Evaluation of tire-pavement noise based on three-dimensional pavement texture characteristics

To investigate the effect of pavement texture on tire-pavement noise and study the correlation of noise level with new proposed three-dimensional (3D) pavement texture evaluation indices, indoor tire-pavement noise measurement was carried out using a self-developed test device. 12 different asphalt mixture slab specimens were prepared in laboratory, and the texture information was scanned by laser texture scanner. 3D pavement texture indices f8mac, f8mic and σ were calculated based on pretreated pavement texture data, and their correlations with noise level were analyzed. To verify the effectiveness of proposed 3D pavement texture evaluation indices, common 2D pavement texture evaluation indices LTX,0.03→0.5, LTX,0.5→32 and LTX,ch were also calculated, and their correlations with noise level were compared with 3D pavement texture evaluation indices. The results show that the correlation coefficients between overall sound pressure level (SPL) and f8mac, f8mic, LTX,0.5→32 and LTX,0.03→0.5 were 0.9211, 0.7708, 0.9137, and 0.8796 respectively, and higher pavement texture level could enhance and reduce noise level simultaneously at different frequency bands. Moreover, The correlation coefficients of overall SPL with LTX,ch and σ are 0.9141 and 0.7254 respectively, and less uniform distributed pavement texture can promote noise level significantly. Therefore, it could be concluded that the new proposed 3D pavement texture indices could be effectively used for the evaluation of tire-pavement noise, and uniform pavement texture with low texture level is recommended for the quiet pavement design.