Simulation of Road Surface Profiles
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 127, Issue 3
Abstract
This paper presents a novel technique for the simulation of shock and vibrations related to road surface irregularities. The technique is based on a recently developed universal road profile classification scheme, which is one of the main outcomes of a project aimed at better understanding the statistical nature of road surfaces and their interactions with road vehicles. The method, which focuses on the nonstationary and non-Gaussian nature of road profiles, is described along with an analysis procedure developed and implemented to automatically detect and extract transient events from the road spatial acceleration data as well as identify stationary segments of similar roughness (RMS). The paper shows how the concept of treating road surface irregularities as two fundamental components, namely, steady-state road surface irregularities and transient events, can be employed for classification and simulation purposes. The simulation technique is based on a universal statistical model of road surface profiles that characterizes the power spectral density of the underlying irregularities, the probability distribution function of the RMS level using the offset Rayleigh distribution function, and the transient density. The transient events are generated with random amplitudes according to the Gaussian distribution, the mean and standard deviation of which are functions of the underlying RMS level. This paper shows how these two components can be combined to numerically synthesize a process that faithfully represents the nonstationary, transient-laden nature of road surface profiles. The synthesized process can be physically realized on a vibration shaker to simulate road profiles.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Bruscella, B., Rouillard, V., and Sek, M. A. ( 1998). “A method for the universal classification of road profiles for laboratory evaluation of package performance.” Proc., 19th IAPRI Symp., International Association of Packaging Research Institutes, Rochester, N.Y., 1–13.
2.
Bruscella, B., Rouillard, V., and Sek, M. A. (1999). “Analysis of road profiles.”J. Transp. Engrg., ASCE, 125(1), 55–59.
3.
Dodds, C. J., and Robson, J. D. ( 1972). “Simulated road testing.” J. Automotive Engrg., London, 3(4), 17–19.
4.
Dodds, C. J., and Robson, J. D. ( 1973). “The description of road surface roughness.” Sound and Vibration, 31(2), 175–183.
5.
Heath, A. N. ( 1988). “The mechanics of dynamic pavement loading by heavy vehicles.” PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, Melbourne.
6.
Heath, A. N. ( 1989). “Modeling and simulation of road surface roughness.” Vehicle Sys. Dyn., The Netherlands, 18, 275–284.
7.
Murphy, R. W. ( 1982). “Endurance testing of heavy duty vehicles.” SAE Paper No. 820001, SP-506, Society of Automotive Engineers, Pa.
8.
Prem, H. ( 1988). “A laser based highway-speed road profile measuring system.” Vehicle Sys. Dyn., The Netherlands, 17, 300–304.
9.
Rouillard, V., Sek, M. A., and Perry, T. (1996). “Analysis and simulation of road profiles.”J. Transp. Engrg., ASCE, 122(3), 241–245.
10.
Rouillard, V., Sek, M. A., and Bruscella, B. (2000). “Classification of road surface profiles.”J. Transp. Engrg., ASCE, 126(1), 41–45.
11.
Sek, M. ( 1995). “A modern technique of transportation simulation for package performance testing.” Packaging Technol. and Sci., 9, 327–343.
12.
Vogel, W. ( 1965). “Distribution of wavelengths and heights of various road surfaces.” Automobile Technische Zeitschrift, Germany, 67, 7–11.
13.
Xu, D. M., Mohamed, A. M. O., Yong, R. N., and Caporuscio, F. ( 1992). “Development of a criterion for road surface roughness based on power spectral density function.” J. Terramechanics, U.K., 29(4/5), 477–486.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
History
Received: May 8, 2000
Published online: Jun 1, 2001
Published in print: Jun 2001
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.