  This paper applies a classical physics-based model to control platooning AVs
in a commercial traffic simulation software. In Spring-Mass-Damper model, each
vehicle is assumed as a mass coupled with its preceding vehicle with a spring
and a damper: the spring constant and damper coefficient control spacing and
speed adoption between vehicles. Limitations on platooning-oriented
communication range and number of vehicles in each platoon are applied to the
model to reflect real-world circumstances and avoid overlengthened platoons.
The SMD model control both intra-platoon and inter-platoon interactions.
Initial evaluation of the model reveals that the SMD model does not cause a
negative spacing error between AVs in a harsh deceleration scenario,
guaranteeing safety. Besides that, the SMD model produces a smaller positive
average spacing error than VISSIM built-in platooning module, which prevents
maximum throughput drop. The simulation result for a regular highway section
reveals that the proposed platooning algorithm increases the maximum throughput
by 10%, 29%, and 63% under 10%, 50%, and full market penetration rate of AVs
with 0.5 sec response time. A merging section with different volume
combinations on the main section and merging section and different market
penetration rates of AVs is also modeled to test inter-platoon spacing policy
effectiveness in accommodating merging vehicles. Travel time reductions of 20%
and 4% are gained under low MPR of AVs on the mainlane and merging lane
accordingly. Meanwhile, a more noticeable travel time reduction is observed in
both mainline and merging lanes and under all volume combinations in higher
AVs' MPR.
