The Influence of Tires on Rumble Strip Noise and Vibration

In 2012, a four-vehicle experimental program was conducted to compare exterior and interior noise and vibration measurements on sinusoidal and conventional ground rumble strips as reported at INTER-NOISE 2013. In 2015, this research was expanded with a fifth vehicle to evaluate the influence of tires on the measured performance of these rumble strips and to examine the sources of pass-by noise. It was found that the variation in levels on and off the rumble strips between different tires on the same vehicle was almost as great as the variation from vehicle to vehicle for both noise and vibration. Using on-board sound intensity methods, it was also shown that noise radiated directly by the tire was not a source of wayside noise for frequencies below about 400 Hz. Body panel vibration levels were measured and found to produce differences in level on and off the rumble strips that are consistent with those of the pass-by measurements. The results and implications of these measurements are presented in this paper.