P2RN

Prediction and Propagation of Rolling Noise (2006-2008)*

* Note that the DEUFRABASE is only a small part of the whole research project

The P2RN project aimed at the optimisation of new road pavement concepts with respect to tyreroad noise in a wider context of the abatement of road traffic noise.

The theoretical approach is based on the SPERoN ("Statistical Physical Explanation of Rolling Noise") model. In a first stage, the model was validated for different kinds of French road surfaces and compared to the French model “HyRoNE”. The validation showed differences of the computations and the measurements on the test tracks of the LCPC in Nantes of mostly less than 2 dB(A) which shows that SPERoN is a valuable prediction tool. In a second step, the model was applied as an adapted tool to design and build new textures for low noise road surfaces.

Two new approaches were developed together with a third more conventional for comparison. The first approach were glass beads closely packed in a matrix of resin. The second new approach was a very smooth surface with diagonal grooves of randomly varying distance. This structure cannot be built with conventional means. Therefore a molding tool was produced to be imprinted into a specially designed asphalt mix surface.

A comparison of the sound pressure levels computed with SPERoN due to the real, measured texture data and those ones measured on the test tracks of the INRETS (now Ifsttar) at Satolas shows a nice agreement. However the textures produced in this project are not yet reproducing the originally intended texture and accordingly the noise levels are still higher than those of the ideal computed texture. Therefore the development of new production processes and materials which reproduce the ideal texture and their noise level should be the aim of potential follow-up projects.

In parallel to these hybrid approaches which need a physical model of tire-road contact as input, this project has also permitted to develop a tire-road contact model which takes into account the viscoelastic behavior of the tire tread. In this study, it has been focused on the contact between a single indenter and a visco-elastic half space with rubber-like properties. This represents a first attempt before modelling the contact between a real road surface and a tire in the time domain. Such a model could then be used in hybrid as well as in fully physical approaches for a more realistic tire-road noise prediction.

Finally, in a third step, the results issued from SPERoN were used as an input for outdoor sound propagation models developed in France and Germany. To extend the classification from the near to the far field, one of the aims of WP3, 10 typical road configurations were defined to analyse the most common influences on the sound propagation. After computation of all the test cases, we noted that the three different approaches used for calculation (Analytical model, Parabolic Equation and Boundary Element Method) gave, when they could be compared, almost identical results in terms of excess attenuation relative to free field.

Concerning the acoustic characteristics of road pavements, they were only known in terms of pass-by LAmax in the near field of the road (7.5 m) or in terms of CPX index in the tyre near field. That was very interesting but needed to be completed to characterize the pavement acoustic impact with respect to Lden, in the neighbors’ vicinity. For this purpose, a special tool has been built to help the user in identifying the noise impact of road pavements whatever the geometrical configuration of the road and the receiver location. After calculation of a very large number of possible combinations, the common French and German database (DEUFRABASE) was born. It permits by a few “mouse clicks” to obtain basic information which can be helpful to select the right pavement for a specific situation.

Consequently, the whole data obtained after calculation and gathered in a common German-French database (DEUFRABASE) will be used similarly in both countries in the ranking procedure of our road pavements with respect to Lden close to the housing façades located several hundred meters from the road side and generally to predict levels for typical geometrical configurations, road traffic characteristics and meteorological conditions.

Partners

  • LCPC, French leader (FR)
  • Bast, German leader (DE)
  • Colas (FR)
  • Eiffage(FR)
  • ENPC (FR)
  • INRETS (FR)
  • Müller-BBM GmbH (DE)

Support

  • PREDIT (funding)

Final report

Download the final report from the Ifsttar documentation website (MADIS):

References

International communications

  • M. AUERBACH and M. BÉRENGIER, Prediction and Propagation of Rolling Noise, TRA 2006, Göteborg
  • M. AUERBACH and Th. BECKENBAUER, Das deutsch-französische Projekt P2RN - Vorhersage und Ausbreitung von Reifen-Rollgeräuschen, Straße+Autobahn, n°8, 2006
  • M. BÉRENGIER, D. DUHAMEL, B. GAUVREAU, B. DROSTE and M. AUERBACH, A Benchmark on analytical and numerical models for road traffic noise propagation, ICA 2007, Madrid
  • P. KLEIN and J.-F. HAMET, Tyre/road prediction with HyRoNE model, Internoise 2007, Istanbul
  • F. ANFOSSO-LÉDÉE and J. CESBRON, A simplified prediction of contact forces for tire-road noise modeling: theoretical and experimental approach, Internoise 2007, Istanbul
  • M. AUERBACH and M. BÉRENGIER, DEUFRAKO- Prediction and Propagation of Rolling Noise, TRA 2008, Ljubljana
  • M. BÉRENGIER, B. DROSTE, B. GAUVREAU, D. DUHAMEL and M. AUERBACH, DEUFRABASE: A German-French acoustic database on road pavements, Acoustics 08, Paris and Acoustique & Techniques n°54-55, 2008
  • T. BECKENBAUER, P. KLEIN , J.-F. HAMET and W. KROPP, Tyre/road noise prediction: A comparison between the SPERoN and HyRoNE models - Part 1, Acoustics 08, Paris
  • P. KLEIN, T. BECKENBAUER, J.-F. HAMET and W. KROPP, Tyre/road noise prediction: A comparison between the SPERoN and HyRoNE models - Part 2, Acoustics 08, Paris
  • M. AUERBACH and M. BÉRENGIER, DEUFRAKO - Prediction and Propagation of Rolling Noise, Internoise 2008, Shanghai
  • M. AUERBACH , DEUFRAKO Prediction and Propagation of Rolling Noise - Results, DAGA 2009, Rotterdam