2015 - USA - Rolling Resistance Validation

The rolling resistance, contact forces and fuel consumption of a heavy duty truck were computed as a function of pavement type. Measurements were conducted at the Mainline MnROAD test track near Albertville, Minnesota and at two highway sections with distressed pavements. Test procedure consisted of driving the instrumented MnROAD heavy-duty truck on the selected pavement sections while recording signals from the chassis-mounted accelerometers, differential GPS, and the Controller Area Network. The truck was driven at cruise speeds of 55 and 64 MPH on roads with live traffic and at cruise speeds from 30 to 65 MPH on the Mainline. In addition, weather data from two MnROAD stations, wind velocity from two ultrasonic anemometers, road elevation, and IRI were collected during the tests. Data were analyzed with a novel and comprehensive mechanistic model of vehicle dynamics. Dynamical rolling resistance and its contribution to fuel consumption was estimated from the spectra analysis of accelerometers signals. The coefficient of rolling resistance of the truck tires varied from 0.0044 to 0.0072 on the Mainline cells. Fuel consumed by the rolling resistance force at 30 MPH varied between 0.006 liter and 0.009 liter per cell, for an average consumption of 5 liter/100 km. Rolling resistance was 0.0072 on bituminous TH 66 and 0.0061 on concrete TH 10 sections. Spectral analysis of accelerometer data revealed vibrational modes unique to either bituminous or concrete pavements. The power loss caused by the vibrations of suspensions and tires was also computed.