Development of Integrated Procedures and Models for the Analysis of Vehicle-Pavement Interaction

The work focuses on the issue of vehicle-pavement interaction through analysis of the effects of road surface irregularities on the vibration behavior of the vehicle travelling on them. Pavement roughness in fact produces inertial effects on wheel loads, which in turn affect stresses transferred to the entire pavement, thus inducing structural damage and increasing pavement roughness. Moreover, the above mentioned inertial effects induce discomfort sensations for the travelling public, thus determining a decrease in the serviceability life of the road. The theme of road roughness characterization and the assessment of its induced dynamical effects on the travelling vehicle qualify therefore as critical, both for deriving decision criteria for maintenance purposes and for the assessment of the pavement damage mechanisms. With the purpose of linking the two aspects of roughness and vehicle response, a new response type of measuring system has been conceived and developed, ideally matching the vehicle quarter-car model, and used in field measurements of pavement roughness conditions and of the corresponding effects on the axle loading amplification and comfort sensation. Measurements provided by the new device have been joined with numerical simulations, for validation and generalization of the obtained results, establishing simple numerical models to represent the descriptive parameters and the various aspects of their interaction, linking together surface irregularities, dynamic load amplification and comfort perception.