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Environmental and economic impact of using new-generation wide-base tires

  • ROADWAYS AND INFRASTRUCTURE
  • Published:
The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

New-generation wide-base tire (NG-WBT) is known for improving fuel economy and at the same time for potentially causing a greater damage to pavement. No study has been conducted to evaluate the net environmental saving of the combined system of pavements and NG-WBT. This study adopted a holistic approach (life cycle assessment [LCA] and life cycle costing [LCC]) to quantitatively evaluate the environmental and economic impact of using NG-WBT.

Methods

The net effect of different levels of market penetration of NG-WBT on energy consumption, global warming potential (GWP), and cost based on the fatigue cracking and rutting performance of two different asphalt concrete (AC) pavement structures was evaluated. The performance of pavements was determined based on pavement design lives; pavement surface characteristics, and pavement critical strain responses obtained from the artificial neural network (ANN) based on finite element (FE) simulations were used to calculate design lives of pavements. Based on the calculated design lives, life cycle inventory (LCI) and cost databases, and rolling resistance (RR) models previously developed by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) were used to calculate the environmental and economic impact of the combined system.

Results and discussion

The fuel economy improvement using NG-WBT is 1.5% per axle. Scenario-based case studies were conducted. Considering 0% NG-WBT market penetration (or 100% standard dual tire assembly [DTA]) as a baseline, scenario 1 assumed the same fatigue and rutting potential between NG-WBT and DTA; therefore, the only difference came from fuel economy improvement of using NG-WBT. In scenario 2, pavement fatigue cracking potential determined the pavement design life; both thick and thin AC overlay sections experienced positive net environmental savings, but mixed net economic savings. In scenario 3, pavement rutting potential determined the pavement design life; the thick AC overlay section experienced positive net environmental savings, but mixed net economic savings. The thin section experienced negative net environmental and economic savings.

Conclusions

The outcomes of scenario-based case studies indicated that NG-WBT can result in significant savings in life cycle energy consumption and cost, and GWP; however, these benefits were sensitive to the method used to determine the pavement performance; especially, a small change in pavement strain can result in significant change in pavement life. In addition, the effect of fuel price/economy improvement, discount rate, and International Roughness Index (IRI) threshold values was studied in the sensitivity analyses.

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Abbreviations

AC:

Asphalt concrete

AI:

Asphalt Institute

ANN:

Artificial neural network

DTA:

Dual tire assembly

EI:

Ecoinvent

FE:

Finite element

GHG:

Greenhouse gas

GWP:

Global warming potential

IRI:

International roughness index

LCC:

Life cycle costing

LCI:

Life cycle inventory

MPD:

Mean profile depth

NG-WBT:

New-generation wide-base tire

RAP:

Reclaimed asphalt pavement

RR:

Rolling resistance

UIUC:

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Acknowledgements

Authors are representatives of the Illinois Center for Transportation (ICT), and UCPRC.

Funding

This project is funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA); inputs provided by Eric Weaver from the FHWA are greatly appreciated.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 205 N Mathews MC-250, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Seunggu Kang, Imad L. Al-Qadi & Hasan Ozer

  2. SmartDrive Systems, 4790 Eastgate Mall, San Diego, CA, 92121, USA

    Mojtaba Ziyadi

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Davis, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    John T. Harvey

Authors
  1. Seunggu Kang
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  2. Imad L. Al-Qadi
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  3. Hasan Ozer
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  4. Mojtaba Ziyadi
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  5. John T. Harvey
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seunggu Kang.

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The contents of this report reflect the view of authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official view of policies of the FHWA, ICT, or UCPRC. This paper does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulations.

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Responsible editor: Omer Tatari

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Kang, S., Al-Qadi, I.L., Ozer, H. et al. Environmental and economic impact of using new-generation wide-base tires. Int J Life Cycle Assess 24, 753–766 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-018-1480-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-018-1480-6

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