Tire–Pavement Noise and Pavement Texture

Abstract

Highways are widely considered to be the most pervasive producer of environmental noise. Of vehicle component noise sources, tire–pavement interaction dominates. Tire–pavement noise results from a number of mechanisms—both forcing functions and resonant responses—with pavement texture playing an important role. The influence of texture on tire–pavement sound intensity is the focus of this article. European investigators have given much thought to noise mechanisms and mitigation, and have performed important pavement noise and texture measurements. Meanwhile, a powerful tool for the measurement of tire–pavement noise, known as the on-board sound intensity (OBSI) method, has been developed and used extensively in the United States. OBSI uses a probe mounted on a vehicle operating in traffic permitting efficient, rigorous measurement. However, integration of these knowledge bases has been limited. This article mines the literature on noise vis-à-vis pavement texture, manipulating the data and drawing inferences. When pavement wavelength spectra are transformed into the frequency domain considering vehicle speed and hearing sensitivity, the contribution of texture to noise becomes apparent. However, data to enable the definition of quantitative functional relationships are not currently available.