723 ◽  
pp. 1003-1010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiang Wang ◽  
Josh Davis
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Federal Aviation Administration ◽  
Automatic Device ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Laser Sensor ◽  
Rigid Pavement ◽  
Airport Pavement ◽  
Grooved Surface ◽  
Groove Configurations ◽  
Transverse Grooves

Transverse grooves in an airport pavement allow water to be ejected from beneath the tires of an aircraft moving at high speed. It has been found that the grooves can efficiently reduce the hydroplaning potential of a pavement during wet weather. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) maintains a standard specification for groove configuration immediately after construction and during service. The National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF) performed a long period of real scale tests to investigate the performance of the current FAA standard square grooves and proposed trapezoidal grooves. This paper includes the comparison of trapezoidal and rectangular grooves under aircraft tire loading with service life. These two groove patterns were constructed on the flexible and rigid pavement respectively. In the automatic device measurement, a laser sensor from a truss profiler constantly detected the distance between the grooved surface and an initial standard line as the aircraft tires repeatedly passed through the grooved areas. An automatic groove identification program was also developed to evaluate the groove configurations. Our test results demonstrate that the trapezoidal grooves maintain a longer life shape configuration than rectangular grooves, especially for asphalt pavements.

Airfield Pavement Damage Evaluation Due to New-Generation Aircraft Wheel Loading and Wander Patterns

2018 ◽  
Vol 2672 (29) ◽  
pp. 82-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyanka Sarker ◽  
Erol Tutumluer
Keyword(s):  
Residual Deformation ◽  
Federal Aviation Administration ◽  
Test Facility ◽  
Initial Attempt ◽  
Stress History ◽  
History Effects ◽  
Aircraft Landing ◽  
Airport Pavement ◽  
Wheel Loading ◽  
Pavement Damage

This paper presents a stress-history-based approach to predict the deformation basins of airport pavements subjected to heavy aircraft loading applied in sequential wanders. Multi-depth deflectometer data from full-scale aircraft landing gear tests conducted at the National Airport Pavement Test Facility built by the Federal Aviation Administration are used to create individual pass residual deformation transverse profiles. The computed residual deformation profiles are further corrected for stress-history effects to predict rut in the selected test sections. The developed model focuses on using the previous load location and stress history of the soil element to develop the deformations in that element. Despite the unavailability of the surface transverse profile data measured in the field at different passes, the initial attempt of the model can closely predict the deformation profile similar to width and shape expected in the field. And after the stress-history effects are accounted for, the initially calculated rut depth decreases significantly to match the final contour basin of the test sections extracted from the post traffic trenching. The advantage of using the stress-history-effects-based rut prediction tool is that it can allow any combination of wander positions and sequences of load applications to be accounted for their effects on the final surface rut development.

Parameter Sensitivity Analysis of Airport Rigid Pavement Thickness Using FAARFIELD Program

2011 ◽  
Vol 243-249 ◽  
pp. 4068-4074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tammam Merhej ◽  
De Cheng Feng
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Input Parameter ◽  
Federal Aviation Administration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Modulus Of Rupture ◽  
Rigid Pavement ◽  
Airport Pavement ◽  
Input Parameters ◽  
Layered Design ◽  
Pavement Thickness

Federal aviation administration rigid and flexible iterative elastic layered design (FAARFIELD) software program became the exclusive approved method for airport pavement thickness design adopted by federal aviation administration (FAA) in the United States after the advisory circular AC150/5320-6E “Airport Pavement Design and Evaluation” was issued in September 2009. In this paper, a sensitivity analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of FAARFIELD input parameters on the required thickness of the airport rigid pavement. The input parameters studied are: concrete flexural strength (modulus of rupture, MOR), the subgrade reaction modulus, K, subbase layers and air traffic mix .Each evaluated input parameter was varied within its recommended range to study its effect on the required thickness of the airport pavement. It was found that the concrete modulus of rupture is the most sensitive parameter on the required thickness.

scholarly journals Case study of a water bioengineering construction site in Austria. Ecological aspects and application of an environmental life cycle assessment model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. von der Thannen ◽  
S. Hoerbinger ◽  
C. Muellebner ◽  
H. Biber ◽  
H. P. Rauch
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Environmental Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Soil And Water

AbstractRecently, applications of soil and water bioengineering constructions using living plants and supplementary materials have become increasingly popular. Besides technical effects, soil and water bioengineering has the advantage of additionally taking into consideration ecological values and the values of landscape aesthetics. When implementing soil and water bioengineering structures, suitable plants must be selected, and the structures must be given a dimension taking into account potential impact loads. A consideration of energy flows and the potential negative impact of construction in terms of energy and greenhouse gas balance has been neglected until now. The current study closes this gap of knowledge by introducing a method for detecting the possible negative effects of installing soil and water bioengineering measures. For this purpose, an environmental life cycle assessment model has been applied. The impact categories global warming potential and cumulative energy demand are used in this paper to describe the type of impacts which a bioengineering construction site causes. Additionally, the water bioengineering measure is contrasted with a conventional civil engineering structure. The results determine that the bioengineering alternative performs slightly better, in terms of energy demand and global warming potential, than the conventional measure. The most relevant factor is shown to be the impact of the running machines at the water bioengineering construction site. Finally, an integral ecological assessment model for applications of soil and water bioengineering structures should point out the potential negative effects caused during installation and, furthermore, integrate the assessment of potential positive effects due to the development of living plants in the use stage of the structures.

scholarly journals Advances of 2nd Life Applications for Lithium Ion Batteries from Electric Vehicles Based on Energy Demand

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5726
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Wewer ◽  
Pinar Bilge ◽  
Franz Dietrich
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Lithium Ion Batteries ◽  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Impact

Electromobility is a new approach to the reduction of CO2 emissions and the deceleration of global warming. Its environmental impacts are often compared to traditional mobility solutions based on gasoline or diesel engines. The comparison pertains mostly to the single life cycle of a battery. The impact of multiple life cycles remains an important, and yet unanswered, question. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate advances of 2nd life applications for lithium ion batteries from electric vehicles based on their energy demand. Therefore, it highlights the limitations of a conventional life cycle analysis (LCA) and presents a supplementary method of analysis by providing the design and results of a meta study on the environmental impact of lithium ion batteries. The study focuses on energy demand, and investigates its total impact for different cases considering 2nd life applications such as (C1) material recycling, (C2) repurposing and (C3) reuse. Required reprocessing methods such as remanufacturing of batteries lie at the basis of these 2nd life applications. Batteries are used in their 2nd lives for stationary energy storage (C2, repurpose) and electric vehicles (C3, reuse). The study results confirm that both of these 2nd life applications require less energy than the recycling of batteries at the end of their first life and the production of new batteries. The paper concludes by identifying future research areas in order to generate precise forecasts for 2nd life applications and their industrial dissemination.

scholarly journals Conversion of biomass to biofuels and life cycle assessment: a review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed I. Osman ◽  
Neha Mehta ◽  
Ahmed M. Elgarahy ◽  
Amer Al-Hinai ◽  
Ala’a H. Al-Muhtaseb ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Biomass Conversion ◽  
Biofuel Production ◽  
Process Efficiency ◽  
Liquid Fuels ◽  
Thermochemical Processes ◽  
Lower Temperature

AbstractThe global energy demand is projected to rise by almost 28% by 2040 compared to current levels. Biomass is a promising energy source for producing either solid or liquid fuels. Biofuels are alternatives to fossil fuels to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Nonetheless, policy decisions for biofuels should be based on evidence that biofuels are produced in a sustainable manner. To this end, life cycle assessment (LCA) provides information on environmental impacts associated with biofuel production chains. Here, we review advances in biomass conversion to biofuels and their environmental impact by life cycle assessment. Processes are gasification, combustion, pyrolysis, enzymatic hydrolysis routes and fermentation. Thermochemical processes are classified into low temperature, below 300 °C, and high temperature, higher than 300 °C, i.e. gasification, combustion and pyrolysis. Pyrolysis is promising because it operates at a relatively lower temperature of up to 500 °C, compared to gasification, which operates at 800–1300 °C. We focus on 1) the drawbacks and advantages of the thermochemical and biochemical conversion routes of biomass into various fuels and the possibility of integrating these routes for better process efficiency; 2) methodological approaches and key findings from 40 LCA studies on biomass to biofuel conversion pathways published from 2019 to 2021; and 3) bibliometric trends and knowledge gaps in biomass conversion into biofuels using thermochemical and biochemical routes. The integration of hydrothermal and biochemical routes is promising for the circular economy.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Assessment of Bioplastics and Food Waste Disposal Methods

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6894
Author(s):  
Shakira R. Hobbs ◽  
Tyler M. Harris ◽  
William J. Barr ◽  
Amy E. Landis
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Anaerobic Digestion ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Food Waste ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Anaerobic Digester ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Cumulative Energy ◽  
Cumulative Energy Demand

The environmental impacts of five waste management scenarios for polylactic acid (PLA)-based bioplastics and food waste were quantified using life cycle assessment. Laboratory experiments have demonstrated the potential for a pretreatment process to accelerate the degradation of bioplastics and were modeled in two of the five scenarios assessed. The five scenarios analyzed in this study were: (1a) Anaerobic digestion (1b) Anaerobic digestion with pretreatment; (2a) Compost; (2a) Compost with pretreatment; (3) Landfill. Results suggested that food waste and pretreated bioplastics disposed of with an anaerobic digester offers life cycle and environmental net total benefits (environmental advantages/offsets) in several areas: ecotoxicity (−81.38 CTUe), eutrophication (0 kg N eq), cumulative energy demand (−1.79 MJ), global warming potential (0.19 kg CO2), and human health non-carcinogenic (−2.52 CTuh). Normalized results across all impact categories show that anaerobically digesting food waste and bioplastics offer the most offsets for ecotoxicity, eutrophication, cumulative energy demand and non-carcinogenic. Implications from this study can lead to nutrient and energy recovery from an anaerobic digester that can diversify the types of fertilizers and decrease landfill waste while decreasing dependency on non-renewable technologies. Thus, using anaerobic digestion to manage bioplastics and food waste should be further explored as a viable and sustainable solution for waste management.

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