Chapter 2. Road Vehicle Performance: Introduction and Resistance

Chapter 2.
Road Vehicle
Performance: Introduction and
Resistance
CE 122.
Traffic and Highway Engineering
Introduction
 Roadway design is governed by two
main factors:
 Vehicle capabilities
 acceleration/deceleration
 braking
 cornering (chap. 3)
Introduction
 Roadway design is governed by two
main factors:
 Human capabilities (chap. 2, chap. 3)
 perception/reaction times
 eyesight (peripheral range, height above
roadway)
Introduction
 Performance of road vehicles forms the
basis for roadway design guidelines
such as:
 length of acceleration / deceleration lanes
 maximum grades
Introduction
such as:
 stopping-sight distances
 passing-sight distances
Introduction
such as:
 setting speed limits
 timing of signalized intersections
Introduction
 Studying vehicle performance serves two
important purposes:
1. provides insight into roadway design and
traffic operations and the comproises that are
necessary to accommodate the wide variety of
vehicles that use roadways
Introduction
 Studying vehicle performance serves
two important purposes:
2.it forms a basis on which to assess the
impact of advancing vehicle
technologies on existing roadway design
guidelines
Tractive Effort and Resistance
 These are the opposing forces that
determine straight-line performance of
road vehicles
 Tractive effort is simply the force
available at the roadway surface to
perform work (expressed in [N])
 Resistance (expressed in [N]) is defined
as the force impeding vehicle
motion
 Three major sources of vehicle
resistance are:
 Aerodynamic
resistance are:
 Rolling (originates from the roadway
surface/tire interface)
resistance are:
 Grade or gravitational
 Illustration of forces with vehicle force diagram
Fig. 2.1
Ff + Fr = ma + Ra + Rrlf + Rrlr + Rg
F = ma + Ra + Rrl + Rg
Aerodynamic Resistance
 Can have significant impacts on vehicle
performance, particularly at high speeds.
 Aerodynamic resistance originates from a
number of sources:
 Turbulent flow of air around the vehicle body
(≈ 85%)
 Function of shape of vehicle, particularly the rear
 Friction of air passing over vehicle body (≈ 12%)
 Air flow through vehicle components such as
radiators and air vents (≈ 3%)
 Based on these sources, equation for
determining aerodynamic resistance is:

Ra  CD Af V 2 (Eq. 2.3)
2
Ra = aerodynamic resistance in N
ρ (rho) = air density in kg/m3
CD = coefficient of drag (unitless)
Af = frontal area of vehicle (projected area
of vehicle in direction of travel) in m2
V = vehicle speed* in m/s
* V is speed of vehicle relative to prevailing wind speed (we
will assume wind speed of zero for purposes of this class)
 Air density is a function of both
elevation and temperature (see text
Table 2.1).
  altitude,  density
  temperature,  density
 The drag coefficient is a term that implicitly
accounts for all three of the aerodynamic
resistance sources previously discussed
 The drag coefficient is measured from

empirical data, either from wind tunnel
experiments or actual field tests in which
a vehicle is allowed to decelerate from a
known speed with other sources of resistance
(rolling and grade) accounted for
 Table 2.2 gives an approximate range of the
drag coefficients for different types of road
vehicles
 Table 2.3 gives some drag coefficients for
various automobiles over the last 40+ years
 Has dropped from about 0.5 to mid 0.2’s for sedan
type vehicles
 Still in 0.4 – 0.5 range for SUVs and trucks
 As seen in equation 2.3, Ra is
proportional to V 2. Thus, this
resistance will increase rapidly with
increasing speed.

Ra  CD Af V 2 (Eq. 2.3)
2
 We can develop an expression for
determining the power needed to
overcome aerodynamic resistance
 Power is the product of force and speed, so
multiplying Eq. 2.3 by speed gives:

PRa  CD Af V 3 (Eq. 2.4)
2
Thus, the power required to overcome aerodynamic

resistance increases with the cube of speed.
Rolling Resistance
 Refers to the resistance generated from a
vehicle’s internal mechanical friction,
and pneumatic tires and their interaction
with the roadway surface.
 Primary source
(about 90%) of this
resistance is the
deformation of the tire
as it passes over the
roadway surface
Rolling Resistance
 Refers to the resistance generated from a
vehicle’s internal mechanical friction,
and pneumatic tires and their interaction
with the roadway surface.
 Tire penetration/roadway surface compression
(about 4%)
 Tire slippage and air circulation around tire &
wheel (about 6%)
Rolling Resistance
 Factors affecting Rrl
 Rigidity of tire and roadway surface
 Tire inflation pressure and temperature
 Vehicle speed
Rolling Resistance
 Due to wide range of factors that affect
rolling resistance, a simplifying approximation
is used.
 Studies have shown that rolling resistance

can be approximated as the product of a
friction term (coefficient of rolling resistance)
and the weight of the vehicle acting normal
to the roadway surface.
Rolling Resistance
 Coefficient of rolling resistance (frl) for
road vehicles operating on paved
surfaces is approximated as:
(Eq. 2.5)
 V 
f rl  0.011   with V in m/s
 44.73 
Rolling Resistance
 Thus, rolling resistance is approximated by:
Rrl  f rlW cos  g

 However, since grades are often small, the
equation is further simplified by assuming
cos g = 1 (giving a slightly more
conservative estimate), yielding:
Rrl  f rlW (Eq. 2.6)

Rolling Resistance
 To determine power required to
overcome rolling resistance, multiply
the previous equation by speed, which
yields:
(Eq. 2.7)
PRrl  f rlWV N-m/s

Grade Resistance
 Gravity, of course, can offer significant
resistance on inclines
 The grade resistance is determined

simply as the component of the vehicle
weight acting parallel to the roadway
surface
Grade Resistance
Rg  W sin  g

sin  g  tan  g

Rg  WG
(Eq. 2.9)

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Chapter 2.

 The drag coefficient is measured from

Thus, the power required to overcome aerodynamic

 Studies have shown that rolling resistance

Rrl  f rlW cos  g

Rrl  f rlW (Eq. 2.6)

PRrl  f rlWV N-m/s

 The grade resistance is determined

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