ASTM_E_1927_-_98_2012.pdf

Designation:E192798(Reapproved 2012)Standard Guide forConducting Subjective Pavement Ride Quality Ratings1This standard is issued under the fixed designation E1927;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon()indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.1.Scope1.1 This guide covers a procedure for obtaining subjectivenumerical ride ratings for a group of representative highwaypavement sections having a broad spectrum of physical char-acteristics.1.2 The intent of this guide is to describe a procedure forgenerating a set of comparatively scaled ride ratings,subjec-tively derived,for a subgroup of pavement sections having aride quality distribution approximating the general populationof highways of interest.This set will provide statisticalestimates of the average subjective ride ratings which would beobtained for the same group of pavement sections if the entirepopulation of users could be interrogated.1.3 For the data to be a reasonable representation of theaverage ride quality judgments of the total highway usercommunity for the total population of highway pavements,certain sampling theory precepts must be observed;The size ofthe rating panel,the selection of its members from the usercommunity,the method of quantifying the individualjudgments,as well as the selection of the sample pavementsections are all important areas to be considered.1.4 An important use of the resulting ride quality data wouldbe to determine the ability of various hypothesized determin-istic functions of physical parameters of the pavement samples,such as measured longitudinal profile,and so forth,to providean estimate of subjective ride quality judgments.1.5 This guide is based on guidelines described inAppendixF of NCHRP Report 275,2and in Appendix E of NCHRPReport 308.31.6 The values stated in both inch-pound and SI units are tobe regarded separately as the standard.The units given inparentheses are for information only.1.7 This standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns,if any,associated with its use.It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.2.Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:4E177 Practice for Use of the Terms Precision and Bias inASTM Test MethodsE178 Practice for Dealing With Outlying ObservationsE867 Terminology Relating to Vehicle-Pavement SystemsE950 Test Method for Measuring the Longitudinal Profile ofTraveled Surfaces with an Accelerometer EstablishedInertial Profiling Reference3.Terminology3.1 Definitions:3.1.1 mean panel rating(MPR),nthe average value,foreach section of highway pavement,of ride quality ratingsassigned by a ride quality rating panel3.1.2 ride quality rating,na numerical value subjectivelyassigned to a section of highway pavement by an individualquantifying his judgment of the level of ride quality for thatsection based on a psychophysical scale.3.1.3 ride quality rating panel,na group of highwayusers,statistically representative of the total expected highwayuser population,in rating the ride qualities of pavements.3.1.4 rideability,na subjective judgment of the compara-tive discomfort induced by traveling over a specific section ofhighway pavement in a vehicle.4.Summary of Guide4.1 This guide is intended to provide a statistically valid andpractical method of obtaining a set of scaled ride qualityratings,based on subjective judgments by a sample group ofraters selected from the total population of expected users,fora subset of test sections selected to represent the general1This guide is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E17 on Vehicle-Pavement Systems and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E17.33 onMethodology for Analyzing Pavement Roughness.Current edition approved June 1,2012.Published June 2012.Originallyapproved in 1998.Last previous edition approved in 2007 as E1927 98(2007).DOI:10.1520/E1927-98R12.2Janoff,M.S.,Nick,J.B.,Davit,B.S.,and Hayhoe,G.F.,“Pavement Roughnessand Rideability,”NCHRP Report 275,September 1985.3Janoff,M.S.,“Pavement Roughness and Rideability Field Evaluation,”NCHRPReport 308,July 1988.4For referenced ASTM standards,visit the ASTM website,www.astm.org,orcontact ASTM Customer Service at serviceastm.org.For Annual Book of ASTMStandards volume information,refer to the standards Document Summary page onthe ASTM website.Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959.United States1 inventory of pavements in an area of interest.Individual ratingsare obtained in a prescribed manner and averaged to give amean panel rating(MRP)for each test section.5.Significance and Use5.1 A primary responsibility of highway agencies is theconstruction and maintenance of highway pa