Skip to main content
Technical Papers
Apr 30, 2021

Impact of Pavement Roughness on Fuel Consumption for a Range of Vehicle Types

Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part B: Pavements
Volume 147, Issue 3

Abstract

Fuel consumption increases with pavement roughness, thereby impacting vehicle operating costs. This paper explores the use of physics-based models to simulate a fleet consisting of 29 different vehicles representing a range of vehicle categories, technologies, and fuel types. Each vehicle model was simulated over a gamut of pavement roughness profiles while traveling at steady-state speeds from 16 to 145  km/h to estimate the impact of roughness on the vehicle fuel consumption. Published fuel consumption measurements on a large sport utility vehicle (SUV) and a dump truck gathered before and after pavement resurfacing (road condition going from fair to good) were used for validation of the prediction of change in fuel consumption due to pavement roughness. The simulation results compared closely (within 2%) with the measured data sets for both vehicles.

Get full access to this article

View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.

Data Availability Statement

Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are proprietary or confidential in nature and may only be provided with restrictions.
Data related to vehicle parameters and information obtained from manufacturers and suppliers in the development of vehicle models and resultant models are proprietary.
Data that can be shared are included in the final report submitted to the funder and may be requested by directly contacting the sponsoring agency indicated in the acknowledgement.

Acknowledgments

This work is funded by U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration, Office of Transportation Policy Studies under Contract No. DTFH61-14-C-00044. The authors thank Reid Pulley for his assistance in compiling and reducing data.

References

Amos, D. 2006. Pavement smoothness and fuel efficiency: An analysis of the economic dimensions of the Missouri Smooth Roads Initiative. Jefferson City, MI: Missouri DOT.
Argonne National Laboratories. 2016. “Autonomie.” Accessed November 14, 2016. www.autonomie.net.
Bennett, C. R., and W. D. O. Paterson. 2000. HDM-4, Volume 5: A guide to calibration and adaptation. Paris: World Road Association.
Chatti, K., and I. Zaabar. 2012. Estimating the effects of pavement conditions on vehicle operation costs. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board.
Dodds, C. J., and J. D. Robson. 1973. “The description of road surface roughness.” J. Sound Vib. 31 (2): 175–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-460X(73)80373-6.
Gillespie, T. D. 2004. CarSim data manual. Ann Arbor, MI: Mechanical Simulation Corp.
Hajj, E., H. Xu, G. Bailey, M. Sime, R. Chkaiban, S. F. Kazemi, and P. E. Sebaaly. 2017. Enhanced prediction of vehicle fuel economy and other operating costs, phase I, modeling the relationship between vehicle speed and fuel. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration.
Harrell, A. W. 2004. Characterization of vehicle test courses by power spectra. Vicksburg, MS: USA Engineer Research and Development Center.
ISO. 1995. International standard 8608. Geneva: ISO.
LaClair, T. J., and Z. Gao. 2014. Development of a short-duration drive cycle to a long term measured drive cycle data for the evaluation of truck efficiency technologies in class 8 tractor-trailers. Oak Ridge, TN: Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Lascurain, M. B. 2008. Class-8 heavy truck duty cycle project final report. Oak Ridge, TN: Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Lascurain, M. B., O. Franzese, G. Capps, A. Siekmann, N. Thomas, T. LaClair, A. Barker, and H. Knee. 2012. Medium truck duty cycle data from real-world driving environments: Project final report. Oak Ridge, TN: Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Lu, X. P. 1985. “Effects of road roughness on vehicular rolling resistance.” In Measuring road roughness and its effects on user cost and comfort, 143–161. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Malinowski, J., and M. Sime. 2016. Evaluation of technologies to improve fuel efficiency of medium tactical vehicle replacement (MTVR). Arlington, VA: Office of Naval Research.
Mechanical Simulation Corporations. 2016. Accessed November 14, 2016. www.carsim.com.
Pacejka, H. B. 2012. Tire and vehicle dynamics. 3rd ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Rozema, W. J. 1969. The use of spectral analysis in describing lunar surface roughness, 180–188. Geological Survey Research Paper 650-D. Washington, DC: USGS.
Sayers, M. W., T. D. Gillespie, and W. D. O. Paterson. 1996. Guidelines for conducting and calibrating road roughness measurements. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Segel, L., and X. P. Lu. 1982. “Vehicular resistance to motion as influenced by road roughness and highway alignment.” Australian Road Res. 12 (4): 211–222.
Sime, M., C. Ashmore, and S. Alavi. 2000. WesTrack track roughness, fuel consumption, and maintenance costs. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration.
Sime, M., G. Bailey, E. Hajj, R. Chkaiban, and P. Sebaaly. 2018. “Enhanced prediction of vehicle fuel economy and other vehicle operating costs, Task 9a.” In Incremental fuel consumption due to pavement roughness. FHWA, Contract No. DTFH61-14-C-00044. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration.
Sumitsawan, P., S. Ardekani, and S. Romanoschi. 2009. “Effect of pavement type on fuel consumption and emissions.” In Proc., 2009 Mid-Continent Transportation Research Symp. Washington, DC: Transportation Research Board.
USDOT. 2016. “Effect of pavement type on fuel consumption and emissions.” Accessed March 1, 2016. https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2016MakeList.shtml.
Van Deusen, B. D. 1966. A statistical technique for the dynamic analysis of vehicles traversing rough yielding and non yielding surfaces. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Weiss, R. 1981. “Terrain micro roughness and the dynamic response of vehicles.” In Proc., Transactions of the 27th Conf. of Army Mathematicians, West Point. Fort Belvoir, VA: Defense Technical Information Center.
Wong, Y. J. 2001. Theory of ground vehicles. 3rd ed. New York: Wiley.
Zaniewski, J. P., B. C. Butler, G. Cunningham, G. E. Elkins, and M. S. Paggi. 1982. Vehicle operating costs, fuel consumption, and pavement type and condition factors., 384. San Antonio, TX: Texas Research and Development Foundation.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part B: Pavements
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part B: Pavements
Volume 147Issue 3September 2021

History

Received: Jul 1, 2020
Accepted: Dec 23, 2020
Published online: Apr 30, 2021
Published in print: Sep 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Sep 30, 2021

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Authors

Affiliations

Engineering Manager, Nevada Automotive Test Center, P.O. Box 234, Carson City, NV 89702 (corresponding author). Email: [email protected]
Senior Modeling and Simulation Engineer, Nevada Automotive Test Center, P.O. Box 234, Carson City, NV 89702. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8063-7567. Email: [email protected]
E. Y. Hajj, Aff.M.ASCE [email protected]
Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557. Email: [email protected]
Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3783-4503. Email: [email protected]

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Download citation

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

Cited by

View Options

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Access content

Please select your options to get access

Log in/Register Log in via your institution (Shibboleth)
ASCE Members: Please log in to see member pricing

Purchase

Save for later Information on ASCE Library Cards
ASCE Library Cards let you download journal articles, proceedings papers, and available book chapters across the entire ASCE Library platform. ASCE Library Cards remain active for 24 months or until all downloads are used. Note: This content will be debited as one download at time of checkout.

Terms of Use: ASCE Library Cards are for individual, personal use only. Reselling, republishing, or forwarding the materials to libraries or reading rooms is prohibited.
ASCE Library Card (5 downloads)
$105.00
Add to cart
ASCE Library Card (20 downloads)
$280.00
Add to cart
Buy Single Article
$35.00
Add to cart

Figures

Tables

Media

Share

Share

Copy the content Link

Share with email

Email a colleague

Share