ROAD-DAMAGING POTENTIAL OF MEASURED DYNAMIC TYRE FORCES IN MIXED TRAFFIC

A series of tests was conducted on a British trunk road in which the d ynamic tyre forces generated by approximately 1500 heavy goods vehicle s (HGVs) were measured using a load measuring mat containing 144 capac itive strip sensors. The data were used to investigate the relative ro ad-damaging potential of the various classes of vehicles. Air suspensi ons were found to be more effective at static load equalization than s teel suspensions. Two criteria were used to rank axle groups in terms of road damage: the average dynamic toad coefficient and the 95th perc entile aggregate fourth-power force. These criteria were found to rank axle groups in different orders, due to spatial correlation between t yre forces. On average, air suspended vehicles were found to generate smaller dynamic loads and hence less road damage than steel suspended vehicles. However, some air suspensions with inadequate suspension dam ping were found to generate very high dynamic loads and consequently v ery high levels of road damage.