The Ohio State University

Abstract:
Tire road noise is a major contributor to both exterior and interior vehicle noise. Although this contribution is determined in part by the tire design, pavement can play an even larger role in the resultant noise. To gain understanding of these relationships, a review of tire noise generation is provided along with it a discussion of its contribution to overall vehicle noise. This contribution is found to depend very much on pavement as it affects both interior vehicle occupants and traffic noise levels projected into the community. With attention to the attributes and design parameters of quieter pavements, much can be accomplished in reducing the noise inside and outside of a vehicle. Depending on the circumstance, there is the potential to either eliminate or reduce the height of sound walls typically used to abate traffic noise by proper pavement selection resulting in potential cost savings to highway agencies. The issues surrounding the use of pavement for noise abatement for both light and heavy duty vehicles are further elaborated in this presentation.

Bio:
Dr. Paul Donavan is a career acoustician receiving his Master and Doctor of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the mid 1970's. At the General Motors Corporation, he led tire road noise research and development activities along with being immersed in vehicle exterior and aeroacoustic noise issues. Since 2001, Dr. Donavan has been a consultant to state and federal highway agencies in the area of quieter pavement research and has been the principal investigator in several National Cooperative Highway Research Program projects while working at the acoustics and air quality engineering firm of Illingworth & Rodkin, Inc.