Highway agencies conduct regular testing programs to monitor road roughness characteristics. Measurement of road roughness does not present an extremely challenging problem conceptually. On the other hand, the cost of the measuring equipment is significant. In this paper, the possibility of evaluating road roughness without an accelerometer is considered. The analysis of the frequency characteristics of displacement transducer and accelerometer signals indicates that the latter signal carries very little additional profile-related information within the frequency range of interest in the measurement of road roughness. The analytical conclusions are confirmed by statistical analysis of actual road roughness data. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1196, Pavement evaluation and rehabilitation.
Abstract