Evaluation of Intelligent Compaction Technology in Asphalt Pavement Construction and Laboratory Compaction

While having been successfully used for soil compaction for many years, intelligent compaction (IC) technology is still relatively new for asphalt pavement construction. The potential of using intelligent compaction meter value (ICMV) for evaluating the compaction of asphalt pavements has been hindered by the fact that ICMV can be affected by many factors, which include not only roller operation parameters, but also the temperature of asphalt layer and the underlying support. Therefore, further research is necessary to improve the application of IC for the asphalt compaction. In this study, the feasibility of IC for asphalt compaction was evaluated from many aspects. Based on that, a laboratory IC technology for evaluating asphalt mixture compaction in the laboratory was also developed.In this study, one field project for soil compaction was constructed using IC technology, and a strong and stable linear relationship between ICMV and deflection could be identified when the water content of soil was consistent. After that, more field projects for asphalt compaction were constructed using the IC asphalt roller. The density of asphalt, as the most critical parameter for asphalt layers, along with other parameters, were measured and correlated with the ICMVs. Various factors such as asphalt temperature and the underlying support were considered in this study to improve the correlation between the density and ICMV. Based upon the results of correlation analyses, three IC parameters were recommended for evaluating the compaction quality of resurfacing project. In addition, the geostatistical analyses were performed to evaluate the spatial uniformity of compaction, and the cost-benefit analysis was included to demonstrate the economic benefits of IC technology.Based on the test results of field projects, the IC indices were further utilized to quantify the lab vibratory compaction for paving materials. The compaction processes in the laboratory was monitored by accelerometers. Using Discrete-Time Fourier Transform, the recorded data during compaction were analyzed to evaluate the compactability of paving materials and to further correlate to the field compaction