TY - JOUR
T1 - Truck platooning to minimize load-induced fatigue in steel girder bridges
AU - Braguim, Thales Couto
AU - Lou, Peng
AU - Nassif, Hani
N1 - Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study is sponsored by New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) through the Bridge Resource Program (BRP), Task Order (TO) 349 / Contract ID Number 17-60139 / Federal Project Number Z240D00S001, and Connected Cities for Smart Mobility towards Accessible and Resilient Transportation (C2SMART) Tier 1 University Transportation Center at New York University, Path-Through Entity (PTE) Federal Award No. 69A3551747124. Funding Information: The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT). The help and support from the late Eddy Germain (passed away in April 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis), Ali Najem, Xiaohua (Hannah) Cheng, and Ankur Patel in Bureau of Structural Engineering, are greatly appreciated. The authors would also like to acknowledge the support of the Connected Cities for Smart Mobility towards Accessible and Resilient Transportation (C2SMART) Tier 1 University Transportation Center at New York University. Publisher Copyright: © National Academy of Sciences: Transportation Research Board 2020.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Truck platooning has been demonstrated to possess several advantages in relation to energy savings. To implement this technology in the future, a better understanding of the effects of truck platooning on bridges is needed in relation to safety, serviceability, and remaining service life. This research aims at investigating the effects of truck platooning on the fatigue of steel girder bridges. Different types of platoons are simulated in line girder analysis for simple spans and two-equal continuous spans bridges. Then the rainflow counting method is applied to obtain the stress ranges and cycles. Miner’s rule is used to quantify the fatigue damage. The fatigue damage of different platoons is normalized by American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials Load and Resistance Factor Design Fatigue Load for comparison. The effects of the number of trucks and gap distances of truck platoons are further investigated. In some cases, truck platooning helps decrease the fatigue damage since, although truck platooning brings higher load effects, it also decreases the number of cycles. For platoons with different truck wheelbases, there are specific span to wheelbase ratios, beyond which fatigue damage decreases as gap distance increases. In addition, depending on the platoon configurations, there are ranges of span lengths where it is more beneficial to travel as truck platoons rather than traveling individually in relation to fatigue damage.
AB - Truck platooning has been demonstrated to possess several advantages in relation to energy savings. To implement this technology in the future, a better understanding of the effects of truck platooning on bridges is needed in relation to safety, serviceability, and remaining service life. This research aims at investigating the effects of truck platooning on the fatigue of steel girder bridges. Different types of platoons are simulated in line girder analysis for simple spans and two-equal continuous spans bridges. Then the rainflow counting method is applied to obtain the stress ranges and cycles. Miner’s rule is used to quantify the fatigue damage. The fatigue damage of different platoons is normalized by American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials Load and Resistance Factor Design Fatigue Load for comparison. The effects of the number of trucks and gap distances of truck platoons are further investigated. In some cases, truck platooning helps decrease the fatigue damage since, although truck platooning brings higher load effects, it also decreases the number of cycles. For platoons with different truck wheelbases, there are specific span to wheelbase ratios, beyond which fatigue damage decreases as gap distance increases. In addition, depending on the platoon configurations, there are ranges of span lengths where it is more beneficial to travel as truck platoons rather than traveling individually in relation to fatigue damage.
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U2 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198120973657
DO - https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198120973657
M3 - Article
SN - 0361-1981
VL - 2675
SP - 146
EP - 154
JO - Transportation Research Record
JF - Transportation Research Record
IS - 4
ER -