Sliding Friction of a Smooth Tire on Rough Moist Pavement Surface - Evaluation of Two Prediction Methods

Analytical and numerical tools that can provide reliable and accurate estimates of wet pavement frictional resistance would preclude the need for time consuming field tests and be invaluable in friction management programs. Therefore, many research efforts have been made to develop such tire pavement friction predictive tools. However, due to the complexity of the problem, most existing tools are developed based on several assumptions while their predictions are not verified with field data. This study is focused on the evaluation of two particular prediction methods that can be used to predict friction on a smooth tire sliding on a rough moist pavement by comparing the corresponding predictions with the results of field experiments. A 3-dimensional finite element model (FEM) formulated in ANSYS software and an analytical method based on computing hysteresis friction from viscous energy dissipation are the two methods considered in this study. Both prediction tools are capable of rough pavement surface texture while the FEM method can even incorporate the tire geometric and material properties. Predictions of the two methods based on the macrotexture data on a selected test surface provide reasonably accurate results when compared to the corresponding field evaluation. The main finding of the investigation is the availability of relatively easily executed analytical methodologies that are comparable in accuracy to more rigorous finite element tools.