Damage Parameters and a 4-Corner Model for Characterization of Durability Roads

Development of duty cycles for durability evaluation are often based on a parameter called, “International Roughness Index”. This parameter, evaluated as accumulated average suspension stroke, means an average feeling of comfort and hence suited more for studying roads which induce mostly noise and vibration. The quarter car model used to evaluate this parameter does not account for vehicle characteristics. In this study, profile damage parameters are proposed to address fatigue nature of roads and a 4-corner model is developed to include vehicle characteristics. Other definitions addressed in this study are synthetic- bending and twist tracks and relative damage ratios between roads.