Investigating the Impact of Autonomous Vehicles on Pavement Structures: A 3D Finite Element Simulation

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have stepped up efforts to become the automobiles of the future. In terms of productivity, AVs are superior to human-driven vehicles (HVs). Current road infrastructure is believed to be unsuitable for AVs; autonomous vehicles may pose different challenges to pavement structures as they are not engineered to accommodate such novel classes of vehicles. Using a 3D finite element model, the present study simulates the wheel load movement of an autonomous vehicle attempting to maintain its position in the centre of a given lane for safety and fuel efficiency reasons. The 3D model adopts as single wide wheel and takes into account the influence of tyre contact width and the contact tyre pressure on the road with different numbers of wheel passages. The results discuss the influence of speed on the development of road damage stress and strains at 40 and 80 kmph. In addition, a platoon strategy is proposed to reduce pavement damage and improve roadway durability.