CE361 Introduction to

Transportation Engineering
Spring 2024

Road Vehicle Performance

Prof. Yiheng Feng

Lyles School of Civil Engineering
HAMP G131
feng333@purdue.edu

1
Vehicle Acceleration
▪ Recall Equation 2.2
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎 + 𝑅𝑎 + 𝑅𝑟𝑙 + 𝑅𝑔
▪ Here 𝐹 = min(𝐹𝑚𝑎𝑥 , 𝐹𝑒 ) -> available tractive effort
▪ Another term need to be added
𝐹 = 𝛾𝑚 𝑚𝑎 + 𝑅𝑎 + 𝑅𝑟𝑙 + 𝑅𝑔

▪ 𝛾𝑚 is called the mass factor, and accounts for the inertia of the vehicle’s
rotating parts that must be overcome during acceleration, and can be
approximated by:
γ𝑚 = 1.04 + 0.0025ε20 Eq. 2.20
▪ Finally, vehicle acceleration can be calculated as:

Eq. 2.19
𝐹 − ෍ 𝑅 = γ𝑚 𝑚𝑎

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Principles of Braking
▪ For roadway design and traffic analysis, vehicle braking
characteristics are the most important aspect of vehicle
performance.

▪ Braking performance is a key factor to the determination of:

• stopping-sight distance, which is one of the foundations of roadway
design
• the length of the yellow interval for signals

▪ Like we did for determining maximum tractive effort, we can

use a force and moment-generating diagram to determine
Fbf and Fbr (braking force, front and rear).

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Principles of Braking
Find the differences!!
Accelerating Braking

Vehicle forces and moment-generating distance

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Principles of Braking
▪ Taking moments about the front and rear axles (just like for max tractive
effort derivation), and assuming cos g = 1 for small roadway grades, the
normal loads on the front and rear axles are given by the following
equations:
1 Eq. 2.23
𝑊𝑓 = 𝑊𝑙𝑟 + ℎ 𝑚𝑎 − 𝑅𝑎 ± 𝑊sin𝜃𝑔
𝐿
1 Eq. 2.24
𝑊𝑟 = 𝑊𝑙𝑓 − ℎ 𝑚𝑎 − 𝑅𝑎 ± sin𝜃𝑔
𝐿
▪ Grade resistance (W sin g) is negative for uphill grades and positive for
downhill grades

▪ These equations are identical to their tractive effort equation

counterparts (eq. 2.10 for Wr), except that ‘ma’ is of the opposite sign

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Principles of Braking
▪ Summing forces along the vehicle’s longitudinal axis gives:
𝐹𝑏 + 𝑓𝑟𝑙 𝑊 = 𝑚𝑎 − 𝑅𝑎 ± 𝑊 sin𝜃𝑔 Eq. 2.25
where: Fb = Fbf + Fbr
▪ Substituting this equation (2.25) into the previous two equations (2.23,
2.24) yields the following equations:
1 Eq. 2.26
𝑊𝑓 = 𝑊𝑙𝑟 + ℎ 𝐹𝑏 + 𝑓𝑟𝑙 𝑊
𝐿
1 Eq. 2.27
𝑊𝑟 = 𝑊𝑙𝑓 − ℎ 𝐹𝑏 + 𝑓𝑟𝑙 𝑊
𝐿
▪ Similarly, the maximum vehicle braking force (Fb max) is equal to the
coefficient of road adhesion times the weights normal to the roadway
surface:
𝐹𝑏𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝜇𝑊𝑓 (front braking force)
𝐹𝑏𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝜇𝑊𝑟 (rear braking force)
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Principles of Braking
▪ Substituting Eqs. 2.26 and 2.27 gives:
𝜇𝑊
𝐹𝑏𝑓 max = 𝑙𝑟 + ℎ 𝜇 + 𝑓𝑟𝑙 Eq. 2.28
𝐿
𝜇𝑊
𝐹𝑏𝑟 max = 𝑙 − ℎ 𝜇 + 𝑓𝑟𝑙 Eq. 2.29
𝐿 𝑓
▪ Note: the maximum braking force happens at the point of impending
slide.
▪ If the tries begin to slide (i.e., the brakes lock), a significant reduction in
road adhesion will result.
Coefficient of Road Adhesion
Pavement Maximum Slide
Good, dry 1.00* 0.80
Good, wet 0.90 0.60
Poor, dry 0.80 0.55
Poor, wet 0.60 0.30
Packed snow or ice 0.25 0.10
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Braking Force Ratio and Efficiency
▪ Summation of Eq. 2.28 and 2.29, the maximum braking force of the
vehicle is:
𝐹𝑏𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝜇𝑊

▪ As a result, the maximum attainable vehicle deceleration is equal to 𝜇𝑔

(similar as the maximum acceleration)

▪ To approach this maximum vehicle deceleration, vehicle braking systems

must correctly distribute braking forces between the vehicle’s front and
rear brakes based on their maximum braking forces

▪ If we define the ratio of break forces between the front wheel and rear
wheel as:
𝐹𝑏𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑙𝑟 + ℎ(𝜇 + 𝑓𝑟𝑙 )
𝐵𝐹𝑅𝑓/𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝐵𝐹𝑅𝑓/𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
𝐹𝑏𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑙𝑓 − ℎ(𝜇 + 𝑓𝑟𝑙 ) Eq. 2.30

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Braking Force Ratio and Efficiency
▪ It is clear from Eq. 2.30 that the design of a vehicle’s braking system is
not an easy task because the optimal brake-force proportioning changes
with both vehicle and road conditions.
• Passenger and cargo loading conditions, especially for trucks, is a major factor
• Changes in road conditions produce different coefficients of road adhesion

▪ Because of these uncertainties, vehicle designers often choose brake

force proportioning that is good on average, but rarely optimal

▪ Because true optimal brake-force proportioning is seldom achieved in

standard non-antilock braking systems, we use a term that reflects the
degree to which the braking system is operating below optimal.

▪ Antilock braking system (ABS)

• Prevent the coefficient of road adhesion from dropping to slide values
• Increase breaking efficiency

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Braking Efficiency

Light Truck Passenger Car

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Antilock braking system (ABS)

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In Class Problem

Road Vehicle Performance - Braking

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In Class Problem
𝑙𝑟 +ℎ 𝜇+𝑓𝑟𝑙
Optimal Braking Force Ratio: 𝐵𝐹𝑅𝑓/𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
𝑙𝑓 −ℎ 𝜇+𝑓𝑟𝑙
Percentage of braking force that the braking system should allocate to
100
The front axle: 𝑃𝐵𝐹𝑓 = 100 −
1+𝐵𝐹𝑅𝑓/𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑥
100
The rear axle: 𝑃𝐵𝐹𝑟 =
1+𝐵𝐹𝑅𝑓/𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑥

A race car with a 106-inch wheelbase has its weight evenly distributed
between front and rear axles. At 150 mph, on a race track with 𝝁 = 𝟏. 𝟎,
the optimal brake force has 67.23% of the braking force on the front
brakes. A new racing tire generates 𝝁𝒏𝒆𝒘 = 𝟏. 𝟐. At 150 mph, what
percentage of the braking force should now be allocated to the front to
achieve optimal braking?

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In Class Problem
▪ Step 1: Calculate the coefficient of rolling resistance.

▪ Step 2: Determine optimal braking force ratio (𝐵𝐹𝑅𝑓/𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑥 ) based on

the original condition

▪ Step 3: Find h based on original 𝐵𝐹𝑅𝑓/𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑥

▪ Step 4: Calculate 𝑃𝐵𝐹𝑓 under the new condition

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