Integrated Vehicle–Tire–Pavement Approach for Determining Pavement Structure–Induced Rolling Resistance under Dynamic Loading

Pavement-related rolling resistances, caused by pavement–vehicle interaction, are important components of pavement life-cycle assessment (LCA). Structure-induced rolling resistance (SRR) is caused by dissipated vehicle kinetic energy in the pavement structure. This paper presents an integrated vehicle–tire–pavement approach to evaluate asphalt pavement SRR under dynamic loading. A three-dimensional (3D) semitrailer-truck model was used to calculate dynamic wheel loads on various pavement surface-roughness profiles. The dynamic wheel loads were then transformed into 3D tire–pavement contact stresses using a deep-learning tire model. Next, an advanced 3D finite element pavement model, validated in previous studies, was used to simulate pavement structure under moving tire–pavement contact stresses. The dynamic load coefficient of axle forces was found to increase linearly with truck speed. The increasing trend became more significant as pavement roughness increased. Ignoring the dynamic loading effect resulted in 12% error in predicting SRR. A case study was performed to illustrate the computation procedures of asphalt pavement SRR under static and dynamic loading. Dynamic loading accounted for 4.74%, 7.37%, 10.73%, and 14.02% of SRR for four pavement surface-roughness levels at a truck speed of 40 mph. In addition, SRR was found to be highly nonlinear and increased as speed decreased and axle load increased. A modified Illinois Center for Transportation SRR model was developed to quickly assess the SRR component of the pavement LCA’s use stage. This study demonstrates the importance of vehicle–tire–pavement interaction in SRR prediction, which may not be overlooked.