Multiscale Analysis of Pavement Texture—Effect on Skid Resistance

The surface properties (skid resistance, rolling noise and rolling resistance) of the road are closely related to the surface texture. Several scales of texture intervene in the interaction between a tire and the road pavement. However, the influence of each scale on these properties is little or not known. During lifetime, the texture of road evolves under the wear induced by road traffic (polishing) and climate changes. This texture change affects pavement surface performances. This paper presents a laboratory study, which aims at developing a multiscale approach to identify the relevant texture scales, which can explain skid resistance values. For multiscale decomposition, a wavelet-based multiscale analysis method is selected owing to its flexible time-frequency resolution. After comparing several functions, the Morlet wavelet is used. Then, laboratory tests are performed on various bituminous mixtures. Polishing tests are done with Wehner & Schulze machine to assess skid resistance evolution under traffic and 3D-cartographies of the surface are realized at different stages of polishing to assess surface texture evolution.