An investigation of the effects of lorry suspension performance on road maintenance costs

Abstract

A mathematical model of the interaction between a fleet of heavy vehicles and a spraysealed road surface is developed and validated using field performance data. Key features of the model include: (a) modelling the dynamic performance of the vehicle fleet using an ensemble of ‘quarter car’ vehicle models; (b) careful accounting for the ‘spatial repeatability’ of tyre forces; (c) use of accelerated pavement performance test data to model the evolution of the road surface profile; (d) surface maintenance intervention based on permanent deformation (rutting), potholing and excessive surface roughness. The model is used to predict long-term road maintenance intervention costs and to compare the predicted road maintenance costs for various suspension scenarios in the vehicle fleet.

The simulation results indicate that conversion of the heavy vehicle fleet from conventional leaf spring suspensions to ‘road-friendly’ suspensions would results in a reduction in road maintenance costs per tonne-km of 14 per cent. Increasing the freight load by 3.0 tonnes per vehicle would reduce this benefit to approximately 1 per cent. If the fleet was to have 50 per cent poorly maintained shock absorbers, the simulations show an increase in road maintenance expenditures per tonne-km: about 5 per cent higher than conventional suspensions at the lower weights and 21 per cent higher at the higher weights.

Keywords

road spray-seal heavy vehicles suspensions road-friendliness road damage road maintenance vehicle-road interaction road surface profile shock absorbers damping

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Cebon

Handbook of vehicle - road interaction, 1999 (Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse).

Cole

D. J.

Cebon

Assessing the road-damaging potential of heavy vehicles. Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs, 1991, 205, 223–232.

Anon. Dynamic interaction between vehicles and infrastructure experiment (DIVINE), 1998 (OECD, Paris).

Woodrooffe

Methods for evaluating road - friendliness, 1996 (Centre for Surface Transportation Technology, Canada).

Potter

T. E. C.

Cebon

Cole

D. J.

Assessing road friendliness: A review. Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs Part D: J. Automobile Engineering, 1997, 211, 455–475.

Anon. Certification of road - friendly suspension systems. In Vehicle standard bulletin, 1999 (Federal Office of Road Safety, Canbera, Australia).

Anon. Council directive 92/7/EC, 1992 (C.o.t.E. Communities, Brussells).

Forward

Higher mass limits notice 2001, 2001 (Roads and Traffic Authority, NSW, Australia).

Anon. National heavy vehicle reform - vehicle operations, 2001 (Roads and Traffic Authority, NSW, Australia).

10.

Sweatman

P. S.

McFarlane

Komadina

Cebon

Service assessment of road - friendly suspensions, 2000 (R.I.P. Ltd, Melbourne, Australia).

11.

Starrs. Evaluation of in-service compliance of road friendly suspensions, draft, 2000 (National Road Transport Commission: Melbourne, Australia).

12.

Cebon

Impact of vehicles with higher mass limits, 2004 (Roads and Traffic Authority, NSW, Australia).

13.

Cebon

Costanzi

Simulation of damage evolution in a spray sealed road. Technical report, Cambridge University Engineering Department, Cambridge, UK, 2006.

14.

Fancher

P. S.

Ervin

R. D.

McAdam

C. C.

Winkler

C. B.

Measurement and representation of the mechanical properties of truck leaf spring. In West Coast International Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, USA, SAE, 1980.

15.

Yeo

Koh

S. L.

Impact of new heavy vehicles on pavement and surfacings - report on load equivalence using ALF, 2003 (ARRB Transport Research).

16.

Cole

D. J.

Collop

A. C.

Potter

T. E. C.

Cebon

Spatial repeatability of measured dynamic tyre forces. Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs Part D: J. Automobile Engineering, 1996, 210(D3), 185–197.

17.

Cole

D. J.

Cebon

Spatial repeatability of dynamic tyre forces generated by heavy vehicles. Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs, 1992, 206, 17–27.

18.

Collop

A. C.

Cebon

Effect of spatial repeatability on long-term flexible pavement performance. Proc. Instn Mech. Engrs Part C: J. Mechanical Engineering Science, 1996, 210, 97–110.

19.

Anon. Longitudinal and transverse road profiles on Newell Hyw #17 (Boggabilla - Moree section) years 2001–02–03–04, with photographic survey and Benkelman deflection beam test, 2004 (Roads and Traffic Authority, NSW, Australia).

20.

Smith

Heavy vehicle loading of low trafficked roads part 1 - strategic framework for reviewing expenditures, 2002 (Austroads, Sydney).

21.

Kennedy

C. K.

Fevre

Clarke

C. S.

Pavement deflection: equipment for measurement in the United Kingdom, 1978 (TRRL Transport and Road Laboratory: Crowthorne, Berkshire, UK).

22.

Anon. The Ann Arbor road profilometer meeting, 1986 (F.H.A. US Department of Transportation, Washington DC), Report FHWA/RD-86/100.

23.

Sayers

M. W.

Gillespie

T. D.

Guidelines for conducting and calibrating road roughness measurements. World Bank Technical Paper (46), 1986.

24.

Anon. Determination of the international roughness index (IRI) using ARRB walking profilometer. PAT 01, 2001.

25.

Anon. Software package for interpreting longitudinal road roughness profile data, RoadRuf for Windows 95 and Windows NT, 2005 (University of Michigan Transportation Institute (UMTRI), Ann Arbor, MI, USA).

26.

Anon. Proposal for generalised road inputs to vehicles. ISO/TC 108/WGp draft No3e, 1972.

27.

Anon. Mechanical vibration - road surface profiles - reporting of measured data. Standard ISO 8608, 1995.