Towards a perception-based understanding of tyre/road noise

• Author(s): Barros, A. ; Vuye, C. ; Freitas, E. F. ; Pereira, F. ; Sousa, E.
• Date: 2024
• Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/98127
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Document Type: Book part
• Language: English
• Contributor(s): Universidade do Minho

Description

Environmental noise, and mostly road traffic noise, is a major environmental risk factor to human health. Strategies concerning noise abatement have been focusing on reducing objective noise levels. However, previous research has proven that other characteristics of noise, such as spectral content and temporal evolution, better explain how people perceive the acoustic environment. These characteristics can be quantified via parameters called psychoacoustic indicators. This work evaluates tyre/road noise from different road surface types regarding noise perception. First, tyre-road noise samples were gathered from Close Proximity (CPX) measurements of surfaces ranging from cobblestones to low-noise pavements. These noise signals were then binaurally auralized to resemble a car pass-by noise. The auralized samples were used in audio-visual listening tests, paired with an urban scenario projected on a screen. The participants mainly assessed their annoyance level. From these results, the links between objective noise levels, psychoacoustic parameters and annoyance are discussed. It was observed that loudness is the psychoacoustic indicator that correlates with annoyance.