Pavements are 3D in their shape. They can be captured in
three dimensions by modern road mapping equipment which
allows for the assessment of pavement evenness in a more
holistic way as opposed to current practice. It makes sense to
use 3D vehicle models to simulate the effects of 3D surface
data on certain functional criteria like pavement loading,
cargo loading and driving comfort.
In order to evaluate the three criteria mentioned two vehicle
modelshave beencreated: a passenger carused to assess driving
comfort and a truck-semitrailer submodel used to assess pavement
and cargo loading. The 3D vehicle models and their application
to 3D surface data are presented to assess the pavement
evenness. The results are well in line with existing single-track
(planar) models. Their advantage over 1D/2D models is demonstrated
by the example of driving comfort evaluation.
Existing “geometric” limit values for the assessment of
longitudinal evenness in terms of the power spectral density
could be used to establish corresponding limit values for the
dynamic response, i.e. driving comfort, pavement- and cargo
loading. The limit values are well in line with existing limit
values based on planar vehicle models. They can be used as
guidelines for the proposal of future limit values.The investigations show that the use of 3D vehicle models
is an appropriate and meaningful way of assessing 3D pavement
evenness data gathered by modern road mapping
systems.