To mitigate traffic oscillation in mixed traffic flow environments, which reduces
road capacity and may lead to traffic accidents, this article innovatively
proposes a periodic-configuration vehicular platoon to enhance traffic
stability, inspired by the vibration attenuation properties of periodic
structures. First, the vehicular platoon model is developed based on the
periodic structure principle, and the lumped mass method is applied to derive
the platoon spacing transfer matrix. Second, the band gap range is calculated
based on the common traffic oscillation frequency by appropriately designing the
period parameters in the periodic-configuration vehicular platoon. Additionally,
the influence of these period parameters on the band gap range is analyzed.
Finally, simulation experiments are conducted to analyze the propagation
characteristics of traffic oscillations within the platoon, and the relative
position diagrams of vehicles in the platoon are obtained. To validate the
effectiveness of the periodic-configuration vehicular platoon in mitigating
traffic oscillations, a comparative analysis of traffic oscillation suppression
is performed between periodic and non-periodic-configuration platoons. The
results indicate that, for a vehicular platoon consisting of twenty vehicles,
the proposed periodic-configuration platoon can suppress the propagation of
traffic oscillations, and the suppression effect is up to 65%. The
periodic-configuration vehicular platoon can adjust control parameters for
specific frequencies of traffic oscillations to achieve improved traffic
flow.
