PURPOSES : The purpose of this study is to propose the certification process of International Roughness Index measuring device, i.e., a method for evaluating riding quality on road surfaces. METHODS : ROMDAS was selected as a reference device for verifying the accuracy of the IRI measuring device and the reliability of ROMDAS was checked through leveling in the laboratory and outdoors. To verify four different IRI measuring devices in Korea, the proper field test section was selected and IRI evaluation was conducted. A distance measuring instrument (DMI) - for verifying the accuracy of mileage - and IRI (as an index of roughness) were selected as the main evaluation parameters. For DMI verification, five repeated experiments were conducted for a 1 km section and, for IRI verification, speed variables of 40 km/h, 60 km/h, and 80 km/h were selected. Each device was tested at each speed 10 times. The accuracy of the measurement device was analyzed by comparing the measurement results with the verification criteria.
RESULTS : As a result of the comparative experiment between the leveling and ROMDAS devices, the deviation of each measurement point value was within 1 mm and the R2 value was 0.8, demonstrating an excellent correlation. As a result of DMI verification, the tolerance of the three devices was found to be within 0.1 %; however, one device had a tolerance of 0.8 %, indicating that correction was necessary. For IRI evaluation, the average IRI value of the two reference devices was 2.02 m/km and the Minnesota standard was used as an analysis criterion. After the test, only one of the four devices was found to be effective across all speed ranges. Therefore, it was determined that additional sensor calibration is required to improve accuracy.
CONCLUSIONS : In this study, the IRI device accuracy was evaluated through field tests. Hence, a new certification process for the IRI test device was proposed via four steps. To improve the accuracy of the IRI measurement, it is necessary to periodically verify the device. If this proposed certification process is applied, the accuracy of the IRI devices can be improved.