Safety Comparison of Simple and Spiral Horizontal Curves Based on Side Friction Factor Dynamic Modeling

Abstract

A horizontal curve’s geometric design is considered an important factor in highway accidents, and simple and spiral curves are regarded as the most common types of horizontal curves. Various factors affect the safety of horizontal curves, one of the most important of which is the side friction factor in the horizontal curves. Therefore, in this study, the safety of simple and spiral horizontal curves was investigated for the E-class sedan, E-class SUV, and two-axle conventional truck based on the side friction factor. In this regard, CarSim and TruckSim vehicle dynamic simulation software were utilized using 360 scenarios, including vehicle speed, vehicle type, curve radius, and road geometry. It was revealed that the maximum side friction factor for all vehicles in the simple horizontal curve was higher than the spiral horizontal curve. Also, the process of increasing the side friction factor was carried out with a gentler slope in the spiral horizontal curve. Except for the radius of 0.7 times the maximum radius of the spiral horizontal curve (R) for the truck and the radii of 0.7 R and 0.9 R for the sedan and SUV, the maximum side friction factor in simple and spiral horizontal curves was lower than the AASHTO recommended values, which shows that the spiral horizontal curve was better and safer compared to the simple horizontal curve based on the side friction factor.