Effective lane width analysis for autonomous trucks

Abstract

Lateral wander of autonomous truck can be further improved by optimizing the uniform wander. Increase in available lane width for the autonomous trucks can increase the performance efficiency of this mode. This research is based on finding the optimum, combination of lane width increment and asphalt layer thickness reduction among different scenarios. Therefore, In this research with assumed maximum lane width of 4.35 m, difference combination of lane width and asphalt layer thickness scenarios have been analyzed using finite element modelling in ABAQUS. Considering the base pavement width of 3.75 m, increment for each scenario is 15 cm and reduction in asphalt layer thickness is at 2 cm. Performance efficiency of each scenario is conducted while considering the initial construction costs and damage assessment for each scenario. Moreover, life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is conducted for the base scenario and selected optimum scenario. Results show that increase in pavement width beyond 4.2 m, renders the scenarios uneconomical and thus, the scenario consisting of 4.2 m lane width and 16 cm asphalt layer thickness yield a maximum performance efficiency of 20% among all other alternatives. LCCA analysis shows that a difference in salvage value of 42 million Euros exists when compared with the base scenario. By selecting the optimum lane width of 4.2 m and asphalt layer thickness of 16 cm, Pavement lifetime can be further increased by 13 years with full depth reclamation used as maintenance intervention.