Abstract
Keywords: Road Surface, Tire noise, Acoustic absorption, dB(A), Loudness, Sharpness,
Articulation Index.
Abstract - Tyre noise is an important component of the total noise produced by a vehicle. This noise component has a strong contribution to the overall quality associated with interior and exterior vehicle noise. It is also recognised that road acoustic impedance is of paramount importance in understanding and quantifying the noise produced by the interaction between the tyres and the road surface.
In this paper the authors present a novel non-destructive method for the measurement of the frequency dependence of the acoustic impedance of road surfaces. The effect of this impedance on the total radiated tyre noise is assessed and its implications on interior and exterior vehicle noise quality are explored. It is also shown that by a suitable selection of building materials, road surfaces can be acoustically tuned to improve their effectiveness.