Foamed glass composite arrestor beds having predetermined failure modes and methods for making and using the same
AssigneeEarthstone International LLC
InventorsAndrew Ungerleider, W. Gene Ramsey
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An arrestor bed for slowing an oncoming aircraft, including an elongated excavation, a plurality of foamed glass aggregate bodies positioned within the elongated excavation, and a covering positioned over the elongated excavation to define an arrestor bed. The respective foamed glass aggregate bodies are oblong, irregularly shaped bodies and have characteristic stacking angles of about 35 degrees. The arrestor bed has a rapid brittle crushing failure mode under compression.
Claims18
An arrestor bed for slowing an oncoming aircraft, comprising:
- an elongated excavation;
- a plurality of foamed glass aggregate bodies positioned within the elongated excavation;
- and
- a covering positioned over the elongated excavation to define an arrestor bed;
- wherein the respective foamed glass aggregate bodies are oblong, irregularly shaped bodies;
- wherein the respective foamed glass bodies have characteristic stacking angles of about 35 degrees;
- and
- wherein the arrestor bed has a rapid brittle crushing failure mode.
An aircraft arrestor bed, comprising:
- a shallow excavation formed immediately adjacent the end of a runway;
- and
- a composite material filling the shallow excavation;
- wherein the shallow excavation is at least about one foot deep;
- wherein the composite material further comprises a plurality of oblong foamed glass aggregate bodies distributed in a structural matrix material;
- wherein the composite material is at least about 50 volume percent oblong foamed glass aggregate bodies;
- wherein the oblong foamed glass bodies have brittle crushing failure modes;
- wherein the foamed glass aggregate bodies each have strengths of at least 50 PSI;
- and
- wherein the aircraft arrestor bed will preferentially crushingly fail instead of slide over itself under the compressive and torsional loads produced by an aircraft rolling thereover.
An vehicle arrestor bed, comprising:
- an elongated excavation positioned immediately adjacent a paved strip;
- a plurality of foamed glass aggregate bodies positioned within the elongated excavation;
- and
- a covering positioned over the elongated excavation to define a vehicle arrestor bed;
- wherein the respective foamed glass aggregate bodies are oblong, irregularly shaped bodies;
- wherein the respective foamed glass bodies have characteristic stacking angles of about 35 degrees;
- and
- wherein the vehicle arrestor bed has a brittle fracture failure mode under compression.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.