Car following models for alleviating the degeneration of CACC function of CAVs in weak platoon intensity

To alleviate the performance degeneration of the cooperative adaptive cruising control (CACC) of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) with low market penetration rates (MPRs), it is necessary to resolve the performance degeneration of CAVs operating at weak mixed-platoon intensities for any-MPR CAVs. A car following model (PMCC) for CAVs is proposed, accounting for human reaction time, communication delay, traffic information memory, and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. Linear stability analysis was conducted to validate the stability of mixed platoons at weak platoon intensities for different CAV following models. Numerical simulations were conducted to simulate weak-intensity mixed platoons for different CAV following models operating at high and low equilibrium velocities. The results suggest that PMCC exhibits wider stability equilibrium intervals under different theoretical time headway scenariosand performs well at dissipating the speed fluctuation propagation and minimizing the speed fluctuation amplitude.