Passband Analysis of Tire-Pavement Noise

The influence of pavement texture to tire-pavement noise has long been established qualitatively. However, the quantitate contribution of texture to noise generation is not defined. The on-board sound intensity (OBSI) test method uses a probe mounted on a vehicle operating in traffic permitting efficient, rigorous measurement of noise emissions. Similarly, a vehicle-mounted laser profilometer system can be used to measure pavement texture at normal highway speeds along the path traversed by the test tire. When pavement wavelength spectra are transformed into the frequency domain considering vehicle speed and hearing sensitivity, the texture and sound intensity spectra can be compared directly and contribution of texture to noise becomes apparent. The definition of functional noise v. texture relationships is the next step towards predicting tire-pavement noise and guiding pavement design.