An Intelligent Compaction Analyzer: A Versatile Platform for Real-Time Recording, Monitoring, and Analyzing of Road Material Compaction

Intelligent compaction (IC) is a technology that uses non-contact sensors to monitor and record the compaction level of geomaterials in real-time during road construction. However, current IC devices have several limitations: (i) they are unable to visualize or compare multiple intelligent compaction measurement values (ICMVs) in real-time during compaction; (ii) they are not retrofittable to different conventional rollers that exist in the field; (iii) they do not incorporate corrections for ICMVs reflecting variable field conditions; (iv) they are unable to integrate construction specifications as needed for performance-based compaction; and (v) they do not record all the key roller parameters for further compaction analysis. To address these issues, an innovative retrofittable platform with cutting-edge hardware and software was developed. This platform, called the intelligent compaction analyzer (ICA) platform, is effective at calculating conventional acceleration amplitude-based ICMVs and stiffness-based parameters and at displaying the spatial distributions of these parameters in a color-coded map in real-time during compaction.

Automated summary

Intelligent compaction (IC) is a technology that uses non-contact sensors to monitor and record the compaction level of geomaterials in real-time during road construction. However, current IC devices have limitations regarding visualization and comparison of multiple measurements, retrofitting to different rollers, incorporating corrections for variable field conditions, integrating construction specifications, and recording key roller parameters. To address these issues, the innovative retrofittable intelligent compaction analyzer (ICA) platform was developed, which effectively calculates and displays various parameters in real-time during compaction.