Measurement of international roughness index by using Z -axis accelerometers and GPS

Abstract

The International Roughness Index (IRI) is a well-recognized standard in the field of pavement management. Many different types of devices can be used to measure the IRI, but these devices are mainly mounted on a full-size automobile and are complicated to operate. In addition, these devices are expensive. The development of methods for IRI measurement is a prerequisite for pavement management systems and other parts of the road management industry. Based on the quarter-car model and the vehicle vibration caused by road roughness, there is a strong correlation between the in-car Z -axis acceleration and the IRI. The variation of speed of the car during the measurement process has a large influence on IRI estimation. A measurement system equipped with Z -axis accelerometers and a GPS device was developed. Using the self-designing measurement system based on the methodology proposed in this study, we performed a small-scale field test. We used a one-wheel linear model and two-wheel model to fit the variation of the Z -axis acceleration. The test results demonstrated that the low-cost measurement system has good accuracy and could enhance the efficiency of IRI measurement. © 2014 Yuchuan Du et al.