Incorporating Surface Microtexture in the Prediction of Skid Resistance of Flexible Pavements

Abstract

Monitoring and managing the skid resistance of the highway network is necessary for controlling and reducing the number of road accidents. High-speed measurements of surface texture can be used as a surrogate parameter for controlling a pavement's surface friction on the highway network. The two components of surface texture that affect skid resistance are the macrotexture and the microtexture. However, the technologies commonly used for measuring pavement texture at highway speeds account only for the macrotexture. This study explored ways to characterize the microtexture of pavement surfaces with the main objective of quantifying the effect of accounting for both components of the texture on the prediction of skid resistance, as measured by a British pendulum tester. Various methods for characterizing the microtexture were compared to determine which one better predicted surface friction. The study used field measurements of surface texture and friction performed on various in-service flexible pavements. The surface microtexture was characterized by a series of texture parameters calculated in both the spectral and the spatial domains. The impact of incorporating the microtexture on the prediction of the British pendulum number was evaluated through analysis of a series of models specified by each of the proposed parameters. The results of the analysis showed a drastic improvement in predicting the British pendulum value when the authors accounted for both components of the surface texture, as opposed to only the macrotexture. In a comparison of the analyzed methods for characterizing the microtexture, the use of spectral parameters led to the best prediction of the pavement surface friction. A series of recommendations is provided for the calculation of microtexture parameters.

The influence of road surface texture on the skid resistance under wet conditions

“…15 Several other descriptors exist to characterize the surface texture. For example, Serigos et al 16 describe the surface by means of using amplitude and slope parameters. The effect of the texture parameters on the skid resistance is analysed by using a linear regression model.…”

Monitoring Pavement Surface Macrotexture and Friction

“…Both the macrotexture and the micro texture affect the relationship between vehicle speed and friction, and previous studies related texture depth and its variation to the variations in friction as a function of speed (2,7). Using stationary devices, Serigos et al demonstrated the improvement in the correla tion between friction and macrotexture when the pavement surface microtexture is characterized (8). The friction data collected with a BPT were correlated with macrotexture measured with the circular track meter and microtexture measured with a laser texture scanner (LTS).…”

Quality Assessment of Milling Pavement Surface Using 3D Line Laser Technology

“…This technology can create road surface laser data across an entire lane, measuring with high data precision, high data density, and measuring speed, and has been applied to measure rutting and cracks, even pavement quality assessment of smoothness and macrotexture [11][12][13][14][15]. Hao et al [16] used data interpolation and a surface fitting method to process a 10-point profile of 3D laser grooving data and calculated the depth to evaluate grooving abrasion status; the results were found to correlate well with the results of the sand patch method.…”