Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Dirt Road Corrugations, Temple H. Fay, Keith A. Hardie, Stephan V. Joubert

Faculty Publications

WE CONSIDER FACTORS INFLUENCING the build-up of corrugations on dirt roads and the reactions of vehicles to them. We suggest that corrugations are (at least in part) a consequence of a natural tangential oscillation of the tread surface of the car lure that occurs when the vehicle is being driven or braked. Secondly, we suggest that the unpleasant vibration experienced by a vehicle passing over a corrugated road is the result of a beat produced by the difference of the frequency of oscillation of its own tyres and the frequency of the stimulation received by the vehicle due to passage …