Title: Method for determining the effect of road surface condition on the fuel consumption for heavy vehicles from vehicle measurements

Authors: Ville Pirnes; Perttu Niskanen; Jonne Untinen; Juho Könnö

Addresses: Department of Vehicle and Mobile Machinery Engineering, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 8000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland ' Department of Vehicle and Mobile Machinery Engineering, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 8000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland ' Department of Vehicle and Mobile Machinery Engineering, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 8000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland ' Department of Vehicle and Mobile Machinery Engineering, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 8000, FI-90014, Oulu, Finland

Abstract: The effect of road surface condition on the total fuel consumption of heavy trucks is still a largely insufficiently researched area. In this study, we focus particularly on the effect of renewed road surface on fuel consumption, taking into account the changes in driving behaviour. Experimental tests were made on typical Finnish asphalt-surfaced roads with a 60-ton vehicle combination. The first measurement round was in June 2020 and the second measurement round was in August 2020. The road surface was renewed between the measurements. In this study, an algorithm was developed, which chooses comparable consumption results from divided road sections. The results show that the fuel consumption is reduced with the new road surface if the driver's driving profile is the same. However, the measurements also showed that driving speed is likely to be higher on new road surface which can cause higher fuel consumption than on unrepaired roads.

Keywords: fuel consumption; road surface condition; heavy vehicle combination; vehicle measurements; heavy vehicle combinations; road surface renewal; driving behaviour; algorithms; driving profile; driving resistances.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHVS.2024.138398

International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2024 Vol.31 No.3, pp.371 - 385

Received: 03 Feb 2023
Accepted: 29 Apr 2023
Published online: 02 May 2024 *

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