Introduction

When outlining a new research project or any other related study, a major initial activity should always be a literature study or some other review of what has already been done on the subject. If earlier experience is neglected, resources are unlikely to be spent in an optimum way. Such a study or review will benefit from being based on some systematic collection of the major documents on the subject, as for example a bibliography.

General bibliography databases which are available worldwide are not detailed or specialised enough in their keywords to help with a search for particular problems related to tyre/road noise. Furthermore, they tend to be very much incomplete. In order to handle this, a computerised bibliography, termed "TRN BIBLIOGRAPHY", was produced by these authors (the first version came in 1990) where all known tyre/road noise papers by the middle of the 1990's were classified based on 85 keywords specialised on the subject. This bibliography may also be edited and supplemented by the users themselves.

General outline of the Bibliography

In August 1994, the bibliography included 1280 records. The Bibliography Records contain the following information about each document:

• Author(s) name(s) - up to 4 authors.
• Title of the document.
• Source of the document (report number, publisher, etc.).
• Year of publication.
• Size, in pages (most documents are of typical "conference paper" size; i.e., 4-15 pages).
• Language and indication whether an English summary is included in the document.
• Information about the type of document.
• Extra comments (two fields which may be used also for own comments).
• Keywords (two categories, primary or secondary, of different priority for the paper), see Table 1.

The records may be displayed on the screen and/or printed by the printer. See Fig. 1 for a typical screen display and Fig. 2 for a typical printout.

Table 1 The 85 keywords used in the bibliography

BIBLIOGRAPHY ISO STANDARDS ROAD SURFACE INFLUENCE GENERAL REVIEW MEASUREMENT STANDARDS  - ROAD CHARACTERIZATION CONFERENCE MEASUREMENT METHOD  - POROUS ROAD SURFACES TERMINOLOGY  - TRAILER  - RESTORATION / CLEANING TRAFFIC NOISE  - ON-BOARD MICROPHONE  - SOUND ABSORPTION VEHICLE NOISE  - DRUM  - MULTI-LAYER SURFACES EXTERIOR T/R NOISE  - COAST-BY  - STIFFNESS INTERIOR T/R NOISE  - TRAILER COAST-BY  - BINDER INFLUENCE SUBJECTIVE REACTION  - COMPARISON OF METHODS  - RUBBER REGULATIONS  - Microphone position  - CEMENT CONCRETE REDUCTION METHODS BACKGROUND NOISE  - GROOVING, LATERAL Screening INSTRUMENTATION  - GROOVING, LONGITUDINAL TRUCK TIRES  - SOUND INTENSITY  - BLOCK PAVEMENTS CAR TIRES  - SIGNAL PROCESSING  - RUMBLE STRIPS & BUMPS COMP. with other sources DIRECTIVITY  - WET ROAD GENERATION MECHANISMS SOUND PROPAGATION  - REPLICA ROAD SURFACES  - Vibrations TIRE INFLUENCE - REFERENCE SURFACES  - Tangential vibrATIONS  - TIRE DIMENSIONS FRICT./ TRACTION / ADHESION  - Radial vibrations  - TREAD PATTERN OPERATING PARAMETERS  - Vehicle vibrations  - TREAD RANDOMIZATION  - Load INFLUENCE  - Air pumping/resonANCES  - TIRE CONSTRUCTION  - TIRE INFLATION INFLUENCE  - Slip-stick  - CORD INFLUENCE  - TEMPERATURE INFLUENCE  - Source identification  - MATERIAL PROPERTIES  - SPEED INFLUENCE  - Horn effect  - TIRE WEAR  - TRACTIVE FORCES INFL. MODEL  - TIRE NONUNIFORMITIES  - SIDE FORCES INFLUENCE PREDICTION  - STUDDED TIRES AGE INFLUENCE SIMULATION  - RETREADED TIRES ROLLING RESISTANCE ACTIVE NOISE CONTROL  - NON-CONVENTIONAL TIRES ECONOMY REFERENCE TIRES

Fig. 1 Typical screen display of a bibliography record in the TRN data base (with reduced resolution used on this web site). Primary keywords are written with capitals, secondary keywords in lower case letters.

Fig. 2 Typical printout of a bibliography record in the TRN data base. Primary keywords are written with capitals, secondary keywords in lower case letters.

Special features

Customised editing and supplementing: The TRN Bibliography provides the user the possibility of supplementing the data base with new Bibliography Records, if desired. The user can also edit the records, should he find any error or want any changes.

Personal comments: The user can introduce a comment in the Bibliography Records. This might, for example, include stating where in the office the document is placed or adding an own, subjective view. He/she can alternatively add own keywords, not included in the "standard" set of keywords.

Search options: The user can search for documents written by a specific author, or publications characterised by a certain combination of appropriate keywords. Searches may be conducted for a string of characters in the titles of the documents. It is also possible to narrow the search to a certain language, maximum "age" of the document and/or minimum size.

Abstracts through ITRD/IRRD: The bibliography does not include abstracts. This is for the following three main reasons: (1) it would mean too much labour to type abstracts into the files, (2) it required too much space on the disk (this was true when the Bibliography was first produced but not anymore), and (3) the extensive keyword list is a kind of substitution. When abstracts are really required, the user may refer to an included number identifying the particular document in major data bases. The most notable of these is the ITRD (earlier termed IRRD), where some documents may be found, including abstracts. However, far from all documents are listed in these other databases.

Address list: The package of TRN contains a special file with addresses and fax/phone numbers of the authors and institutions most commonly appearing in TRN.

Updating: The first version of the bibliography, containing 551 records, was produced in 1990 by. Since then, TRN has been updated five times, including not only new Bibliography Records but also modified versions of the database program. Generally, each new update preserves changes and additions made to the data files by users.

Final remarks

The authors last updated the TRN Bibliography in 1998, and that version was not complete with regard to documents collected in the period 1996-98. There is therefore a lack of documents from the latest years in it. An update is planned to be made in 2003. The program is not Windows based and is delivered on a 3.5" floppy disc.

Price

The normal price for the Bibliography used to be USD 100. However, since the authors have not had time to update it properly since 1996, due to the extreme time consumption for production of the Tyre/Road Noise Reference Book, the latest version will be sold at a substantially lower price. Contact INFORMEX for a quote.