Relative Flexible Pavement Distress Caused by Heavy-Duty Electric Trucks

The global shift toward vehicle electrification and the expansion of charging infrastructure are essential for decarbonizing the transportation sector. However, agencies worldwide remain uncertain about the adequacy of the current road infrastructure to meet the emerging demands of heavy-duty electric vehicles (HDEVs). Increasing axle loads caused by battery placement and relatively higher torque are among the most notable changes affecting roadways. This study investigated the impact of HDEV on flexible pavements. Common pavement structures representing interstate, arterial, rural, and state roadways in the U.S. were considered. Finite element models were developed to analyze the influence of the tire load magnitude and slip ratio on pavement responses, particularly critical strains. It was found that increased load generated higher strains along the depth, whereas slip ratio mainly affected near-surface responses, such as the longitudinal shear strain. Transfer functions were used to evaluate bottom-up cracking, top-down cracking, shoving, and rutting, utilizing the critical strains as inputs. The impact of HDEV loading and acceleration was quantified relative to an internal combustion engine vehicle. While higher loads aggravated pavement distresses, only shoving was exacerbated by higher slip ratios. Cumulative distress ratios were calculated to quantify the combined effect of select distresses, where higher loads induced a faster rate to failure. Conversely, slip ratio predominantly influenced the near-depth region of full-depth and stone matrix asphalt (SMA)-overlay sections.