Evaluation of Tire Rolling Resistance from Tire-Deformable Pavement Interaction Modeling

Energy dissipation due to tire rolling resistance has been widely recognized as a major component of vehicle energy loss and greenhouse gas emission. The objective of this study is to evaluate tire rolling resistance based on numerical modeling of tire-pavement interaction. A coupled three-dimensional (3D) tire-pavement interaction model was developed to predict tire rolling resistance on deformable pavement structures under various tire temperature and loading conditions. The stress and strain profiles of tire components were obtained and used to calculate hysteresis loss energy for representing the tire rolling resistance. The model results were compared and validated through experimental measurements obtained from drum tests. The tire rolling resistance coefficients were found to be 1.018% for passenger car tires and 0.569% for truck tires, which are consistent with field test measurements on the asphalt pavement surface with low texture depth. The analysis results show that asphalt pavement deflection may not be an influential factor on tire rolling resistance as asphalt layer thickness or modulus changes. In contrast, tire rolling resistance was significantly affected by tire temperature, vertical load, and inflation pressure. These findings can be further used to quantify the impact of the pavement-use phase on fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emission in the life-cycle assessment of pavement systems.