On the Study of Polishing of Road Surface under Traffic Load

This study presents both a laboratory test and a model for simulating the polishing phenomenon of road surfaces when subjected to traffic. In laboratory tests a machine called "Wehner-Schulze machine" is used which performs polishing and friction measurements on road specimens. The tests are done inside the laboratory and try to reproduce the variation of road friction when it is subjected to traffic. On the other hand, the presented model shows the possibility of computing the Wehner-Schulz polishing effect on the microtexture. The model itself uses an approach which mixes the calculation of contact parameters and some characteristic of the used aggregates. The here used aggregate characteristic is the capability to resist wear and is measured by another world wide used device different then the Wehner-Schulz machine. The model remains to be improved because of some assumptions, but this approach provides encouraging results regarding the ability to predict the evolution of road microtexture due to the polishing effect of traffic.