Impact of road roughness features on damage to transported goods

In this paper, we propose a novel approach to estimate the damage induced to transported goods by roughness features. The approach proposed herein uses a mechanistic-empirical approach to conduct product fragility assessment using numerical modeling of vehicle and product vibration response. A half-truck model was used to simulate vehicle vibrations. The principle of conservation of momentum (inelastic shocks) was used to estimate damage to goods. The analysis of three case studies for horticultural produce showed that: air suspensions cause less damage to the transported goods than steel suspensions; shorter spacing between faults in jointed concrete pavements will cause less damage to the transported goods in trucks with steel suspension; low speed will cause more damage to transported goods in trucks with steel suspensions than higher speed; and more breaks on the road will cause more damage to the transported goods. The approach reported in this paper could help in better estimating vehicle operating costs at the project and network levels.