Influence of sampling interval and evaluation area on the three-dimensional pavement parameters
Aimin Sha, Di Yun, Liqun Hu, Cheng Tang
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) parameters are being increasingly used to characterise the pavement macrotexture. This study explores the influence of the evaluation area and sampling interval on the 3D macrotexture parameters. The point clouds of surfaces with different morphologies are captured by a 3D scanner, and is divided into non-overlapping rectangular areas with different sizes. The original point clouds are diluted to obtain data with different sampling intervals. The parameters concerned include the root-mean-square surface height Sq, the root-mean-square surface slope Sdq, the peak density Spd, the arithmetic mean principal curvature Spc, the volume of the peak material Vmp and the volume of the core material Vmc. The results indicate that parameters calculated within an evaluation area of 80*80 mm2 can properly represent the macrotexture. The sampling interval influence parameters in the order Spc > Spd > Sdq > Sq, Vmp, Vmc. The conclusions lay the foundation for calculating 3D pavement parameters.