Development of compaction monitoring system for asphalt pavements

• The CMS uses the latest global positioning system technologies and various sensors.
• The CMS can be mounted on any roller in a matter of minutes.
• The CMS provides the roller operator with real-time color displays of compaction information.
• A novel method for predicting the density of asphalt pavements in the field was verified.

There is a great interest in developing and implementing new technologies for real-time evaluation of the uniformity of the construction of asphalt layers. In this study, the researchers developed a system for monitoring and documenting the compaction process of asphalt mixtures in the field. This system is called the compaction monitoring system (CMS). The CMS uses the latest global positioning system technologies and various sensors to provide full coverage of an asphalt layer. The new system can be mounted on any roller in a matter of minutes, and it provides the roller operator with real-time color displays of the number of passes of the entire mat, the compaction effectiveness, and the temperature at the first pass of the roller. This system was successfully tested in a number of field projects. The CMS was able to show some inconsistencies in the compaction process such as unequal compaction converge across the mat, non-uniform compaction effort and temperature, and delay in compaction after placement of asphalt mixtures. The compaction data are stored for post-processing analysis and evaluation. In addition, the researchers validated a proposed method for predicting the density of asphalt pavements in the field. The results showed good correlation between predicted and measured density.

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