Effects of Aging on Tire–Pavement Noise Generation for Concrete Pavements of Different Textures

Abstract

Between 2003 and 2010, research on the changes in tire–pavement noise generation over time was conducted on 11 textures applied to portland cement concrete. The initial textures included longitudinal tining, burlap drag, and longitudinal broom. Additional texturing was applied to these surfaces in the form of longitudinal grooving of varying depth and spacing and diamond grinding with varying spacer dimensions, as well as a combination of the two. Since their application, these sections have been routinely monitored for tire noise performance with the onboard sound intensity method. As originally measured in June 2003, the range in level between the surfaces was relatively small at 2.7 dB. At 5 years, the range is slightly smaller at 2.3 dB. During the total 71/2 years of the study, the overall noise performance increased at an average rate of about 0.10 dB per year. The study has shown that for different frequency ranges the change in noise level has displayed some variation; the lower-frequency levels have decreased for some pavements with time, while the higher-frequency levels have increased at a rate higher than the overall levels for all pavements. For the higher frequencies, findings suggested that the increased noise was due to polishing of the surfaces. For the lower frequencies, the reduction in noise level was less pronounced with more variability between textures. For the ground surfaces, some evidence was found that indicated that the reduction might be linked to some loss of larger-scale texture as the surfaces were worn down.