Relative Influence of Pavement Texture and Tire Type on Pavement/Tire Noise

This paper describes the noise from pavement/tire interaction at speeds above 60 km/h. The concrete pavements investigated differed primarily in surface texture: worn, grooved (3 types) and randomly-scabbled. Three types of car tires were used: summer bias-ply, summer radial and winter bias-ply. The measurement procedure adopted was a near-tire one. The vehicle was a passenger car and tests were conducted at three speeds: 64, 80 and 96 km/h. A-weighted sound levels and one-third octave band frequency analyses are presented for the different pavement types and tires considered. They indicate that the difference in the sound levels produced by the winter tires and others is highest for worn concrete and diminishes as pavement surface texture increases.