Skid Resistance Research

NASA developed a five-wheel vehicle series in a mobile laboratory for testing roadway skid resistance. It does job comparable to more expensive test vehicles but at fraction of the cost. Cost is big factor to many communities which need skid resistant data for improving road surfaces but can't afford expensive skid trailers and their elaborate instrumentation. For testing skid resistance of aircraft runways, Langley engineers developed a relatively inexpensive test vehicle and a pulse braking" technique now being applied to road testing. Vehicle is standard automobile modified to incorporate instrumentation. Special test tires and valves and a trailing fifth wheel for monitoring distance and velocity. Instrumentation includes low-cost meter set of accelerometers that sense motion change and a chart recorder."

Full article: http://hdl.handle.net/hdl:2060/20070019899