Indian Journal of Engineering & Materials Sciences

Vol. 13, April 2006, pp. 117-122

Development of correlation equations between different measurements of skid

resistance in pavements
Marcelo Bustos, Tomas Echaveguren, Hernán de Solminihac* & Andrés Caroca†
Department of Construction Engineering and Management, School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile,
P.O. Box 306, CP 6904411, Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago, Chile
Received 17 May 2004; accepted 13 September 2005

Friction is an indicator of the safety level supplied by a pavement. It is obtained by skid resistance and texture measures
performed with static and high performance devices. Because the physical principle applied by each equipment differs from
one another, it is necessary to harmonize measures in order to compare them. From literature review different harmonization
procedures are identified: equipment direct correlations, high scale harmonization experiments and statistical analysis of
skid resistance measures. Harmonization based on direct correlations and statistical analysis has the disadvantage that they
do not consider texture as a variable, making them applicable only under certain conditions. In this paper, a harmonization
methodology is proposed based on the PIARC (the World Road Association) harmonization procedure. The proposed
methodology has the advantage that a reduced amount of data is needed and also texture measures are considered. From the
application of the methodology under data simulation it is concluded that under a certain texture range the correlation is
almost linear. This range depends on the texture measurement device; as, when using accurate equipments non-linear
distortions are deduced under low texture levels.

IPC Code: E 01C 9/10

Pavement performance can be described through
structural and functional indicators. The former,
characterize pavements behaviour under traffic loads.
The latter consider comfort and safety level supplied
to road users1. Skid resistance and pavement texture
are functional properties that provide safety
conditions to drivers. Pavement friction is the
combination of both variables. Skid resistance is
measured with static devices such as British
Pendulum or high-speed devices such as Grip Tester.
Pavement texture is usually measured with volumetric
methods or with laser profilers.
Road agencies usually need to compare friction
measurements obtained with different devices. Such
measures cannot be directly compared as each
equipment measures under different physical principles.
As an example, SCRIM (side-force coefficient routine
investigation machine) uses a test wheel with a deviation
of 20° from the vehicle's trajectory under free spinning.
On the other hand, Grip Tester (GT) uses a test wheel
oriented in the same direction to vehicle's trajectory, but
blocked in a 14.5%. This problem can be solved using
methods to harmonize measures, such as the European
Friction Index (EFI), statistical comparison of measures,
_______________
*For correspondence (E-mail: hsolmini@ing.puc.cl)
†APSA Pavement Management Consultant AS
or regression equations2-4. Experiments have been
carried out in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and
Chile to measure and correlate friction measurements
done with SCRIM, Grip Tester and British Pendulum
(BP)5-12. However, they do not consider the effect of the
pavement's macro texture, so their application is limited
to texture values under which they were calibrated.
The objective of this study is to develop an alternative
procedure to obtain equations that directly correlate skid
resistance measured with different devices. A
mathematical procedure was developed to estimate skid
resistance of one device based on measurements
performed with another device. To obtain more
simplified expressions, such equations were used to
generate simulated friction data. With the data obtained
under mathematical simulation, equations were
determined under non-linear regression.
Theoretical
Existing correlation equations between friction measures
Many highway agencies and manufacturers have
developed equations to correlate skid resistance
measures obtained with different devices. The United
Kingdom, New Zealand and Chile, among other
countries developed correlation equations between
British Pendulum and SCRIM. A synthesis of these
118 INDIAN J ENG. MATER. SCI., APRIL 2006

equations is presented in Table 1. model considers a "reference curve". This curve is

The equation proposed by the Highways Agency of representative to all pavement surfaces and devices
the UK correlates SCRIM and British Pendulum harmonized by PIARC. An adjustment procedure was
measurements. It is applicable for medium textured developed for several devices to shift each particular
surfaces, but not for low texture surfaces. This is friction curve as close as possible to the reference curve.
because, as macro-texture is reduced, the British This procedure is presented in Fig. 1.
Pendulum Number (BPN) tends to be affected by the The method can be expressed mathematically by Eqs
micro and macro-texture, resulting into a non-linear (1)-(5). Eq. (1) represents friction (FS) measurement
behaviour13. In Chile this equation cannot be applied harmonized to the “reference curve”. Texture is
as most roads have low texture. represented by the Sp constant. A unique expression is
The Transit NZ Standards suggest linear equations to obtained for both, texture and skid resistance.
correlate measurements obtained with British Pendulum
FS(S) = F60 e[(60 – S)/Sp] …(1)
and SCRIM. If the constant value of this equation is
neglected, the equation predicts BPN values 35% higher The constant Sp is obtained through the linear
than those obtained with highways Agency Equation expression presented in Eq. (2), from macro-texture
(see Table 1). In contrast, Chilean correlation equations measurements obtained with different methods (sand-
for British Pendulum and SCRIM predicted values 35% patch method, profilometers and drainometers, among
lower than those obtained with equation provided by the other methods).
Highways Agency. However, the correlation coefficient Sp = a + b Tx …(2)
of the Chilean expressions is low, so it is not suitable to
where Tx is the measure of macro-texture, and
correlate both devices.
constants a and b are the PIARC coefficients for each
There are also some equations to correlate SCRIM
macro-texture measurement method.
and Grip Tester. All of them are linear expressions that
Knowing the skid resistance (FRS) measured under
present correlation coefficients higher than 90%. The
a specific survey speed (Se) and considering the Sp
models allow a simple estimation of skid resistance
value obtained from Eq. (2), the reference friction at
measures performed with different devices. However,
60 km/h (FR60) can be estimated through Eq. (3).
they do not consider the pavement macro-texture effect,
FR60 = FRS e[(Se – 60)/Sp] …(3)
so their scope of application depends on the texture
values under which they were calibrated.
Proposed methodology to correlate skid resistance
measurements
The PIARC model provides an efficient mean to
overcome with some of the limitations observed in the
reviewed methodology, as it considers skid resistance,
texture and a harmonization procedure under different
survey speeds2.
The PIARC model is based on frictionspeed model of
Rado2. This model considers an exponential decay of
skid resistance against speed, as presented in Eq. (1). To
harmonize measures done with different devices, the Fig. 1— PIARC harmonization method2
Table 1— Correlation equations between several tribometers5-7,9-11
Id Author Year Country Equation
1 Transportation & Road Research Laboratory 1990 United Kingdom SC = 0.823 GN – 0.046
2 Highways Agency 1994 United Kingdom SC = BPN/ 105
3 Highways Directorate 2000 Chile SC = 0.0139 BPN – 0.228
4 Transit NZ 2001 New Zealand ESC = 0.0071 BPN + 0.033
5 Transit NZ 2001 New Zealand ESC = 0.42 GN + 0.2
6 Central University of Chile 2003 Chile SC = 0.7521GN + 0.154
7 Findlay Irvine Ltd 2004 United Kingdom SC = 0.85 GN
GN: Grip Number; BPN: British Pendulum Number; SC: SCRIM Coefficient; ESC Equivalent SCRIM Coefficient
 BUSTOS et al.: SKID RESISTANCE IN PAVEMENTS 119

measure macro-texture were also considered: Sand-

The normalized value of skid resistance at 60 km/h
Patch Test Method and Laser Profiler.
(F60) is obtained with Eq. (4), valid for tribometers
The parameters used in the analysis are presented in
with blank tires or slider devices. A and B are the
Tables 2 and 3. For each pair of tribometers a set of
PIARC coefficients for a specific device.
friction values were generated for skid resistance values
F60 = A + B FR60 …(4) between 0.3 and 1.1 (30 to 110 to the British Pendulum),
and macro-texture values between 0.35 and 2.0 mm.
When equipments have ribbed tires, an additional An example of calculated values using Eq. (6) is
term C Tx has to be added to Eq. (4), in order to presented in Figs 2a-d where macro-texture was
consider the incidence of micro-texture. obtained with sand-patch method and profiler. The
To estimate friction values of one device from following issues can be appreciated from these
friction measurements performed with another device, figures: (i) a correlation between skid resistance
it is assumed that harmonized friction measures are values is observed, independent of macro texture for
equal between both devices. This is presented in high texture values (ii) the macro texture effect over
Eq. (5). friction is not homogeneous. For low texture levels a
FS(S)i = FS(S)j …(5) high incidence over friction is observed, (iii) the
[(60 – S)/Sp]
effect of the macro-texture is clearly lower if texture
As the e term is the same for both devices, it is measured by a profilometer Eq. (7) analytically
can be eliminated from Eq. (1). Replacing the values for justifies these assumptions: (a) linear correlation
devices i and j in Eqs (2)-(5), and considering their between skid resistance measurements, included in
survey speed values (Sei,, Sej), Eq. (6) is obtained: the first term, (b) non-linear influence of the macro
texture on the skid resistance values, considered in the
FRSj = [ Ai + Bi FRSi e [(Sei - 60)/(a + b Tx)] second term, and (c) combined effect of skid
– Aj]/Bj/ e [(Sej - 60)/(a+ b Tx)] …(6) resistance and texture over the estimation, considered
With Eq. (6) specific skid resistance values can be through the third term
estimated from other measures obtained with different FRSj = k1 FRSi + k2 Tx k3 + k4 FRSi Tx …(7)
equipments. From this equation it is clear that FRSj
depends only on the variables FRSi and Tx, as the Simulated skid resistance data was generated for
remaining coefficients (Ai,j , Bi,j , Sei , Sej , a, b) are each pair of tribometers associated with two macro
constant values for specific skid resistance measurement texture measuring methods. Then, a non-linear
devices (i and j) and texture measurement method. With regression analysis was performed to estimate
the help of numerical simulation data, it can be obtained coefficients ki for each set of data.
for the determination of simplified regressions. If any of the coefficients was not statistically
significant at 95% confidence level, the equation was
Results and Discussion then re-estimated without such coefficient, until all of
Application of the proposed methodology the coefficients were statistically significant.
The procedure outlined in the previous section can Values obtained for the coefficients are presented
be applied to devices considered for the PIARC in Tables 4 and 5 where macro-texture was estimated
experiment. In this study, an application was from sand-patch method and profiler respectively.
developed for the following tribometers: (i) British
Pendulum, (ii) SCRIM, (iii) Grip Tester, (iv) Komatsu Comparative analysis between the proposed methodology and
existent correlations
Skid Trailer, and (v) Stradograph. Two methods to
Comparing existing correlations to those obtained
Table 2— Parameters used for the tribometers included in this in this study itcan be said that:
study2 − Equations show in Table 1 which correlate SCRIM
Tribometer PIARC Se A B Table 3— Parameters used for the methods considered to
Code (km/h) measurement of macro texture2
Pendulum Tester BPT A14 10 0.05626 0.00756 Equipment PIARC a b
SCRIMTEX (UK) D5 17.1 0.03258 0.87170 Code
Grip Tester D8 9.4 0.08209 0.91040
Komatsu Skid Trailer C4 10 0.04195 0.84865 Sand-Patch Method A8 - 11.5981 113.632
Stradograph C8 12.5 0.05436 0.77020 Laser Profilometer A2 25.8322 139.680
120 INDIAN J ENG. MATER. SCI., APRIL 2006
values from measurements performed with British
Pendulum was compared with Eq. (8) estimated in
this study.
SC = 0.00811 BPN + 0.04 MPD0.427 …(8)
Where MPD is the Mean Profile Depth (mm)
measured with profilometer.
− A graphical comparison of Eq. (8) with those
showed from Table 1 is presented in Fig. 4. Eq. (8)
has been plotted with two values of macro-texture:
MPD = 0.4 mm and MPD = 2.0 mm.
− Results show that BPN values lower than 70 differs
between equations in less than 15%. For BPN
values higher than 70, a similar phenomena is
observed, with the exception of the equation
developed by Chilean Highways Directorate. Using
these equations, values almost 40% higher than the
mean of the other curves were obtained.
− To compare equations developed to estimate
Fig. 2—Tri-dimensional surfaces of SCRIM data generated from Grip Tester and from British Pendulum
equivalent SCRIM values from Grip Tester
numbers, Eq.(9) was used which was developed in
this study (extracted from Table 5).
SC = 0.9237 GN + 0.0871 MTD-0.1973
+ 0.0408 MTD GN …(9)
− Fig. 5 presents a graphical comparison between
equations listed in rows 5, 6, and 7 from Table 1
and (9). Eq. (9) has been also plotted with MTD
= 0.4 and MTD = 2.0 mm. In this case, the
equation developed by Transit NZ, present
values that are significantly lower than the values
predicted by the other two equations, especially
for high values of GN. Differences between 13
and 45% are observed when compared to the
equations developed in this study. The values
predicted by Central University of Chile and Eq.
(9) are similar, presenting differences lower than
20%.
 BUSTOS et al.: SKID RESISTANCE IN PAVEMENTS 121

Table 4— Coefficients statistically estimated for Eq. (7) for texture measured with Sand-Patch Metho
To device values From device values K1 K2 K3 K4 Standard error
British pendulum number SCRIM number 134.754 - 6.40733 - 0.20234 - 7.75455 1.6509
Grip number 115.759 5.27414 - 1.26186 3.83583 0.7746
Komatsu skid number 102.432 0.00000 1.00000 4.24856 2.2115
Stradograph number 108.432 0.00000 1.00000 - 3.22108 0.7703
Grip number SCRIM number 1.17011 - 0.10593 - 0.73619 - 0.10170 0.0150
British pendulum number 0.00867 - 0.04348 - 1.29452 - 0.00032 0.0066
Komatsu skid number 0.98437 - 0.06681 - 1.31418 - 0.04730 0.0103
Stradograph number 0.93232 -0.05405 - 1.00327 -0.04866 0.0071
SCRIM number Grip number 0.85314 0.09946 - 0.60980 0.08754 0.0114
British pendulum number 0.00738 0.04927 - 0.30542 0.00052 0.0086
Komatsu skid number 0.83950 0.01150 1.00000 0.05539 0.0151
Stradograph number 0.78959 0.04465 - 0.48897 0.04065 0.0059
Komatsu skid number SCRIM umber 1.19921 - 0.01277 1.00000 - 0.07630 0.0150
Grip number 1.01623 0.07180 - 1.29149 0.05038 0.0108
British pendulum number 0.00876 0.02481 -1.34539 0.00016 0.0039
Stradograph number 0.95254 0.01346 - 2.03719 - 0.00839 0.0053
Stradograph number SCRIM number 1.26036 - 0.05495 - 0.44235 - 0.05448 0.0093
Grip Number 1.07631 0.06332 - 0.88125 0.05583 0.0076
British pendulum number 0.00926 0.00277 1.00000 0.00025 0.0064
Komatsu skid number 1.05059 - 0.01518 - 1.94913 0.01005 0.0057
Table 5— Coefficients statistically estimated for Eq. (7) for texture measured Laser Profilometer
To device values From device values K1 K2 K3 K4 Standard error
British pendulum number SCRIM number 123.497 - 4.94653 0.55871 0.00000 1.0921
Grip number 118.542 5.53103 - 0.48073 1.03918 0.1045
Komatsu skid number 112.726 - 3.04583 - 0.51925 - 0.41565 0.0772
Stradograph number 105.976 - 0.26620 1.00000 -1.52009 0.3043
Grip number SCRIM number 1.08127 - 0.09040 - 0.24757 - 0.04319 0.0056
British pendulum number 0.00845 - 0.04614 - 0.49324 - 0.00008 0.0009
Komatsu skid number 0.95138 - 0.07161 - 0.50223 - 0.01211 0.0015
Stradograph number 0.89180 - 0.05032 - 0.36022 - 0.01747 0.0016
SCRIM number Grip number 0.92371 0.08714 - 0.19728 0.04075 0.0049
British pendulum number 0.00811 0.04009 0.42716 0.00000 0.0067
Komatsu skid number 0.88076 0.01074 1.00000 0.02972 0.0071
Stradograph number 0.82212 0.03834 -0.14942 0.02044 0.0028
Komatsu skid number SCRIM umber 1.13815 -0.01169 1.00000 -0.03814 0.0093
Grip number 1.05181 0.07641 - 0.49447 0.01296 0.0016
British pendulum number 0.00887 0.02713 - 0.59124 0.00000 0.0007
Stradograph number 0.93792 0.02190 - 0.81087 - 0.00660 0.0022
Stradograph number SCRIM number 1.21508 - 0.04552 - 0.13020 - 0.02787 0.0042
Grip Number 1.12253 0.05774 - 0.30959 0.02164 0.0021
British pendulum number 0.00944 0.00256 1.00000 0.00014 0.0027
Komatsu skid number 1.06570 - 0.02357 - 0.79851 0.00816 0.0024

Fig. 3— Comparison between different equations to estimate Fig. 4— Comparison between equations to estimate SCRIM
SCRIM values from British Pendulum Number values from Grip Tester Number
122 INDIAN J ENG. MATER. SCI., APRIL 2006
Conclusions
Correlation equations obtained from literature do
not consider texture. This limits their application to
texture range under which they were calibrated. The
PIARC procedure considers texture and skid
resistance for the estimation of the friction index. This
methodology implicitly considers a reference curve
for different skid resistance measuring devices.
PIARC develop coefficients to correlate different
devices to the reference curve, making the
harmonization possible. The methodology proposed
in this paper considers the reference curve principle
developed by PIARC. However, it considers an
explicit functional relation between two equipments
and the effect of texture on the harmonization.
The use of the proposed methodology reduces
significantly data requirements for friction
harmonization. This is because a high scale
harmonization experiment is not needed to determine
a reference curve for all devices; instead, measures
are needed to correlate each equipment pair. Models
developed in this study show that under a specific
texture range, non-linear correlations can be
neglecting translated in linear relations neglecting the
texture effect. For texture measures performed with
laser profiler, this range varies from 0.7 to 2.0 mm.
For textures measures performed with the sand patch
method, this range varies from 1.0 to 2.0 mm.
The statistical analysis performed to obtain the
coefficients ki shows that the coefficients related to
the incidence of macro-texture by itself (k2 and k3), or
associated with skid resistance (k4) are very
significant, with t-values considerably higher than 2
in most cases. Then, in order to improve the goodness
to fit of the correlation equations, the influence of
macro-texture in the estimation of skid resistance
cannot be neglected. For values of texture higher than
0.7 mm, a linear relationship between different
tribometers is enough to fulfill accuracy. It agrees
with the previous experience, as stated in the British
standards. The incidence of macro-texture is clearly
lower when texture is measured with profilometer. It
would allow obtaining better adjustments for the
correlation equations when macro-texture is measured
with profilometer.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank “Fondo para el
Desarrollo de Ciencia y Tecnología” (FONDECYT)
of Chile, for financial support to carry out the
FONDECYT Project Nº 1040335.
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