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Numerical generation of road profile through spectral description for simulation

of vehicle suspension

Article  in  Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering · August 2016
DOI: 10.1007/s40430-016-0615-6

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Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering
Title

Numerical generation of road profile through spectral description for simulation of

vehicle suspension
Authors

Chandrashekhar S. Dharankar a, *, Mahesh Kumar Hada b and Sunil Chandel c

a
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engg, AISSMS College of Engg, Near RTO, Kennedy
Road, Pune, India, Pin-411001, Email adress: csdharankar@gmail.com
b
Associate Director (Brigadier) DPI, DRDO, HQ, NEW DELHI-110011, Email: mkhada@hotmail.com
c
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engg, Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT),
Pune, India, Pin-411025, Email adress: sunilchandel@diat.ac.in
*
Corresponding author, Email adress: csdharankar@gmail.com

Abstract

This paper presents the generation of random road profile (Gaussian random signal) in spatial and time
domain through power spectral density. For this purpose the two methods viz. white noise filtration and
superposition of harmonics are described and used to generate the single track road elevation profiles
corresponding to the ISO road through numerical simulation. The statistical analysis of the generated road
profile is presented by using power spectral density, probability density function and statistical moments to
evaluate efficacy of the proposed methods. The terms associated with the spectral description of road profile
are reviewed, well defined and described to resolve the ambiguity regarding the use of these terms.

A modified expression is proposed for the spectrum of white-noise filtration method in order to make it
consistent with the ISO road classification. A parameter low frequency cutoff of the white-noise filtration
method is properly defined and a methodology is presented for its estimation. A generalized formula is
proposed for the method of superposition of harmonics to generate the signal and its successive
differentiations without going through the numerical differentiation to avoid the numerical errors. It is shown
that the method of superposition of harmonics is a flexible and powerful technique for generating the
Gaussian random signal from spectral description as it can handle any practical shape of spectral density not
only continuous but discrete split spectrum also. In addition the use of higher sampling frequency has
negligible effect on the contribution of high frequency spectral either in elevation or especially in gradient of
the generated profile as contras to the method of white-noise filtration.

* The final publication is available at: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40430-016-0615-6

Keywords: Random road profile; power spectral density; degree of road roughness; white noise filtration;
low frequency cut off; superposition of harmonics.

1. Introduction

In vibration analysis, the practical data of random signals is usually expressed in the form of power spectral
density (PSD) because the spectral densities of response and input are related through the harmonic transfer
function of the system. Then the response statistics such as RMS or mean square response of the system is
calculated from the spectral density function [1]. There are different approaches of defining a power spectral
density, and it becomes difficult to analyze the published data without knowing how the power spectral
density has been defined. Davis and Thompson [2] addressed this issue with reference to the road profile but
unable to provide the clarification of the terms used in the PSD models of road. Therefore in the present work
an attempt has been made to review the terms associated with the spectral description of road profiles and
relations between them.

Dodds and Robson [3] suggested that the road profile can be assumed as homogeneous and isotropic two-
dimensional Gaussian random processes and proposed a spectral model of road profile and its classification
method which is adopted by the ISO [4] for classification of road profiles. Successively the various spectral
models of road profile have been proposed in the literature [5, 6] but the ISO model is common in use
because of its simplicity. Since the input and output spectral densities of a dynamical system are related
through its transfer function, the direct spectral simulation using transfer function approach is possible
without going through the time domain simulation of a vehicle model. But it can be used only for simulation
of linear vehicle models with known transfer function. On other hand a time domain approach is required for
the random vibration analysis of non-linear vehicle models. The road profile data which is available in the
form of frequency domain PSD spectrum is required to convert into spatial domain road profile so that it can
be used for the time domain simulation of a vehicle suspension. In the present paper, the methods of white
noise filtration (WNF) with and without low frequency cutoff (LFC) and superposition of harmonics (SOH)
are described and used for the generation of single track Gaussian random road profile. The statistical
analysis of the generated road profile is presented by using power spectral density, probability density
function and statistical moments to evaluate efficacy of the proposed methods.

The method of white noise filtration with first order filter is widely used in the literature of vehicle
suspension, but through the direct spectral simulation [7–11]. Zhang and Zhang [12] have demonstrated a
numerical example to generate the bilateral road track using method of WNF with LFC. The variance (σz) and
α are required parameters of the method of WNF with LFC. Though α is a constant and independent of road
roughness, it has been incorrectly termed as a roughness coefficient and the different values of it for good and
bad roads have been reported in the literature [9–11]. In the present work the two methods of first order WNF
are reviewed and it is shown that the method of WNF without LFC is not suitable for generation of road

* The final publication is available at: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40430-016-0615-6

profile from spectral density. A methodology is presented for estimation of parameters of the method of WNF
with LFC and it is shown that the parameter α is independent of road roughness and is properly termed as the
low frequency cut off. A modified expression is proposed for its spectrum in order to make it consistent with
the ISO road classification.

Shinozuka [13, 14] proposed the method of SOH for generating a one dimensional and one variate Gaussian
random process with known spectral density which is further extended to the multi-dimensional multi variate
random process. The method can be used to generate a single track road elevation profile from its spectral
description. It is pointed out that the WNF technique is limited in its practical applications to a one variate
one dimensional process but has been found in a large number of papers involving simulations of a random
process and the method of SOH is overlooked by the researchers though it is advantageous over the method
of WNF. In the present work a generalized formula is proposed for the method of SOH to obtain the road
profile along with its successive differentiations without going through the numerical differentiation to avoid
the numerical errors. It is shown that the method of SOH is a flexible and powerful technique for generating
the Gaussian random signal from its spectral description.

2. Description of road elevation profile

Practical data of road measurement shows that the road profile can be approximated to a colored noise or
band limited random signal which follows the Normal or Gaussian probability distribution. The assumption
of Gaussian distribution simplifies the analysis of linear systems because of its important properties. If the
Gaussian process is stationary, its mean and variance are constant and it allows obtaining meaningful
conclusions regarding the response statistics of the system. A linear transformation of a set of Gaussian
variables produces a new set of Gaussian variables and operations such as differentiation and integration on a
Gaussian variable result in another Gaussian variable. Therefore, when input to a linear system is Gaussian
the output or response is also Gaussian. This property allows for generating the Gaussian road profile by
passing a Gaussian white noise through a first order linear filter i.e. the method of WNF.

vx
z(t)

z(x)
x, t
0
x = vx t

Fig. 1. Random road profile

It is more appropriate to describe a road profile in spatial domain, but for the purpose of vehicle simulation
the road excitation is required in time domain. The conversion from spatial to time domain can be obtained

* The final publication is available at: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40430-016-0615-6

by considering motion of the vehicle on road. For describing the terminology associated with road profile and
excitation to the vehicle, consider a vehicle traveling with a constant forward velocity vx on a randomly
profiled road as shown in Fig. 1. The x and t are spatial and temporal coordinates respectively, z(x) is the
elevation of road profile which is described in spatial domain and z(t) acts as an displacement excitation to
the vehicle. If is the gradient or slope of road profile and the velocity ̇ and
acceleration ̈ of excitation are expressed as [15],

̇ , and ̈ (1)

Mathematically, the PSD function of a signal is defined as Fourier transform of its autocorrelation function
which is obtained from temporal or spatial description of the signal, conversely the auto-correlation function
is inverse Fourier transform of the PSD function. But there are different opinions on the use of a factor of
(1/2π) either in the expression of Fourier transform or inverse Fourier transform or the use of a factor of
(1/√2π) in both the expressions [1, 2]. Practically, the characteristics of a road are obtained by using a profiler
which captures the road profile data and converts it into the PSD and other statistical data through the digital
signal processing.

For the purpose of practical measurements of road profile, the ISO [4] has defined the power spectral density
as the limiting mean-square value of a signal per unit frequency bandwidth. From this definition it follows
that the total area under the PSD curve on frequency axis represents the mean square value of signal or the
variance (σz2) of signal having zero mean. Therefore it is more appropriate to use a factor of (1/2π) in the
expression of Fourier transform as suggested by Newland [1].

Usually, the practical PSD data is available with positive frequencies only i.e. in the form of a one sided
spectrum. The computer algorithms available for the PSD estimation removes the mean from signal, therefore
for one sided spectrum the area under the PSD curve on frequency axis should be equal to the variance of
original signal for evaluated frequency range. This leads to doubling of spectral height in the one sided
spectrum as compared to that of the two-sided spectrum. It is to be noted that the variance of a signal should
be same for spectral description of the signal in different units and domains as,

U U fU U
Area under PSD curve =  z2   S z ( ) d   S z ( ) d   S z ( f ) df   S z ( ) d (2)
L L fL L

where, ω and f are temporal circular and cyclic frequencies in rad/s and Hz respectively, and γ and Ω are
spatial circular and cyclic frequencies in rad/m and cycle/m respectively. Subscripts L and U denotes lower
and upper frequency limits of spectrum. Sz is one-sided PSD of a variable z and has unit of z2/ frequency.
Sz(ω), Sz(f) and Sz(γ), Sz(Ω) are temporal and spatial PSDs respectively and are function of the corresponding
circular or cyclic frequency e.g. Sz(f) is temporal PSD of variable z and has a unit of m2 / Hz. The relations
between spatial and temporal frequencies are given by,
* The final publication is available at: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40430-016-0615-6
 f   
  vx and   2 (3)
  f 

From Eqs. (2), (3) and the mathematical definition of PSD [1], the relations between various spectral
densities associated with the road elevation profile (z) are expressed as,

S z ( ) S z ( ) S z ( ) S ( ) Sz ( f ) S ( )
   z  vx and  z  2 (4)
S z ( f ) S z ( ) S z' ( ) v x S z'' ( ) S z (ω) S z ( )

S z ( f ) S z ( ) S z ( ) S z' ( ) S ( ) S z'' ( )

   2 and  z'   2 (5)
S z ( f ) S z ( ) S z ( ) S z ( ) S z ( ) S z' ( )

3. Classification of road profiles based on spectral description

Dodds and Robson [3] proposed a spectral model of single track road profile and its classification method
using a split spectrum as,

 
w w 2,  L    0
S z ( )    0  , (6)
  w  1.5 ,  0    U

where, Sz(Ω) is one sided spatial PSD of road elevation (m3/cycle), Ω0 = 1/2π cycles/m or γ0 = 1 rad/m is
reference spatial frequency, ΩL = 0.01 cycles/m and ΩU = 10 cycles/m are lower and upper frequency limits,
 is degree of road roughness (m3/cycle) and w is waviness index which indicates contribution of short
wavelengths (small w) or long wavelengths (large w). The road profile model Eq. (6) was first proposal of the
ISO 8608 [4], though it is in good agreement with experimental data, but it cannot be generated by linear
shape filters with white noise input. Therefore ISO suggested a continuous spectrum with single waviness
index w = 2 for the computer and laboratory road simulation purpose. It has been suggested that the lower
frequency limit need not in general be measured lower than 0.01 cycles/m for on-road vehicles and 0.05
cycles/m for off-road vehicles. For vibration analysis of suspension of on road vehicles an upper frequency
limit of 10 cycles/m has been suggested by considering the low pass filtering effect due to tire enveloping.
The upper frequency limit may go as high as 1000 cycles/m for the purposes of noise analysis. ISO has
proposed the road classification (Classes A-H) based on the degree of road roughness as given in Table 1.
The degree of road roughness  is defined as the spatial PSD of road profile at reference frequency Ω0 and it
can be expressed for the ISO road as,

  S z ( 0 )  4a  106 (7)

where, a = 1, 2, . . . 7 corresponding to the road class A, B, . . . G respectively.

The variance of ISO road profile z with single waviness index w = 2 and its gradient are obtained by
integrating their PSDs Sz(Ω) κ (Ω0 /Ω)2 and S (Ω) Sz(Ω) (2π Ω)2 = κ according to Eq. (2) as ,
* The final publication is available at: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40430-016-0615-6
  1 1 
 z2    02    and  z2'   U   L  (8)
 L U 

Table 1 ISO classification of road profile [6].

Degree of Roughness
Class No.
Road Class  = Sz(Ω0) 10-6 m3/cycle
a Geometric
Range
Mean ( )
A (Very Good) 1 <8 4
B (Good) 2 8 - 32 16
C (Average) 3 32 - 128 64
D (Poor) 4 128 - 512 256
E (Very Poor) 5 512 - 2048 1024
F 6 2048 - 8192 4096
G 7 8192 - 32768 16384

4. Road profile generation using method of white noise filtration (WNF)

In literature, the simulation using white noise filtration method uses two spectral models corresponding to the
ISO road: road model without low frequency cutoff (LFC) [7, 8] and road model with LFC [9–12].

4.1 White noise filtration: First order filter without low frequency cutoff

The method of WNF without LFC uses directly the ISO road spectrum with a single waviness index w = 2
and is expressed using Eq. (6) as,

2
   0 
2
  0 
2
S z ( )    0  , S z ( )    or S z ( )    (9)
  2   2  vx   

The road elevation profile z which has PSD given by Eq. (9), can be generated either in spatial or time
domain by passing a white-noise gradient or white-noise velocity through a first order linear shape filter. The
required filter in spatial domain or time domain is expressed as,

z '   0  (x) or z  0  (t) (10)

where, η(x) is zero mean Gaussian white-noise gradient (m/m) and η(t) is zero mean Gaussian white- noise
velocity (m/s). The required constant PSD of white noise input to the filter is,

 
S ( )  m/rad or S ( )  m 2 /s - rad (11)
2 2  vx

* The final publication is available at: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40430-016-0615-6

Considering the harmonic transfer function, spectral densities of input and output of the filter, it can be
verified that the white noise having spectral density given by Eq. (11), generate the road elevation profile z
which has the same spectral density as given by the Eq. (9).

The road roughness model given by Eq. (9) is an approximation to measured PSD in a certain frequency
range. In the limit case γ or ω → 0 this model result in an infinite value of the PSD Sz(0) → , and thus an
infinite variance or mean square value σz2 →  which is not practical. This fact has also been realized when
the road profile is generated by using Eq. (10) through computer simulation, see section 6.2. Therefore, the
road profile model represented by the Eq. (10) is limited to direct spectral simulation using transfer function
approach without going through the time domain simulation and it can be used only for simulation of linear
vehicle models with known transfer function.

4.2 White noise filtration: First order filter with low frequency cutoff

To overcome the difficulties of the model without LFC , the ISO road model with LFC which is valid in the
whole frequency range (0 ≤ Ω ≤ ) has been used in the literature [9–12] by modifying the Eq. (6) as,

4   z2
S z ( )  2 (12)
  2  2

where, σz2 is variance of road elevation profile and it can be verified by substituting Eq. (12) in (2). The value
of σz2 should be obtained from the measured spectrum for which the filter is to be designed, for ISO road it is
given by Eq. (8). In the region of high frequency spectrum, the Eq. (12) is approximated to Sz(Ω ≫ ΩL) = 4 α
σz2/ (2π Ω)2 and it is in good agreement with the Eq. (9). Equating Sz(Ω ≫ ΩL) with Eq. (9) and using Eq. (8)
gives,

 
   L2 (13)
4 z 4  0
2

It can be seen that the parameter α is independent of road roughness or road class and is a constant for the
given scheme of road classification. For the ISO road Eq. (9), with ΩL = 0.01 cycle/m and Ω0 = 1/2π cycle/m
the value of α = 0.0987 rad/m and it remains constant for all the classes of ISO road profile.

In the present study, the parameter α is properly termed as a low frequency cut off, because it limits the
maximum spectral height in the region of low frequency and has units of spatial circular frequency as
(rad/m). The parameter αvx is also a low frequency cut off but has units of temporal circular frequency as
(rad/s). In the literature [9–12], the parameter α is called as a roughness coefficient which seems to be
incorrect because it is no way related to road roughness and gets confused with the parameter degree of
roughness κ. Though α is a constant and independent of the road roughness, in the literature [9–11] its values
have been taken as 0.15 rad/m and 0.45 rad/m for smooth and rough road respectively without any

* The final publication is available at: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40430-016-0615-6

justification from the single reference: R W Rotenberg, Vehicle Suspension (1972) Moscow, MaSinostrojenie
(in Russian).

Equation (12) describes the PSD function of road profile corresponding to the first order filter with LFC in
terms of the parameters α and σz2. The parameter α is the constant for all the classes of ISO road and
independent of the degree of roughness κ, whereas σz2 depends on κ. Therefore the spectrum must be
expressed in terms of κ, in order to make it comparable with the ISO road spectrum. For this purpose using
Eq. (13), the modification of Eq. (12) is proposed as,

   vx
S z ( )  , S z ( )  or S z ( )  (14)
  2  2
2
2  (   )
2 2
2  [(  v x )2   2 ]

(a) (b)
PSD Sz (m3/Cycle)

Spatial frequency Ω (Cycle/m) Spatial frequency Ω (Cycle/m)

Fig. 2. PSD spectrum of ISO road profiles and corresponding white noise filtration method: (a) by Eq. (12)
and (b) by modified Eq. (14).

From Fig. 2, it can be seen that Eq. (14) is more appropriate than Eq. (12) to model the ISO spectrum using
method of white-noise filtration, but both the equations yield the same spectrum if the value of α (0.0987)
used is obtained from the Eq. (13). It is to be noted that in Eq. (12) any variation of value of α results in to the
same variance σz2, but the spectrum is deviating from the required ISO one. On other hand in Eq. (14), any
variation of value of α result in to the different variances but it is in good agreement with the required ISO
spectrum.

The required filter in spatial domain or time domain is expressed as,

z '   z   (x) or z   v x z   (t) (15)

The required constant PSD of the white noise input is,

  vx
S ( )  or S ( )  (16)
2 2
* The final publication is available at: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40430-016-0615-6
Considering harmonic transfer function, spectral densities of input and output of the filter, it can be verified
that the white noise having spectral density given by Eq. (16), generate the road elevation profile z which has
the same spectral density as given by the Eq. (14). It is to be noted that in Eqs. (11) and (16), the spatial and
temporal spectral densities of white noise Sη(γ) and Sη(ω) should not be derived from each other according to
the Eq. (4).

4.3 Numerical generation of a Gaussian white noise

The important step in the white-noise filtration is the numerical generation of a Gaussian white noise signal
of required spectral height. Ideal white noise is a mathematical convenience neither it exists practically nor it
can be generated numerically because of its infinite variance, but an approximation in the form of band
limited white noise (BLWN) is useful for the purpose of simulation. The algorithms based on random number
generation are available for generation of BLWN of specified variance using computer software such as
MATLAB™. For this purpose the Eq. (11) or (16) is used to calculate the required variance of band limited
white noise as ση2 = κ (ΩU – ΩL). To accommodate the lowest frequency harmonic ΩL, length of road required
will be L ≥ 1/ ΩL and according to sampling theorem the step size of x required will be Δx ≤ 1/2ΩU. Therefore
there is extension of the frequency band of generated signal and the required variance of band limited white
noise is modified as ση2 = κ (1/2Δx – 1/L). Then number of samples that are required in length L of the road
will be ns= L/Δx. Then ση2 and ns are used to generate the samples of band limited white noise η(x) for the use
in Eq. (10) or (15) to generate the required road profile.

The next issue is how to ensure the Gaussianity of generated band limited white noise and road signal. This is
important in order to compare results of time domain to that of direct spectral simulation of linear systems
when input signal has Gaussian distribution. For this purpose the statistical parameter kurtosis (ratio of
fourth-order central moment to square of variance) and probability density function (PDF) are useful. The
value of kurtosis equal to 3 of a signal assures the probability distribution close to a Gaussian distribution
[16]. The Gaussianity can be ensured by taking sufficiently large number of samples ns and it depends on the
type of algorithm and seed/stream used for generation of the random numbers. So one has to generate the
different sets of signals obtain their kurtosis value and PDF and save one which is closer to Gaussian
distribution.

5. Road profile generation using method of superposition of harmonics (SOH)

The method of SOH is proposed by Shinozuka [13, 14], for the generation of a sample of Gaussian random
signal in time domain from its spectral description. In this method the one sided PSD spectrum of signal is
divided in to ‘N’ number of frequency bands and ‘N’ numbers of harmonic samples are generated in time
domain with corresponding central band frequency and spectral height with uniformly distributed random
phase angles. Then the Gaussian random signal is approximated to the superposition of these harmonic

* The final publication is available at: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40430-016-0615-6

samples. The formula of SOH proposed by Shinozuka is for time domain signal which can be modified to
generate the road profile in spatial domain as follows,

N
z ( x)   Z n sin(2   n x  n ) , n = 1, 2, 3 . . . . N (17)
n 1

where, z(x) is elevation of road profile, Zn is amplitude of nth harmonic, N = (ΩU – ΩL)/ΔΩ is number of
frequency bands into which the total PSD spectrum is divided, ΩL, ΩU are lower and upper spatial frequencies
in the PSD spectrum (cycle/m), ΔΩ = Width of each frequency band, Ωn= ΩL + ΔΩ (2n–1)/2 is spatial
frequency of nth harmonic, a central frequency of the nth frequency band. ϕn is phase angle of nth harmonic,
independent random phase angles uniformly distributed in the interval [0 2π]. x is the forward distance
traveled by vehicle along the path, the maximum value of x or the minimum length of road sample required
for simulation will be L ≥ 1/ ΩL. In order to accommodate the lowest frequency harmonic ΩL which is of
longest wavelength, L = 3/ ΩL is sufficient but unnecessary use of larger L will increase the computational
efforts. According to sampling theorem the minimum step size of x required will be Δx = 1/ 2ΩU, for
smoother profile a smaller step can be chosen but again it will increase the computational efforts. The
variance of nth harmonic of amplitude Zn is,

1
 z2  Z n2 (18)
n
2

Also, the variance of nth harmonic is equal to the area under PSD Curve in nth frequency band,

 z2  S z ( n ) 
n
(19)

The amplitude Zn of nth harmonic is obtained by equating Eqs. (18) and (19) as,

Zn  2 S z ( n )  (20)

where, Sz(Ωn) is spectral height corresponding to the central frequency of nth frequency band and is obtained
from Eq. (6). The probability distribution of the signal z from Eq. (17) will be close to Gaussian distribution
according to the central limit theorem applied to random phases ϕn [1, 13, 14, 16]. Using Eqs. (6) and (7) and
(20), the Zn for the ISO road can be expressed as,

w
 
Zn  2 a
2  0    10-3 (21)
 n 

The frequency spacing ΔΩ in the PSD spectrum need not to be constant and Shinozuka [13] advised to use
variable spacing depending on the fluctuation of the spectral density. It is observed that the spectrum of
generated signal from constant frequency spacing has poor agreement with the target spectrum in the region

* The final publication is available at: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40430-016-0615-6

where fluctuation of spectral density is more rapid. Whereas the smaller or finer spacing in this region gives
better agreement between the generated and target spectrums. In case of the ISO road profile the region of
low frequency spectrum (0.01 to 0.1 cycle/m) has rapid fluctuation of spectral density.

Shinozuka [13, 14] suggested that the method of SOH Eq. (17) can be expressed in the form of discrete
Fourier transform, which can be used to obtain spatial domain road signal through discrete inverse FFT
algorithm. Mathematically, both the SOH and FFT expressions are same as well as the results of generated
road profile, but there are some points of distinction. The main advantage of FFT technique is that it takes
very less computational time as compared to SOH, but it cannot be implemented with variable frequency
spacing (ΔΩ) [13]. In the present study it is suggested that, generate the road profile first in spatial domain,
save it and then simulate the vehicle at a given speed vx over this profile to obtain the time domain solution.
As far as the generation of road profile is concerned the requirement of variable frequency spacing is more
important than the reduction in computational time. Therefore the method of SOH is more appropriate than
the FFT technique to generate road profile for simulation of vehicle suspension.

5.1 Estimation of velocity and acceleration inputs from road to the vehicle suspension

For the purpose of simulation of vehicle suspension the road excitation in the form of displacement z(t),
velocity ̇ and acceleration ̈ are required, depending on the tire properties and type of co-ordinates
used for the formulation of equations of motion. Once the displacement is obtained, the velocity and
acceleration can be obtained by the successive numerical differentiation but it is associated with the
numerical errors. There is a time lag equal to one time step between the displacement and velocity, also
accuracy and smoothness of derived signal depends on the size of time step used. In the method of WNF,
after getting the displacement z the or ̇ can be directly obtained from Eq. (15) but numerical differentiation
is required to obtain or ̈ and higher order derivatives. The method of SOH allows obtaining any number
of successive differentiations of the z without going through numerical differentiation. By differentiating the
Eq. (17), the mth order differentiation of z is proposed as,

d mz N   
  Z n 2   n  sin 2   n x  n  m  , m = 0, 1, 2 . . .
m
(22)
 2 
m
dx n 1

It is to be noted that while generating the successive differentiations of a road profile, the same values of ϕn
should be used for each value of m. Once the road profile in spatial domain is generated using Eq. (22), the
required road excitation in time domain can be obtained by using Eq. (1) as,

dm z dm z m
 vx (23)
dt m dx m
In general, the Eq. (23) can be used to generate the displacement, velocity and acceleration signals by taking
the values of m as 0, 1 and 2 respectively. The authors have verified the Eqs. (22) and (23) by generating the
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signals z(t), ̇ and ̈ , obtained their PSDs and compared it with the original PSD from which the signals are
derived. It can be seen from Eq. (21) that, once the road profile elevation and gradient are generated and
saved for the class A (a = 1), it can be used to obtain the profile of successive classes by multiplying a factor
of ‘2’ to the previous class. This is also applicable for the method of WNF using Eq. (10) or (15).

6. Simulation results and discussions

6.1 Simulation parameters

The samples of road profile corresponding to the ISO road class A (a=1) are generated in spatial domain
through MATLAB™ by using the methods of WNF and SOH which are discussed in the previous sections.
The simulation parameters chosen are, degree of road roughness κ = 4 × 10–6 m3/cycle, ΩL = 0.01, ΩU = 10
and Ω0 = 1/2π cycles/m, length of road sample L = 3/ ΩL = 300 m, sampling frequency = 100 cycles/m, Δx =
0.01 m and number of samples that are required in length L of the road are ns= L/Δx = 30000. For method of
WNF the required variance of BLWN gradient input is ση2 = κ (1/2Δx – 1/L) = 2 × 10–4 (m/m)2.

For method of SOH, n = 10000 number of independent random phase angles taken which are uniformly
distributed in the interval [0 2π]. From Eq. (8) the variance of ISO road or target variance are σz2 = κ Ω02/ ΩL=
10.132 × 10–6 m2, σ 2 = κ (ΩU – ΩL) = 4 × 10–5 and corresponding target standard deviation are σz = 3.2 × 10–3
m, σ = 0.0063. The method of SOH is also used to generate the road profile from split spectrum which is
described by Eq. (6). In this case corresponding to road class- A, the target variance are σz2 = 10.8 × 10–6 m2,
σ 2 = 2.12 × 10–4 and target standard deviation are σz = 3.3 × 10–3 m, σ = 0.0145.

Various PSD estimators are available but none is perfect and each one has its own disadvantages, especially
they are poor in estimation at low frequencies. The Welch estimator is found to be relatively good for the
work of this paper and is used to obtain PSD of the simulated road. The probability density function p(z) of
generated signal is represented by means of normalized probability density σ √ π verses standardized
variable (z–μz)/σz instead of usual standardized probability density σ of normal distribution, where μz is
the mean of variable z. Such normalized representation is used for the elevation (z) and gradient (z') of road
profile and input BLWN (η), since they are expected to follow normal distribution. For uniformly distributed
phase angle ϕn in the rage [0, 2π], the normalized probability density p(ϕn)(2π – 0) is used with centralized
variable ϕn –μϕn to represent the probability distribution. Such normalization sets the range of probability
density to [0, 1] for both the distributions and range of variable to [–3, 3] for normal distribution and that of
to [–π, π] for uniform distribution. Therefore such normalization helps to plot both distributions on the same
plot for comparing the probability distribution of simulated road profile.

The results shown here are representative of the respective method and may vary during different simulation
runs and depend mainly on sampling frequency (1/Δx), sample length (L) and number of phase angles (n), the
type of algorithm and seed/stream used for the generation of the random numbers. Authors of this work have

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carried out large number of simulation runs with different combinations of the parameters and observed that
the PDF and PSD spectrum are matching with that are shown here.

6.2 Results of method of WNF

The simulated road profiles, their PDF and PSD spectrum are shown in Figs. 3 to 13 and Table 2 summarizes
comparison of the statistical parameters (mean, standard deviation and kurtosis) with target values among the
methods of WNF and SOH. Fig. 3 shows the sample of BLWN which is used to generate road profile from
the method of WNF. The road profile generated using method of WNF without LFC and its PSD spectrum,
Figs. 4 and 5 shows the major contribution of low frequency harmonics of large amplitude which results into
a very large value of variance of the profile elevation. Also it shows large mean due to truncation of low
frequency harmonics in a finite length of the signal (Table 2). Ideally it requires the infinite sample length in
order to accommodate the harmonic of lowest frequency (Ω → 0). But increase in sample length again
increases the variance and mean due to inclusion of more and more low frequency harmonics of large
amplitude, also kurtosis and probability density function (PDF) Fig. 6. are more outlier from Gaussian
distribution.
Gradient (m/m)

Longitudinal distance along road x (m)

Fig. 3. Segment from the sample of BLWN of length 300 m.
Road elevation z (m)

Longitudinal distance along road x (m)

Fig. 4. Sample of road profile generated using method of WNF without LFC.

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 PSD (Magnitude2 / Cycle / m)

Spatial frequency Ω (Cycle/m)

Fig. 5. One sided PSD of the generated road profile using method of WNF without LFC.
√
Normalized probability density

Standardized variable (z–μz)/σz

Fig. 6. Normalized probability density of the generated road profile using method of
WNF without LFC.

The generated road profile using WNF with LFC, its PSD spectrum and PDF are shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9.

As can be seen that the kurtosis and PDF are near to Gaussian, the method is reasonably good for generating
the continuous spectrum ISO road profile but the spectrum of generated signal gets extended beyond upper

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frequency limit (ΩU) up to the half of sampling frequency. This will not affect the variance of elevation of
generated profile because the contribution of high frequency spectral is negligible. But this significantly
affects the variance of gradient of generated profile (refer to Table 2) because it has a flat constant PSD.
Therefore the generated signal does not confirm to the statistics of the target ISO road profile and is not
suitable for the simulation of vehicle suspension when both elevation and gradient (velocity) inputs are
required. This drawback of the WNF method is overcome by using the sampling frequency equal to 2ΩU so
that the spectrum gets terminated at ΩU, but it will reduce smoothness of the generated profile.
Road elevation z (m)

Longitudinal distance along road x (m)

Fig. 7. Sample of road profile generated using method of WNF with LFC.

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 PSD (Magnitude2 / Cycle / m)

Spatial frequency Ω (Cycle/m)

Fig. 8. One sided PSD of the generated road profile using method of WNF with LFC.
σ √2π
Normalized probability density

Standardized variable (z–μz)/σz

Fig. 9. Normalized probability density of the generated road profile using method of
WNF with LFC.

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 Road elevation z (m)

Longitudinal distance along road x (m)

Fig. 10. Sample of road profile generated using method of SOH.
PSD (Magnitude / Cycle / m)
2

Spatial frequency Ω (Cycle/m)

Fig. 11. One sided PSD of the generated road profile from continuous spectrum
using method of SOH.

6.3 Results of method of SOH

Figure 10 shows the elevation of generated road profile corresponding to the continuous spectrum of ISO
road using method of SOH. For split spectrum with the same values of ϕn, the same road profile is obtained
except with small increase in elevation and thereby increase in variance. This is due to the lower exponent w2
= 1.5 in high frequency spectrum which increases height of high frequency spectral. The practical implication
is that the newly prepared road follows continuous spectrum with w = 2, whereas used road with normal wear
follows split spectrum with w1 = 2 and w2 = 1.5 in low and high frequency region of spectrum respectively.

From Figs. 11 and 12 it seen that, the PSD spectrum of the generated signals from both the continuous and
split spectrums are close to their target spectrum. The use of higher sampling frequency more than 2ΩU has
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negligible effect on the contribution of high frequency spectral either in elevation or gradient of the generated
profile, therefore smoothness of the generated signal can be increased by increasing the sampling frequency
as contras to the method of WNF.

Figure 13 shows that the probability distribution of the generated signal by method of SOH is close to the
Gaussian; it is same for signals from both continuous and split spectrum as the same values of ϕn are used in
their generation. Also the statistical moments (Table 2) are close to their target values.

From Figs. 6, 9 and 13 it is seen that the Gaussian BLWN can be generated more accurately than the
Gaussian colored noise by any of the method discussed above. The spectrum of the generated signal is in
poor agreement with that of target in the region where PSD changes rapidly, conversely it is in good
agreement with target spectrum in the region where PSD is flat or changes smoothly.
PSD (Magnitude2 / Cycle / m)

Spatial frequency Ω (Cycle/m)

Fig. 12. One sided PSD of the generated road profile from split spectrum using method
of SOH.

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 σ √2π
Normalized probability density

Standardized variable (z–μz)/σz

Fig. 13. Normalized probability density of the generated road profile using method of
SOH.

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Table 2 Comparison of the statistics of generated road signals from methods of WNF and SOH.

Statistical moments

Method Variable Mean (μ) Standard deviation (σ) Kurtosis (Kr)

Signal Target Signal Target Signal Target

1. WNF without z 9.6 mm 0 8 mm 3.2 mm 2.1 3

LFC z' – 1.2×10–6 0 0.0143 0.0063 2.96 3

z 0.15 mm 0 3.4 mm 3.2 mm 2.77 3

2. WNF with LFC
z' – 16×10–6 0 0.0143 0.0063 2.95 3

3. SOH: Continuous z – 0.067 mm 0 3.36 mm 3.2 mm 3.07 3

Spectrum z' 22×10–6 0 0.0063 0.0063 2.94 3

z – 0.065 mm 0 3.4 mm 3.3 mm 3.06 3

4. SOH: Split
z' 25×10–6 0 0.0147 0.0146 2.97 3
Spectrum
ϕn * 3.142 3.142 1.823 1.814 1.796 1.8

* Phase angles ϕn follows uniform distribution in the range [0 2π]

7. Conclusions

The generation of a single track random road elevation profile (one dimensional and one variate Gaussian
signal) from its power spectral density is presented, by using the methods of white-noise filtration (WNF) and
summation of harmonics (SOH) through numerical simulation. Efficacy of the methods is evaluated by
comparing the PSD spectrum, PDF and statistical moments of the generated signal with that of the target
(ISO road).

The two methods of WNF using first order filter are described. The method of WNF without low frequency
cutoff (LFC) is not suitable for the generation of road profile due to contribution of large amplitude low
frequency harmonics. The method of WNF with LFC is suitable for generation of road profile but from an
inverse square law type continuous PSD spectrum only. It also suffers from the contribution of low frequency
harmonics but of constant amplitude and is in poor agreement with the ISO road spectrum in the low
frequency region. The parameter α is shown to be independent of road roughness and is properly defined as a
low frequency cut off, which has been incorrectly called as the roughness coefficient in the literature. The
proposed modified expression for spectrum of WNF method is suitable for generation of a particular class of
the ISO road. The smoothness of signal increases with its sampling frequency and in the method of WNF it is

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determined by upper frequency limit of target spectrum and thereby not possible to increase the smoothness
of generated signal.

The method of superposition of harmonics is a flexible and powerful technique for generating the Gaussian
random signal from its spectral description. It can handle any practical shape of PSD not only continuous but
discrete split spectrum also. The proposed generalized formula of SOH provides the generation of signal
along with its successive differentiations without going through numerical differentiation to avoid numerical
errors. The smoothness of generated signal can be increased by increasing the sampling frequency with
negligible contribution of high frequency spectral either in elevation or especially gradient of the generated
profile as contras to the method of WNF.

It is to be noted that the PSD preserves the information only about amplitude distribution in a frequency band
and not about phase shift and therefore it is not possible to generate the original road profile from its PSD, but
the variance can be ensured which is sufficient for the analysis of vehicle suspension. It is observed that there
is some mean present in the generated signal possibly due to truncation of low frequency harmonics in the
finite length of signal for both the methods. The care should be taken to remove the mean if any present in the
signal before simulating the vehicle, in order to compare the results of time domain simulation and direct
spectral simulation of a linear model.

The terms associated with spectral description of road profile are reviewed, well defined and described to
resolve the ambiguity regarding use of these terms. The present study suggests that, it is appropriate to
generate the road profile first in spatial domain and then simulate the vehicle at a given speed over this profile
to obtain the time domain solution. This approach has advantages such as reduction in simulation time, use of
same profile for comparing the simulation results of suspension with different parameters and the statistical
properties of road profile can be ensured well before simulation. Also once the road profile elevation and
gradient are generated and saved for the ISO road class A (a = 1), it can be used to obtain the profile of
successive classes by multiplying a factor of ‘2’ to the previous class.

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