A simulation of traffic noise emissions at a roundabout based on a cellular automaton model

Canyi Du,Feng Li,Xinfa Qiu,Ming Cai

doi:10.1051/aacus/2021037

Abstract

The calculation and evaluation of traffic noise is an important task in urban road design. Roundabouts are a common form of urban road intersection. The complexity of traffic operations makes the calculation of traffic noise near a roundabout challenging. To explore traffic noise at roundabouts, a cellular automaton traffic flow model for a two-lane roundabout is established. Based on this model, a dynamic simulation method for traffic noise at roundabouts is proposed. The traffic operation and noise emissions at a roundabout are simulated. The vehicle speed distribution and traffic noise distribution at the roundabout are analysed, and the relationship between the traffic volume and sound power level of the cells is discussed. Finally, the proposed method is compared with existing traffic noise models, and the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are verified. The results of this paper show that the speed distribution and noise emission distribution at the roundabout are not uniform. When the traffic volume increases to saturation, the noise emission on the ring road will not keep increasing, and the sound power level of the cells on the inner ring is approximately 2 dBA higher than that of the outer ring. The methods and results in this paper may be valuable for road traffic design and noise control.

Highlights

With continued urbanization, noise pollution has become a worldwide problem threatening public health [1]
The goal of this paper is to explore a new method for dynamic traffic noise modelling at roundabouts using a cellular automaton traffic flow model
This paper presents a cellular automaton traffic flow model for a two-lane roundabout

Summary

Introduction

Noise pollution has become a worldwide problem threatening public health [1]. The equivalent sound level (Leq) calculated by the energy average principle is currently used as the main traffic noise evaluation index. Significant variance in community response to road traffic noise was reported in a recent meta-analysis performed by the World Health Organization, which was attributed to the use of an energy-average noise indicator as the sole predictor of adverse effects [7, 8]. To complement the use of standard energy-average noise levels, other more effective traffic noise assessment methods have been proposed, including statistical analysis [9] and several supplementary noise indicators that describe the emergence of identifiable noise events [10,11,12]. The equivalent sound level (Leq) can generally be predicted by conventional traffic noise prediction models with reasonable accuracy, but these models are unable to

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