United States Department of Transportation
i
Pavement Life Comparison for Different Traffic Scenarios
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2019-12-01
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[PDF-6.25 MB]
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Edition:Final Research Report
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Abstract:Because most automated vehicles (AVs) are programmed to follow a set path and maintain a lateral position in the center of the lane, over time significant pavement rutting will occur. This study directly measured AV lateral wandering patterns. It was found that the wandering patterns of both AVs and human-driven vehicles could be modeled with a normal distribution but have significantly different standard deviations, with AV lateral wandering being at least 3 times smaller than the wandering of human-driven vehicles. Modeling with the Texas Mechanistic-Empirical Flexible Pavement Design System (TxME) found that the AVs with smaller lateral wandering would shorten pavement fatigue life by 22 percent and increase pavement rut depth by 30 percent, which leads to a much higher risk of hydroplaning. Researchers also calculated the maximum tolerable rut depths at different hydroplaning speeds. AVs have a much smaller tolerable rut depth than human-driven vehicles due to greater water film thickness in the rutted wheel paths. To reduce the negative impact of AVs on roadway safety and pavement life, this research recommends an optimal AV wandering pattern, a uniform distribution, which results in prolonged pavement life and decreased hydroplaning potential.
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