Page 60-75

Vehicle characteristics
 Page 60
Introduction
Roadway design is governed by two main factors:
 Vehicle capabilities
 Acceleration/deceleration
 Braking
 Cornering
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qND7buyo8pU)
 Human capabilities
 perception/reaction times
 eyesight (peripheral range, height above roadway)
 Page 60
Vehicles and road design
 Performance of road vehicles forms the basis for roadway
design guidelines such as:
 length of acceleration / deceleration lanes
 maximum grades
 stopping-sight distances
 passing-sight distances
 setting speed limits
 timing of signalized intersections
 Page 60
Vehicles and road design
Studying vehicle performance serves two important
purposes:
 provides insight into roadway design and traffic
operations and the compromises that are necessary to
accommodate the wide variety of vehicles that use
roadways
 it forms a basis to assess the impact of advancing vehicle
technologies on existing roadway design guidelines
 Page 60-75

Vehicle characteristics
Static Kinematic Dynamic
characteristics Characteristics Characteristics
• Gross weight • Acceleration • Air resistance
• Size of design capability of • Grade
vehicle the vehicle resistance
• Rolling
resistance
• Curve
resistance
 Page 60-63

Static vehicle characteristics

Design vehicle: Determines criteria for
all vehicles expected to be used on the
highway

Static characteristics

• Gross weight
• Size of design
vehicle
 Page 60-63

Static Characteristics
 Size of the design vehicle determines the design standards
for several physical components of the highway:
 Lane width
 Shoulder width
 Length and width of parking bays
 Lengths of vertical curves
 Axle weight important – pavement design & maximum
gradients
 Page 60-63
Static Characteristics
AASHTO selected general classes of vehicles for design
purposes based on height, width, length and Minimum and
Maximum Turning Radii:
 Passenger cars
 Utility vehicles, minivans, vans, pick-up trucks, etc.
 Buses
 Transit buses, school buses, etc.
 Trucks
 Single unit trucks, semitrailers, etc.
 Recreational vehicles
 Motor homes, camper trailers, etc.
 Page 63-71

Kinematic Characteristics
 Involve the motion of the vehicle
without considering the forces that
cause the motion) Kinematic
Characteristics
 Important in several traffic • Acceleration
operations. For example: capability of
 Passing maneuvers the vehicle
 Gap acceptance
 Freeway ramp and passing lane
dimensions
 Acceleration/deceleration
 Page 63-71

Example Minimum Turning Path

 Page 71-74

Vehicle characteristics
Involve the forces that cause the motion of the vehicle

Dynamic Characteristics

• Air resistance
• Grade resistance
• Rolling resistance
• Curve resistance
 Page 71-72

Air / Aerodynamic Resistance

 A vehicle has to overcome the resistance of the air in front
of it as well as the force due to the frictional action of the
air around it.
 Can have significant impacts on vehicle performance,
particularly at high speeds.
 Aerodynamic resistance originates from a number of
sources:
 Turbulent flow of air around the vehicle body (≈ 85%)
 Function of shape of vehicle, particularly the rear
 Friction of air passing over vehicle body (≈ 12%)
 Air flow through vehicle components such as radiators and
air vents (≈ 3%)
 Page 71-72

Air / Aerodynamic Resistance

 This force can be estimated by:

 Raα u2
as speed Ra

Km/h
 Page 71-72

Air / Aerodynamic Resistance

 Air density is a function of both elevation and temperature
 altitude,  density
 temperature,  density
 The drag coefficient implicitly accounts for all three of the
aerodynamic resistance sources previously discussed
The drag coefficient is measured from empirical data, either from
wind tunnel experiments or actual field tests in which a vehicle is
allowed to decelerate from a known speed with other sources of
resistance (rolling and grade) accounted for
 Page 72

Grade Resistance
 When the vehicle moves up a grade, a component of
the weight of the vehicle acts downward on the plane of
the highway
 This creates a force acting in the direction opposite to
the motion direction
 The grade resistance is determined simply as the
component of the vehicle weight acting parallel to the
roadway surface
 Page 72-73

Rolling Resistance
 These forces are mainly due to frictional effects on moving
parts of the vehicle includes vehicle’s internal mechanical
friction, and pneumatic tires and their interaction with the
roadway surface.
 Primary source (about 90%) of this resistance is the
deformation of the tire as it passes over the roadway surface.
 Tire penetration/roadway surface compression (about 4%)
 Tire slippage and air circulation around tire & wheel (about
6%)
 Page 72-73

Rolling Resistance
 Factors affecting Rr
 Rigidity of tire and roadway surface
 Tire inflation pressure and temperature
 Vehicle speed

 Due to wide range of factors that affect rolling resistance,

a simplifying approximation is used.
 Studies have shown that rolling resistance can be
approximated as the product of a friction term (coefficient
of rolling resistance) and the weight of the vehicle acting
normal to the roadway surface.
 Page 72-73
Rolling Resistance
 Rolling resistance force for passenger cars can be
determined from:
 Page 73-74

Curve Resistance
 When a passenger car is maneuvered to take a curve,
external forces act on the front wheels of the vehicle

 This resistance depends on:

 Radius of the curve
 Gross weight of the vehicle
 Velocity at which the vehicle is moving
 Page 74
Power Requirements
 The engine power required to overcome the resistive
forces is:

Forces acting on a climbing moving vehicle

Example 3.5 Vehicle Horsepower
Required to Overcome Resistance Page 74-75

Forces
Determine the horsepower produced by a passenger car
traveling at a speed of 105 km/h on a straight road of 5
percent grade with a smooth pavement. Assume the weight
of the car is 18 kN and the cross-sectional area of the car is
3.8 m2.
Example 3.5 Vehicle Horsepower
Required to Overcome Resistance Page 74-75

Forces
Solution:
The force produced by the car should be at least equal to the
sum of the acting resistance forces.
R = (air resistance) + (rolling resistance) + (upgrade
resistance)
Note: There is no curve resistance since the road is straight.
Example 3.5 Vehicle Horsepower
Required to Overcome Resistance Page 74-75

Forces
Solution:
Example 3.5 Vehicle Horsepower
Required to Overcome Resistance
Forces Page 74-75

Solution:

2047
 Page 75-77
Braking Distance: Need
 Horizontal distance needed for a vehicle to come to a
complete stop
 Action of the forces on a moving vehicle and the effect of
perception-reaction time are used in calculations
 Used to determine:
 Length of deceleration lane on freeways
 Distance of upstream of intersections / curves / obstacles
where breaking should start
 Braking Distance
Page 75-77

 Breaking distance (Db) generally

defined as the horizontal distance
required for a vehicle to stop
 Use of horizontal distance linked to
the use of maps in the process of
highway design (maps only show
horizontal distances)
 Surveying also records horizontal
distances
 Page 75-77

Braking Distance formula

A general equation for the braking
distance
𝑢2
𝐷𝑏 =
254(𝑓 ± 𝐺)

where the plus sign is for vehicles

traveling uphill, the minus sign is
for vehicles traveling downhill
 Page 75-77
Braking Distance formula
 Grade parameter On level terrain, G = 0
 Vehicle speed At stop, v = 0
 Coefficient of friction
 On wet pavement f = 0.30
 On dry pavement f = 0.60
 Coefficient of friction lower at higher speeds

 Engineering design based on wet pavement conditions

Example 3.6 Determining Page 78-79

Braking Distance
A student trying to test the braking ability of her car
determined that she needed 5.64m more to stop her car
when driving downhill on a road segment of 5 percent grade
than when driving downhill at the same speed along another
segment of 3 percent grade. Determine the speed at which
the student conducted her test and the braking distance on
the 5 percent grade if the student is traveling at the test
speed in the uphill direction.
Example 3.6 Determining Page 78-79

Braking Distance
Example 3.6 Determining Page 78-79

Braking Distance
Example 3.7 Exit Ramp Page 79

Deceleration Distance
A motorist traveling at 105 km/h on an expressway intends
to leave the expressway using an exit ramp with a maximum
speed of 56 km/h. At what point on the expressway should
the motorist step on her brakes in order to reduce her speed
to the maximum allowable on the ramp just before entering
the ramp, if this section of the expressway has a downgrade
of 3 percent?
Example 3.7 Exit Ramp Page 79

Deceleration Distance
Velocity estimation from Skid Page 80-81

marks
Example 3.9 Estimating the Speed Page 81

of a Vehicle from Skid Marks

In an attempt to estimate the speed of a vehicle just before
it hit a traffic signal pole, a traffic engineer measured the
length of the skid marks made by the vehicle and performed
trial runs at the site to obtain an estimate of the coefficient
of friction. Determine the estimated unknown velocity of the
vehicle when the brakes are applied if the following data
were obtained.
Length of skid marks = 178 m, 180 m, 177 m, and 181 m
Speed of trial run = 48 km/h
Distance traveled during trial run = 90 m
Examination of the vehicle just after the crash indicated that
the speed of impact was 56 km/h.
Example 3.9 Estimating the Speed Page 81

of a Vehicle from Skid Marks

Curve Superelevation
Only force to resist tendency to slide is
the force due to the side friction
between the vehicle’s tire and the
pavement

SOLUTION: Superelevation of curve

Banking of road cross-section to reduce
the tendency to slide (allows to use the
vehicle’s weight component along the
pavement to resist sliding)
 Curve Superelevation: Typical
Practice Values
Maximum rates of superelevation e
Highways in rural areas with no snow or ice  0.10
Highways in areas with snow or ice  0.08 to 0.10
Expressways in urban areas  0.08
Local urban roads  No superelevation due to low
speeds

AASHTO recommended design side friction fs

30mph = 0.16
40mph = 0.15
Source: http://683516636325254566.weebly.com/superelevation.html
50mph = 0.14
60mph = 0.12
70mph = 0.10
Minimum Radius of a Circular
Curve
Page 82-84

 When a vehicle is moving around a circular curve, there is

an outward radial force acting on the vehicle
This is usually referred to as the centrifugal force and can
be determined by:
Minimum Radius of a Circular Page 82-84

Curve

Minimum Radius of a Circular Page 82-84

Curve
Example: Min radius
calculations
What should be the minimum radius of a curve with
8% superelevation for a vehicle traveling at 120
km/h to avoid sliding with a coefficient of friction of
0.09 with the pavement.
Example: Min radius
calculations
Solution