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Article

Estimation of the Kinetic Coefficient of Friction of Asphalt Pavements Using the Top Topography Surface Roughness Power Spectrum

1
Bowen Construction Co. Ltd., Kunming 650217, China
2
Faculty of Transportation Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Materials 2025, 18(15), 3643; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18153643 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 25 May 2025 / Revised: 19 July 2025 / Accepted: 24 July 2025 / Published: 2 August 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Construction and Building Materials)

Abstract

This study proposes a method for estimating the kinetic coefficient of friction (COF) for asphalt pavements by improving and applying Persson’s friction theory. The method utilizes the power spectral density (PSD) of the top surface topography instead of the full PSD to better reflect the actual contact conditions. This approach avoids including deeper roughness components that do not contribute to real rubber–pavement contact due to surface skewness. The key aspect of the method is determining an appropriate cutting plane to isolate the top surface. Four cutting strategies were evaluated. Results show that the cutting plane defined at 0.5 times the root mean square (RMS) height exhibits the highest robustness across all pavement types, with the estimated COF closely matching the measured values for all four tested surfaces. This study presents an improved method for estimating the kinetic coefficient of friction (COF) of asphalt pavements by employing the power spectral density (PSD) of the top surface roughness, rather than the total surface profile. This refinement is based on Persson’s friction theory and aims to exclude the influence of deep surface irregularities that do not make actual contact with the rubber interface. The core of the method lies in defining an appropriate cutting plane to isolate the topographical features that contribute most to frictional interactions. Four cutting strategies were investigated. Among them, the cutting plane positioned at 0.5 times the root mean square (RMS) height demonstrated the best overall applicability. COF estimates derived from this method showed strong consistency with experimentally measured values across all four tested asphalt pavement surfaces, indicating its robustness and practical potential.
Keywords: asphalt pavement; surface texture; rubber friction; top topography; kinetic coefficient of friction; power spectrum asphalt pavement; surface texture; rubber friction; top topography; kinetic coefficient of friction; power spectrum

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MDPI and ACS Style

Sun, B.; Luo, H.; Rong, Y.; Yang, Y. Estimation of the Kinetic Coefficient of Friction of Asphalt Pavements Using the Top Topography Surface Roughness Power Spectrum. Materials 2025, 18, 3643. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18153643

AMA Style

Sun B, Luo H, Rong Y, Yang Y. Estimation of the Kinetic Coefficient of Friction of Asphalt Pavements Using the Top Topography Surface Roughness Power Spectrum. Materials. 2025; 18(15):3643. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18153643

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sun, Bo, Haoyuan Luo, Yibo Rong, and Yanqin Yang. 2025. "Estimation of the Kinetic Coefficient of Friction of Asphalt Pavements Using the Top Topography Surface Roughness Power Spectrum" Materials 18, no. 15: 3643. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18153643

APA Style

Sun, B., Luo, H., Rong, Y., & Yang, Y. (2025). Estimation of the Kinetic Coefficient of Friction of Asphalt Pavements Using the Top Topography Surface Roughness Power Spectrum. Materials, 18(15), 3643. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18153643

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