An analytical model of foamed concrete aircraft arresting system

•We propose an aircraft landing gear-foamed concrete arrestor interaction model.•We obtain the mechanical properties of foamed concrete using indentation tests.•The aircraft stopping distance within the arrestor is investigated for different aircrafts.•The sensitivity of stopping distance to aircraft type and materials is discussed.

Aircraft may overrun the runway area during takeoff and landing, leading to accidental aircraft damage and loss of life. A foamed concrete arrestor system can safely arrest the overrun aircraft in an allowed distance without injuring aircraft passengers and damaging aircraft landing gear. A multiple rigid-body analytical model with the consideration of the interactions between the aircraft landing gear and the foamed concrete arrestor is proposed. The model is capable of predicting aircraft gear loads, deceleration and stopping distance within the foamed arrestor system. Mechanical properties of the foamed concrete are obtained from indentation tests. The analytical model is coded by MATLAB to offer an efficient analytical tool to study the influence of critical parameters including aircraft weight, material compressive strength and arrestor system configuration on the optimal design of different foamed concrete arrestor systems.