Evaluation on Riding comfort of A Passenger with Various Surface Textures of Concrete Pavement in Tunnels

Abstract

PURPOSES :The purpose of this article is to compare and evaluate the riding comfort of a passenger in tunnels depending on different surface textures of concrete pavement. METHODS :Evaluation of riding comfort is conducted at 17 sections, which have different surface texture such as transverse tinned(TT), longitudinal tinned(LT) and diamond grinded(DG). A triaxial accelerometer was set up on the passenger seat surface of the test vehicle to measure vibrations of an occupant, then the effects of vibration on comfort and health were evaluated by ISO 2631. And microphones were installed at passenger's ears height to measure sound pressure level(SPL) in the test vehicle. Additionally, a surface microphone was installed on the inside of wheel arch to evaluate noise between tire and pavement by NCPX method. All tests were conducted cruising at 100km/h. RESULTS :The results of all tests are as follows. First, both vibration magnitudes for comfort and for health in LT and DG sections are almost same and they represent lower than those in TT sections. Second, the average SPL of DG shows the lowest decibels among them. And third, it is founded that interior noise is significantly affected by noise between tire and pavement. CONCLUSIONS :It may be concluded that DG can provide more excellent riding comfort to passenger than LT or TT. Therefore, it is necessary to consider applying DG to existing pavement surface to improve surface condition when the driving environment especially requires riding comfort like a long tunnel.