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Quiet asphalt: A concise review paper

Surya P Mahapatra, Bhargav Nath


Date of submission: 23/11/2018
Subject: Pavement Failure, Evaluation and Rehabilitation
Abstract:
As urban roads have seen a rapid growth in traffic, the disturbance caused to the urban dwellers
due to the noise generated by moving traffic have become a major concern. As a result, the
highway designers and planners are insisting upon the use of quieter asphalt pavement. There are
several low noise asphalt mixes which includes Open Graded Friction Course (porous asphalt),
very thin asphalt mixes, Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA), Ultra-thin Asphalt, rubberized asphalt
pavements which proves to be sustainable, quiet and durable pavement. Apart from this, several
new modifications such as double layer porous asphalt, which provides better noise reduction
effect as well as durability has been reviewed in this paper. Also, several dominant factors
influencing sound absorbing performance of asphalt mixes such as air-void ratio, texture pattern,
thickness of the surface layer has been discussed.
Key words: Quiet asphalt, Barrier walls, OGFC, porous asphalt, SMA

1.0 Introduction:
Noise pollution is one of the most crucial environmental concern across the globe. There are
several causes of noise pollution like rapid industrialization, poor urban planning, social events,
construction activities and transportation(“Understanding Noise Pollution”). This has become a
serious concern for the society as it causes several psychological disorders, cardio-vascular
issues, sleeping disorders and various other health hazards. The noise produced due to
transportation activities generally refers to the roadside noise experienced by the community and
facilities residing in the vicinity of the road network. Due to the exponential increase in traffic
on roads, roadside noise has become a significant problem especially in urban areas. Therefore,
there is a constant effort by the transportation planners and pavement engineers to find
appropriate ways to reduce the noise generated in the movement of vehicles on roads as well as
rolling stocks on rails. There are several traditional methods adopted by urban planners to
counter the effects of noise at various places namely, insertion of obstructions such as barrier
walls that locally reduces the noise levels, increasing the distance between the road network and
the habitations nearby (Kandhal 2003). These approaches have now become obsolete due to
increase in urbanization, population and traffic which proves to be expensive nowadays. Thus,
researchers all across the world are trying to mitigate the problems of noise on roads by a proper
selection of pavement surface type like Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA), Open Graded Friction Course
(OGFC), Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) etc.
Considering any movement of vehicles on roads, the power unit and tyre-pavement interaction
forms the main source of noise. In the mid to high speed range of vehicle speed, tyre-road
interaction contributes significantly to the traffic noise due to the generation of acoustical
pressure (Praticò and Anfosso-Lédée 2012). Figure 1 represents the variation of noise expressed
as Sound Pressure Level (dB) with speed of vehicle and reveals the contribution of power unit
and tyre-pavement contact to noise pollution. Several tyre manufacturers have developed
numerous strategies and designs of tyres in order to enhance the durability, ride safety and
reduction in noise. However, it is not promising for significant noise reduction due to tyre-
pavement interactions. Thus, researchers are looking for optimum techniques in surfacing the
pavement to reduce the level of noise pollution due to vehicular activities (Staiano 2015). Some
researches reveals that the noise level can be controlled at three stages: source, along the sound
path and at the receivers’ end (Kandhal 2003; Liu et al. 2016). Typically, the source refers to the
vehicles, passenger cars etc. where noise is generated due to tyre-pavement interaction and path
refers to the area between where noise is generated and where it affects the flora and fauna which
can be prevented by installing barrier walls, screens, solid fences, trees etc. The receiver end
would be the community and the people who are affected by the noise and can control by
constructing raised doors, windows and walls. Hence, selection of optimum type of pavement
surface is one of the solutions as discussed earlier.
This paper focuses on several types of noise generated due to the movement of vehicles on
pavements, the contributing factors of noise generation, several types of noise, different
techniques used to estimate the amount of noise generated and finally the optimized pavement
technologies adopted in different parts of world.

Figure 1: Contribution of Power unit noise and tyre-pavement noise at different Vehicle speeds
2.0 Background:
The roadside noise produced due to movement of vehicles on roads is mainly governed by tyre-
pavement contact and depends on two main mechanisms: Mechanical vibrations and Air
vibrations. The mechanical vibrations are generated due to the repetitive impact loading between
the vehicle’s tread pattern and the pavement surface texture whereas air vibrations are generated
between road surface and tyre grooves. The rolling effect of tyres on pavement surface squeezes
out the air followed by compression and trapping of some air and then air is sucked back in. This
repeated compression and expansion of air occurs numerous times in a second which results into
vibrations thus causing high frequency noise (Praticò and Anfosso-Lédée 2012). The vibration
mechanisms are generally accompanied by some amplification mechanisms: acoustical horn,
Helmholtz resonance, pipe resonance, cavity resonance etc. that results into high pitch “stick-
snap” effect.
Despite of several noise control techniques, many pavement administrators insisted the use of
appropriate use of surface texturing, proper mix design, and judicious amount of pavement
thickness as well as considering the acoustical design of pavement. Literature reveals that the
noise reduction while optimizing the tyres is in a scale of 1 to 2dB whereas there is
comparatively more (4 to 8 dB) reduction in noise if the pavement surface characteristics are
taken into consideration in the acoustical design of a pavement (Haider et al. 2007).
The tyre-road noise is primarily characterized by surface texture of the top layer of the pavement
as well as the bulk properties (Sandberg and Ejsmont 2002). The following are the governing
factors contributing to the tyre-road noise generated due to vehicles:
 Micro, macro and mega texture
 Porosity
 Thickness of pavement layers
 Frictional resistance
 Stiffness
 Surface roughness or unevenness
The micro, macro and mega texture refers to the horizontal dimension of irregularities of a
pavement surface profile which depends on wavelength, frequency and vehicular speed. It is
noted that greater the surface textures on pavement lesser will be the noise generated due to air
pumping. Similarly, porosity is inversely related to noise produced and presence of voids
increases the noise levels due to presence of air filled in voids which causes compression and
expansion. Higher the thickness of pavement layer, lower is the noise pollution which can also
be achieved by increasing the number of layers. The stiffness of pavement surface is different
from that of pneumatic tyres which causes noise; hence modification in the design of the surface
layer plays a pivotal role in reducing noise which can be attributed by the use of additives which
can also influence the level of noise generated. Friction affects the “stick-slip” noise i.e. Lower
the friction, lesser is the contribution to noise. Adhesion affects the “stick-snap” noise which can
be attributed by the fact that lower micro-texture provides greater adhesion forces between tyres
and the pavement surface thus producing higher noise pollution.
The pavement surface layer can be HMA, OGFC, SMA, Thin layers, Rubberized asphalt, cement
concrete surface etc. which have been developed by several researchers in order to reduce the
noise at the source before it reaches the receivers (Kandhal 2003). The use of these mixes also
provides better skid resistance and reduced night glare during wet weather conditions so as to
reduce accidents. It acts as a drainage and friction course layer along with the noise reduction
layer. OGFC mixes is one such surface layer, which has been found to eliminate the danger of
hydroplaning, enhance surface friction, reduce splash and spray, and night glare during wet
weather conditions. OGFC mixes or PA mixes have interconnected voids and high permeability
thus serving the purpose of drainage (Afonso et al. 2017; Andrés-Valeri et al. 2018).

3.0 Noise characteristics:


The noise is generated due to the high frequency vibrations due to the successive air compression
and expansion which is categorized as mechanical vibrations or air vibration mechanism. The
generated noise is amplified due to amplification mechanism that depends on geometry of the
tyre tread, up and down of the air, pipe resonance and cavity resonance effect.

3.1 Sound Absorption Coefficient (α)


It is the measure of the sound absorption performance of material. It can be defined as the ratio
of sound energy absorbed to that of the sound energy received by the material. The coefficient
lies between the range of 0 and 1. When α = 1, it implies that the entire sound energy is
absorbed. Generally, it lies between 0 and 1 (Liu et al. 2016). For asphalt with larger air voids
the sound absorption coefficient is higher.

3.2 Noise Classification System


Kragh et al. (2012) presented a study regarding the Danish SRS system. SRS is an acronym
representing noise reducing wearing course system used by Danish Road Directorate. According
to the SRS system, noise reduction is classified based on the noise reduction effect of the quiet
pavement. Three noise classes were defined as shown below:
Table 1: Definition of SRS noises classes

Noise Class A B C

Noise Reduction >7 5-7 3-5


(dB)

Designation Particularly noise Very noise reducing Noise reducing


reducing
The measured noise level for a particular type of pavement is compared to the reference noise
level as given in Table 1, which is used by the asphalt contractor to issue declaration showing the
noise his/her pavements noise class.

3.3 Noise Estimation or Data Acquisition methods


The noise generated can either be estimated directly or indirectly. It means that the noise can be
recorded directly from devices or it can be derived from any other surface characteristics such as
texture(Chen et al. 2018), friction etc.

3.3.1 Two-Dimensional image texture analysis method (2D-ITAM)


It is a method used to measure indirectly the level of noise generated from pavement-tyre
interactions which evaluates the distribution of micro and macro textures on pavement surface. It
uses image analysis techniques to assess the surface profile using scanned image of mixture
cross-section.

3.3.2 Laboratory Tire Rolling-down (TR) method


It is a way of measuring the tyre-road noise of asphalt mix specimen directly using a device in
laboratory. This method tries to simulate the actual tyre-pavement interactions when vehicle rolls
over the pavement surface by applying inclined impact load having horizontal and vertical
velocity components. High-precision acoustic pressure transducer and data collector is used to
acquire the noise data. It should be noted that the experiments be conducted where background
noise is insignificant.

4.0 Noise optimized pavement technologies


The incapability of the improvement in tyre designs (including various tread or groove pattern)
in reducing tyre-road noise addresses the need for an alternate option to mitigate the problems.
Thus, acoustical pavement designs in emphasized by pavement administrators in order to deal
with the social and environmental issues with noise pollution.

4.1 Basic principles for designing quiet asphalt:


The following are three basic rules for design of quieter pavements:
I. The surface must be provided with sufficient depth of macro-texture (minimum texture
depth: 0.5 mm) thereby, making up a random, closely packed, homogeneous array of
small to medium sized aggregates (maximum size: 10 mm) to prevent air pumping.
II. The role of macro-texture can be played by porosity due to presence of pores connected
to the surface and one another (minimum voids content: 20%) which can provide some
favorable sound absorption if the layer is sufficiently thick (minimum thickness : 40 mm)
III. Mega-texture and large-wavelength macro-texture must be minimized by ensuring that
macro-texture is fine and homogeneous in all cases. This rule holds for porous surfaces as
well.
4.2 Applications

4.2.1 Porous asphalt


PA pavements are bituminous mixes designed to form a surfacing with a voids ratio of about 18-
22 % after laying and compaction. They are used for wearing courses and are always laid on
impervious base. With such a percentage of voids, a network of channels is created in the layer,
capable of carrying off the storm water that has fallen on the pavement surface during a rain
shower and penetrated the surface. Due to the macro-texture there will be improved surface
friction, particularly in wet weather. The aggregates used are more of one size, which makes
them more permeable but more susceptible to raveling. To counter the tendency to ravel,
modified asphalt is used; this does a better job of gluing aggregates together. Several studies
have been carried out for OGFC mixes by adopting single aggregate gradation, three different
binders and a modifier which include 60/70 Penetration grade bitumen, Crumb Rubber Modified
Bitumen (CRMB) and Reclaimed Polyethylene Bitumen (RPEB), and Cellulose Fibres (CF) as
modifier(Afonso et al. 2017; Andrés-Valeri et al. 2018; Sangiorgi et al. 2017). Several studies
suggested that PA pavements provide lower noise than conventional HMA mix and it also
supplements the benefits by preventing rutting and raveling as well. Despite of several benefits,
there are some limitations of using PA as the noise level may increase after 3-4 years of
pavement service and there might be the problems due to clogging into the pores which requires
more maintenance work. Figure 2 represents the aggregate gradation adopted at different places.

4.2.2 Stone Mastic Asphalt


SMA is based on the concept of designing a coarse aggregate skeleton so that stone-on-stone
contact is obtained, which provides a highly rut-resistant bituminous course for heavy traffic
roads. The 13 mm SMA is intended for wearing course with nominal layer thickness of 40 to 50
mm. The 19 mm SMA is intended for binder course with nominal layer thickness of 45 to 75 mm
(Baxter et al. 2008). These specifications are in accordance to IRC SP 79:2008. It can be
classified as OGFC in which the voids are filled with a substantial amount of asphalt binder,
stabilizer and fine aggregates. Danish Road Institute found that the use of SMA reduced the
noise level by 3 to 4 dB. The air voids in this mix is in the order of 5-10% and further the
stability, drainage and other performance can be enhanced by using several fibers as additives.

4.2.3 Two layered Porous Asphalt


The thickness of PA layers is in an order of 40 to 50mm whereas 2-layered PA pavements can be
thicker in the range of 50 to 90mm which consists of a fine porous layer at the top and coarser in
the underlying layer. The maximum aggregate size for the finer layer is 9.5mm whereas the
coarser layer has maximum aggregate size ranging from 19mm to 12.5mm with thickness of 35
to 60mm whereas the thickness of former layer ranges from 15 to 30mm. The PA layers are
efficient in noise reduction generated due to vehicle movement but the only disadvantage is that
there are problems of clogging of dust particles on the surface which needs periodic maintenance
using high pressure water flow or vacuum cleaning which is often costly. Moreover, the
construction of 2 layers PA is difficult because of lack of bonding between the layers hence,
Multi-Asphalt Paver is used in Japan to pave the layers which uses new technology.

100
Adopted Gradation
90 South African-LowerLlimit
South African Upper Limit
80
Georgia-DOT-Upper Limit
70 Georgia-DOT-Lower Limit
Percent Passing

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
19 12.5 9.5 4.75 2.36 0.075
Sieve Size, mm

Figure 2: Adopted aggregate gradation for PA


4.2.4 Rubberized asphalt material
Asphalt Rubber Friction course is a gap graded or open graded asphalt mix provided as surface
layer containing 15 to 20% crumbed rubber by weight of liquid bitumen (Sangiorgi et al. 2017).
Crumbed rubbers are used as additives which act as modifiers to improve the performance of the
asphalt pavement. This type of mix can be used as overlay in many Portland cement concrete
pavements which serves the best way of noise reduction in the order of 6.7 dBA since 1988
(Praticò and Anfosso-Lédée 2012). This type of pavement practices is often cheaper for the
maintenance or rehabilitation work compared to full depth reclamation. The use of CRMB
enhances the pavement strength, stability, permeability, temperature susceptibility, reduced
rutting and increased fatigue resistance along with noise reductions.

5.0 Conclusion
Several researches have compared the noise levels generated due to the use of the optimized
pavement surface techniques and it is inferred that the noise reduction is quite significant as
compared to the conventional mixes i.e. HMA. It is also noticed that in order to reduce noise,
several other factors influencing the pavement such as friction, stiffness, drainage and infiltration
are also improved. According to a study conducted in US and Europe, the general ranking of the
asphalt pavement from quietest to loudest pavement surfaces is as follows: i) Porous asphalt, ii)
SMA, iii) Dense graded asphalt, iv) Broom-finished PCC, v) Transverse-tined PCC (Jones
2002). In developing countries like India, the use of such type of techniques is not so widely
used due to low budget roads and it is yet to consider the noise effects and acoustical design
methods unlike other countries. Even after discussing the benefits of such pavement surface
designs, there are some challenges to be faced like reduced life cycle, increased maintenance
costs, ageing effects etc. Hence, there is a need to explore the causes, construction process,
rehabilitation works and optimized maintenance techniques during the design process. There are
several loop holes in the existing techniques which needs to be bridged viz. there is a mixed
traffic condition in many countries and it is inappropriate to exclude the truck tyre noise in the
mitigation research. Infrastructure sustainability is one of the approaches towards the optimal use
of resources in presenting and preserving for the future generations to be implemented in
transportation sector. It is way to go when air pollution, noise pollution and other environmental
effects are combined together for the design of pavements which forms the scope for future
studies. In future, new technological improvements, advanced testing methods and expertise in
the vehicle, tyre and pavement technologies are expected to decrease the noise generated at the
source as an approach towards improvement in quality of life of the society.

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