Profile Optimization of Table Top Speed Hump for Speed Control

Speed bumps are the most commonly used measure to control speeding in urban areas world wide. Specifications on profiles and dimensions are largely based on road tests. Studies into speed bumps, directed at evaluating their effectiveness in reducing accidents and their environmental impact, have brought some negative aspects concerning speed bumps to light. These aspects include incidents of spinal and neck injury or loss of control while speeding over speed bumps. Observations have also shown that speeding over certain speed bumps often result in an improvement in ride comfort, thus negating the effectiveness of speed bumps as a measure to control speeding. This paper addresses these aspects by considering the optimization of a speed bump’s profile. The profile is optimized by means of a validated non-linear four degree of freedom vehicle model, as well as the gradient based LFOPC optimization algorithm. The optimized profile allows for increased ride comfort at speeds at and below the designed speed. The ride comfort decreases with an increase in vehicle speed while the vehicle response remains within boundaries set up to reduce the possibility of injury or loss of vehicle control.Copyright © 2011 by ASME