Contribution of pavement texture factors on fuel consumption

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Rolling resistance (RR) is a comprehensive term that embraces three major energy dissipation mechanisms (tyre macro-distortion, tyre micro-distortion and pavement macro-distortion), all of which cause more compression in a leading end than in a trailing end of a contact patch. This accounts for an average of 119 MJ/liters of fuel per car yearly. A slight rearrangement in surface texture may therefore decrease fuel consumption bringing substantial long-term socio-economic benefits, which would help in meeting EU limits on CO2 (95 g/km until 2021) fostering sustainable construction of pavements. This study describes a newly developed multi-scale 3-D numerical model and two in-laboratory and one in-situ experimental tests to calculate micro-distortional RR due to indentation of aggregates into visco-elastic tread compound. Two computational and two experimental approaches to quantify micro-distortional RR were developed. The contact forces appeared of a reasonable distribution and magnitude. It was found that micro-distortional RR is higher on a rougher/sparsely packed surface compared to a smoother/tightly packed case; longitudinally grooved concrete was the most energy efficient texture studied. The predictions were confirmed qualitatively using the experiments developed. A numerical solution and experimental techniques can be implemented into Life-Cycle Analysis, allowing a texture-related fuel consumption assessment during the service life stage. The findings confirm that stone-based RR can be substantial in magnitude, but conclusions on low/optimal/sustainable RR texture packing can only be made if friction/drainage/noise and rubber properties are considered together.