Pavement temperature influence on close proximity tire/road noise

The aim of this work is to analyze the influence of the surface temperature on the acoustical behaviour of a semidense asphalt pavement located in an urban area. The sound levels emitted by the interaction between a reference tire and the asphalt pavement at different surface temperatures were measured with the trailer Tiresonic Mk4 LA(2)IC-UCLM rolling at a speed of 50 km/h. The analysis of the results shows that increasing pavement temperature leads to a reduction in the close proximity sound levels assessed at a rate of 0.06 dB(A)/degrees C. Moreover, spectral analysis confirms that both the mechanisms associated with vibration and impacts and those related to the friction and adhesion between tire and pavement in the contact patch could be affected by the variation of the surface temperature. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.