Experimental Study on Analytical Models for Predicting the Horn Effect of a Tire/Road Interface

The phenomenon that the tire/road noise is amplified when propagating outward from the hornlike geometry enveloped by the tire belt and the ground surface is referred to as the horn effect. In the present paper, three analytical models for predicting this so-called horn effect, which are a spherical model, a cylindrical model, and a model that combines the previous two models, are examined. Results from the three analytical models are compared with experimental results. Three different sizes of cylinders are designed for the measurements of the horn effect. Comparisons between predicted and measured results show that the cylindrical model gives comparatively accurate predictions of the horn amplification and interference pattern, but overestimates the horn amplifications at low frequencies. The spherical model can predict the general trend of the horn amplification, but underestimates the horn amplification and gives less accurate interference pattern. The combined model can accurately predict the horn amplification and interference pattern at frequencies below approximately 2 kHz.