Systems Modelling and Simulation Assignment, Brunel University London

Each year, the assignment for the Systems Modelling and Simulation module explores a new theme. In previous years, themes have included healthcare, banking services, manufacturing, and logistics. This year, the focus is on airport operations management. This variety demonstrates how the core principles of the subject can be applied to different fields with similar performance indicators. We hope you enjoy this year's assignment!

Aircraft arrive at the airport with an exponentially distributed time between arrivals, with a mean (λ) of 15 minutes.

Upon arrival, planes wait in the air for a signal from the control tower indicating that it is safe to land. It is essential that the landing runway is available and clear; otherwise, planes must continue to circle until they receive permission to land. The airport operates two runways—one dedicated to landings and the other for takeoffs. Upon allocation of the runway, the aircraft lands, the process of landing and clearing the runway follows a Triangular distribution of TRIA (15,15,20) minutes. The taxi time between runways and terminal gates follows an Exponential distribution with a mean (λ) of 10 minutes. The passengers and luggage unloading delay time from the aircraft, follows an Exponential distribution of λ = 15minutes. From the total number of all arriving flights at the airport, 30% go to Terminals 1, Terminal 2 takes 20%, and Terminals 3 and 4 each take 25%. Each terminal has a capacity of 5 identical gates.

Aircraft departures also follow the Exponential distribution of λ =17 minutes. The ratio of aircraft departure from each terminal is the same as arrivals (i.e., T1: 30%, T2: 20%, T3: 25%, and T4: 25%).

The loading time for all departing aircraft at each terminal follows an Exponential distribution with λ = 10 minutes. For take-off, the aircraft first taxis to the runway, which takes an Exponential distribution time with a mean of 10 minutes. Once positioned, the process of runway allocation, preparing for departure, and taking off follows a Triangular distribution of TRIA (5,10,15) minutes.

The runway maintenance team plays a crucial role in airport safety by inspecting and clearing the runways of any potential hazards, such as debris, loose materials, or wildlife that could interfere with take-off and landing. As part of the airport’s safety protocol, both runways are temporarily closed during each inspection, which takes place every 5.5 hours. These inspections typically last about 10 minutes, following a Normal distribution with a mean duration (μ) of 10 minutes and a standard deviation (σ) of 3 minutes. The mean time between failures is carefully managed according to the wait rule, ensuring that maintenance intervals align with operational demands while prioritizing runway safety.

In this assignment, please ignore passenger check-ins and similar processes. This is due to limitations on the number of entities allowed in the student version of the Arena software.

1. Develop a simulation model with appropriate animations of the airport operation system focusing on the use of the runways. Simulate the airport operation for 24 hrs cycle times (simulation time) and replicate for 10 times without initiating system.

2. On average, what percentage of the time are the runways in the idle or busy state?

3. Discuss the Utilisation of each Runway and Terminals on daily basis during the simulation run.

4. Display the WIP for arriving planes, departing planes and the total WIP on one plot over a simulated time of 24 hrs (for each simulation run). Do not initialize the statistics between your simulation runs.

5. Assuming the Level of Sound Exposure from each aircraft is given by a triangular distribution with values 50, 60 and 100 decibels, display on a plot, over a simulated time of 24 hrs, the total number of aircraft in process that have a sound level above a specified threshold of 85 decibels. [Hint: You need to look at the WIP, also assign sound levels to airplanes when they are created]

6. Assuming some of the departure aircraft (5 percent) require emergency landing due to technical problem so they have priority in the queue. Please add this to your model and design and record the total number of aircraft in process that have an emergency landing.

7. Write a report that explains your modelling approach and process, explaining how key concepts such as waiting for signal from the control tower were modelled.

8. Discuss the results of your simulation with regard to key performance factors: runway and terminal utilisation, WIP, noise pollution, waiting times and queues both in the air and on the ground to access terminals. Conduct statistical validation and verification of the results and how you achieve the necessary levels of confidence in the outputs.

9. Offer suggestions of how to improve the performance of the airport with respect to the key performance indicators: runway and terminal utilisation, WIP, noise pollution, waiting times and queues both in the air and on the ground to access terminals. Your suggestions should be simulated, and results compared to the original model.

10. The airport management wishes to double the number of aircraft that arrive and depart from the airport. Offer suggestions on how this could be possible with respect to maintaining or minimising the emission levels. Discuss your various suggestions by creating simulation models and comparing the results with one another.

Part B: Feasibility Study for a Third Runway

Part B requires a feasibility analysis for constructing a third runway that will support both landings and take-offs. This analysis will focus on financial, operational, and environmental management considerations.

Requirements:

1. Runway Proposal Simulation: Simulate the integration of a third, dualpurpose runway, evaluating its impact on airport operations, including runway utilization, queue times, and overall efficiency.

2. Cost and Feasibility Analysis: Conduct a detailed financial analysis that includes, use arbitrary figures for costs:
o Estimated construction costs and long-term maintenance expenses.
o Environmental assessments, focusing on noise levels, emissions, and other sustainability factors.
o A comprehensive cost management plan, integrating strategies for minimizing both financial and environmental impacts. Research into emissions and noise levels from the internet, and use values for pollution emissions and noise for a single type of aircraft (e.g. Airbus Neo or Boeing 737 Max)

3. Research Component: Investigate similar airport expansion projects, focusing
on effective management approaches that balance cost, environmental
sustainability, and operational efficiency.

4. Report: Present findings in a clear, concise report that includes:
o A financial plan with accurate cost projections and ROI estimates.
o An assessment of environmental impacts and mitigation strategies.
o Recommendations based on simulation results and research insights.

Use Run conditions defined as: Warm-up Period = 1 hours, Replication Length = 24 hours, and Number of Replication = 10. The system requires initialisation between replications, but statistics should not be initialised.

Hint: Create arrivals and departures separately. But make sure you dispose the aircraft after unloading for arrivals and after take-off for departing aircraft.