Closed-form solution of road roughness-induced vehicle energy dissipation

A major contributor to rolling resistance is road roughness-induced energy dissipation in vehicle suspension systems. We identify the parameters driving this dissipation via a combination of dimensional analysis and asymptotic analysis. We begin with a mechanistic model and basic random vibration theory to relate the statistics of road roughness profile and the dynamic properties of the vehicle to dissipated energy. Asymptotic analysis is then used to unravel the dependence of the dissipation on key vehicle and road characteristics. Finally, closed form expressions and scaling relations are developed that permit a straightforward application of the proposed road-vehicle interaction model for evaluating network-level environmental footprint associated with roughness-induced energy dissipation.