Investigation on a method to assess road condition based on vibration measurements

Abstract

Transportation has become a critical measure of development in most of the developing countries. Building and maintaining transport infrastructure is essential for economic and social development of a country. The high costs of repair and maintenance of the existing road networks required to manage the road repair and maintenance and regular planning for this process. Due to daily usage of newly constructed roads, the quality condition of roads, decreases with the time. As a result, discrete faults such as bumps, depressions or potholes are appearing on the road surface. These unevenness and undulations of road surface along longitudinal profile of the road causes vertical oscillations in moving automobiles and its effects on the passenger as Whole Body Vibration. Uneven pavement or road surfaces cause discomfort and fatigue to the passenger directly. The objectives of the current study is to investigate the condition of the road surface both using vibration measurements and visual inspections and to determine possible methods to assess the existing road condition based on the vibration measurements. Different types of roads were selected based on the condition of the roads. For the measurements of the vibration induced while transportation Seat Pad Accelerometer was used to measure the frequency weighted acceleration in m/s2 and vibration levels in three directions; X, Y and Z on the seat. International Roughness Index (IRI) was determined and used as a quantitative measure to indicate the quality of the selected roads. Vibration dose values (VDV) of the compartment recorded signals were evaluated. The correlation found between RMS value and IRI value implies that the road condition can be evaluated and categorized based on the whole body vibration measurements.