Implications of as‐built highway horizontal curves on vehicle dynamics/kinematics characteristics under adaptive cruise control

Due to road curvature and sensors’ limited field of view, as‐built highway curves would pose an operational challenge to the adaptive cruise control (ACC) system and its shared control. However, very few studies explored the adaptability of ACC system‐dedicated vehicles (V‐ACC) considering the vehicle‐road geometry interaction. Therefore, the objectives of this study are twofold: (i) investigating the implications of horizontal curves on V‐ACC dynamics and kinematics characteristics; and (ii) evaluating V‐ACC's adaptability from the safety, comfort, and speed consistency (S‐C‐S) aspects. To this end, a PreScan/CarSim/MATLAB/Simulink co‐simulation platform is established and it is validated by OpenACC database followed by designing many tests featuring circular curve radius (R_C), desired speed (V_de), and clearance. The impact mechanism of geometric features was analysed by interpreting dynamics and kinematics characteristics along curves and critical features were further extracted by reference to S‐C‐S thresholds. The results show that: (i) either smaller R_C or higher V_de causes those characteristics toward their S‐C‐S margins; (ii) neither sideslip nor rollover occurs, and speed consistency is good in most R_C conditions; and (iii) drivers can follow the leading car comfortably with V_de = 40, 80–100 km/h but feel uncomfortable when V_de = 50–70 km/h and R_C approaches its lower bounds.