EFFECT OF PAVEMENT SURFACE TEXTURE ON BRITISH PENDULUM TEST
Yang Pin Kelvin LEE
Pavement Engineer
Samwoh Asphalt Premix Pte Ltd
25E Sungei Kadut Street 1
Singapore 729333
E-mail: kelvinlee@samwoh.com.sg
Tien Fang FWA
Professor
Center for Transportation Research
Dept of Civil Engineering
National University of Singapore
10 Kent Ridge Crescent
Singapore 119260
Fax: 65-6779-1635
E-mail: cvefwatf@nus.edu.sg
Yoo Sang CHOO
Associate Professor
Dept of Civil Engineering
National University of Singapore
10 Kent Ridge Crescent
Singapore 119260
E-mail: cvecys@nus.edu.sg
Abstract: The British pendulum tester is commonly used for the measurement of skid
resistance of pavement surfaces. Although it is widely suggested that the measurement is
largely governed by the microtexture of the pavement surface, experience has shown that the
macrotexture can also affect the measurements. It can also lead to misleading results on
coarse-textured test surfaces. This paper reports the findings of a study conducted to examine
the effect of macrotexture on the British pendulum measurements. The study employed a
three-dimensional finite element model to analyze the behavior of the test device. The results
of the analysis showed significant variations of test results on sparsely spaced textured
surfaces, especially those that exhibited discontinuities. The results demonstrated that the
edge impacts between coarse-textured surface features and the pendulum slider would give
rise to unreliable test measurements.
Key Words: British pendulum tester, finite element model, pavement surface texture, skid
resistance
1. INTRODUCTION
The British pendulum tester (Giles et al., 1964) is one of the simplest and cheapest
instruments used in the measurement of friction characteristics of pavement surfaces. It is
extremely versatile in its applications to many test situations and has received acceptance
worldwide. The test device measures low-speed friction (about 10 km/h) and is commonly
used to as