Evaluation of the Impact of Inductive Charging Coils on Pavement Response in an Instrumented Test Pit

The popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) has led to the integration of inductive charging systems into road pavements. Nonetheless, the incorporation of inductive charging coils within the pavement structure poses potential implications for the road’s overall performance and structural integrity. This study evaluates the impact of inductive charging coils integrated into road pavements using a heavy vehicle simulator (HVS) on a laboratory test pit at Laval University. The test pit consists of three sections: a control section representing the standard Québec pavement structure, and two sections with inductive charging coils. Various sensors, including strain gauges, load cells, temperature sensors, and humidity probes, were strategically installed to monitor the behavior of each pavement component, from the surface course to the underlying soil. The chapter presents the stress measured at the top of the granular base layer of two of the pit’s sections when submitted to a standard truck dynamic load at different temperatures and in low water table conditions.