During the winter special winter tires are used to prevent the car from slipping and the grip can be improved by using studded tires. Studded tires are known to cause higher noise levels and noise that is perceived as more annoying than non-studded tires. The objective was to model the interaction between the stud pattern and the stud/tire response (i.e. sound) caused by the excitation of the studs, and to make the result audible. In this study the interior airborne noise caused by the studs was auralized using a combination of recordings, modeling and filtering.
The proposed stud auralization model makes it possible to evaluate the influence of the stud pattern and the stud/tire response at any desired speed. The noise caused by the studs is determined by the stud/tire responses when studs hit the pavement, the stud pattern and the speed of the tire. The stud patterns and the stud/tire responses were measured for 5 different studded tires. Auralizations were created for all combinations of stud patterns and responses at two different speeds. A listening test was conducted to assess the annoyance of the stud noise auralizations.
From the listening test it was found that no single stud pattern or stud/tire response always performed best. There were large variations between the two auralized speeds. This implies that a stud pattern cannot be developed without taking the response of the tire into account. Auralizations must also be done and evaluated at different speeds.
