Can Dynamic Tire Forces Be Used as a Criterion of Pavement Condition : Technical Paper:

Abstract

A vehicle moving over a perfectly smooth pavement will in general exert only the static wheel loadings upon the highway, Unevenness in the pavement profile will, however, induce vertical motion in the vehicle and this will produce fluctuating force components that will be superimposed upon the static wheel loads. These fluctuating force components are referred to in this paper as the dynamic tire forces . The question is raised as to whether or not they can serve as a criterion of pavement condition. In this investigation the dynamic tire force was measured continuously as a test vehicle moved along the pavement and the resulting force records were analyzed to obtain the root mean square value of the dynamic tire force. In certain cases the frequency of occurrence of certain magnitudes of the force was determined. The effects of vehicle velocity and tire inflation pressure upon the dynamic force were briefly investigated.