Instrumentation of a roller compactor to monitor vibration behavior during earthwork compaction

Among the goals of intelligent soil compaction are continuous monitoring and identification of soil parameters and the feedback control of one or more of the following: vibration frequency, force amplitude, and forward velocity. The development of a robust model structure for feedback control and/or soil parameter identification for continuous quality control/quality assurance requires comprehensive information about the machine's behavior during operation, e.g., vibration characteristics. This paper describes the development of a comprehensive instrumentation system to monitor the three-dimensional vibration of roller compactor components and the phase lag of the drum response with respect to the eccentric force, a key component of roller compactor dynamics. The measurement techniques are explained in detail, and experimental data is presented to demonstrate the nature of the responses observed during field testing.