Rapid 3D Measurement of Tire–Pavement True Contact Texture and Its Implications for Skid Resistance

Accurate characterization of the true tire–pavement contact state is essential for understanding pavement friction; yet conventional texture indicators and nominal contact assumptions cannot directly represent the actual interfacial interaction between rubber and pavement. This study proposes a rapid and non-destructive method for measuring three-dimensional tire–pavement true contact texture under different loads. A materials testing system was used to apply controlled loads to a rubber pad–carbon paper–pavement assembly, and the resulting imprints were combined with three-dimensional laser profilometer data and support-curve-based slicing to determine the real contact area ratio, penetration texture depth, and self-affine fractal dimension. Tests on nine asphalt pavement samples under loads from 5 to 20 kN showed that the real contact area ratio increased with load but remained below 40% at 20 kN. The predicted contact area from the reconstructed 3D texture agreed well with the imprint-based results, with an absolute error not exceeding 2.59%. Penetration texture depth showed a stronger relationship with skid resistance than fractal dimension. The proposed method provides a practical means of capturing effective tire–pavement contact parameters and offers useful inputs for laboratory-based skid resistance evaluation and texture-informed friction modeling.