Pavement vehicle interaction (PVI) is a concept that looks at the interaction between a vehicle’s tires and the roadway surface on which it is driving. It is also known as rolling resistance. Three factors relating to a road’s surface condition and structural properties contribute significantly to PVI: roughness, which refers to how bumpy or smooth a road is; texture, the abrasiveness of the road surface; and deflection, the bending of a pavement under the weight of a vehicle. Traffic patterns and temperature are influential factors as well.
PVI leads to excess fuel consumption (EFC), which is wasted fuel consumption beyond what is required to move a vehicle. EFC contributes to smog and greenhouse gas emissions and impacts drivers, states, and municipalities financially.
CSHub research has led to models that quantify excess fuel consumption due to PVI for pavement segments and pavement networks.
News
- The Hill: We’re overhauling our cars in the name of energy efficiency — why not our roads? (January 2024)
- Stiffer Roads Could Improve Truck Fuel Efficiency (MIT News, July 2020)
- Reading the heartbeat of the road (MIT News, February 2019)
- Well-maintained roadways improve fuel efficiency (MIT News, February 2016)
- Data-driven approach to pavement management lowers emissions (MIT News, July 2016)
- Civil engineers find savings where the rubber meets the road (MIT News, May 2012)
Topic Summaries
- Pavement Vehicle Interaction Information Sheet (July 2018)
- Lowering Vehicle Fuel Consumption and Emissions Through Better Pavement Design and Maintenance(October 2016)
Research Briefs
- Assessing Road Quality Using Crowdsourced Smartphone Measurements (July 2020)
- Analyzing Pavement-Vehicle Interaction through Bench-Top Experiments (August 2015)
- The Impact of Traffic Jams on PVI Estimates (May 2015)
- Mapping of Excess Fuel Consumption (December 2014)
- PVI Mechanistic Model Gen II (December 2013)
- PVI Mechanistic Model Refined (April 2013)
- Deterioration Induced Roughness in the US Network (February 2013)
- Potential Roadway Network Savings and PVI (July 2012)
- Network, Pavements and Fuel Consumption (April 2012)
- Smoothness Matters, But… (January 2012)
- When the Rubber Hits the Road (June 2011)
Publications
- Akbarian M., Moeini-Ardakani S.S., Ulm F.-J., Nazzal M., “Mechanistic Approach to Pavement-Vehicle Interaction and Its Impact on Life-Cycle Assessment,” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2306, Pages 171-179, 2012
- Akbarian, M., Kirchain, R., Gregory, J., & Ulm, FJ. “Probabilistic Evaluation of Pavement-Induced Excess Fuel Consumption Given Data Unavailability and Future Uncertainty,” Proceedings of Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting, 2018.
- Akbarian, Mehdi, et al. “Network Analysis of Virginia’s Interstate Pavement-Vehicle Interactions: Mapping of Roughness and Deflection-Induced Excess Fuel Consumption.” Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting. No. 15-5752. 2015.
- AzariJafari, H., Gregory, J., Kirchain, R. “Potential Contribution of Deflection-Induced Fuel Consumption to U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions”, Transportation Research Record, 2020.
- Booshehrian A., Louhghalam A., Khazanovich L., Ulm F-J. “Assessment of Pavement Deflection-Caused Fuel Consumption via FWD Data,” Transportation Research Board 95th Annual Meeting, No. 16-6246. 2016.
- Coleri, E., Harvey, J., Zaabar, I., Louhghalam, A., Chatti, K., “Model Development, Field Section Characterization, and Model Comparison for Excess Vehicle Fuel Use due to Pavement Structural Response” No. 16-6191. 2016.
- F. Giustozzi, F. Ponzoni, A. Louhghalam, R. Kirchain & J. Gregory (2018) “Sensitivity analysis of a deflection-induced pavement–vehicle interaction model, Road Materials and Pavement Design,” DOI: 10.1080/14680629.2018.1479288
- Louhghalam A., Akbarian M., Ulm F.-J., Pavement Infrastructures Footprint: The Impact of Pavement Properties on Vehicle Fuel Consumption, Euro-C 2014 conference: Computational Modeling of Concrete and Concrete Structures, 2014
- Louhghalam A., Akbarian M., Ulm, F-J. “Scaling Relationships of Dissipation-Induced Pavement-Vehicle Interactions” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board (2014), Issue 2457, Pages 95-104.
- Louhghalam A., Akbarian, M., Ulm F-J. “Carbon management of infrastructure performance: Integrated big data analytics and pavement-vehicle-interactions.” Journal of Cleaner Production. Volume 142, Part 2, 20 January 2017, Pages 956-964. 2016
- Louhghalam A., Akbarian, M., Ulm, Franz-Josef. “Flugge’s Conjecture: Dissipation- versus Deflection-Induced Pavement-Vehicle Interactions” Journal of Engineering Mechanics, Volume 140, Issue 8, Article Number 04014053, August 2014
- Louhghalam, A., Akbarian M., and Ulm F-J. “Roughness-induced pavement-vehicle interactions: Key parameters and impact on vehicle fuel consumption.” Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting. No. 15-2429. 2015.
- Louhghalam, A., Mazdak T., and Ulm F-J. “Roughness-Induced Vehicle Energy Dissipation: Statistical Analysis and Scaling.” Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 2015: 04015046.
- M. Akabarian, F. Ulm, X. Xu, R. Kirchain, J. Gregory, A. Louhghalam, J. Mack, “Overview of pavement life cycle assessment use phase research at the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub,” ASCE T&DI International Airfield and Highway Pavements Conference, Chicago, IL, July 21-24, 2019.
- Mack, J., Akbarian, M., Ulm, F-J. Louhghalam A. “Overview of Pavement Vehicle Interaction Related Research at the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub.” Presented at the 13th International Symposium on Concrete Pavements, Berlin, Germany, 2018.
- Santero N., Loijos A., Ochsendorf J., “Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Opportunities for Concrete Pavements,” Journal of Industrial Ecology, Volume 17, Issue 6, Pages 859–868, 2013
- Xin Xu, Mehdi Akbarian, Jeremy Gregory, Randolph Kirchain, “Role of the use phase and pavement-vehicle interaction in comparative pavement life cycle assessment as a function of context,” Journal of Cleaner Production, 2019.
- Xu, X., Akbarian, M., Gregory, J., Kirchain, R. “Role of the use phase and pavement-vehicle interaction in comparative pavement life cycle assessment as a function of context,” Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 230, 2019, Pages 1156-1164