Study on paving compactness detection based on frequency domain characteristics of screed device vibration signal

Uniform paving compactness reduces the variability of pavement compactness, which improves the pavement durability and service performance. Thus, it is necessary to detect the paving compactness and monitor the construction quality. The dynamical model is established to analyze the influence of hot mix asphalt stiffness on the screed device vibration signal. Based on frequency domain characteristics of screed device vibration signal, Paving Compactness Measurement Value (PCMV) is proposed. The PCMV consists of two parts: PCMV1Ω and PCMV2Ω. PCMV1Ω is the ratio of tamper fundamental component to vibrator fundamental component. PCMV2Ω is the ratio of tamper first harmonic component to vibrator fundamental component. The relations between PCMV1Ω, PCMV2Ω, PCMV and paving compactness are studied by field test. Research results show that the spectrum of screed device vibration signal contains vibrator frequency, tamper frequency and its harmonic component. Mean value of linear correlation coefficient R2 between PCMV and the paving compactness is 11.58% higher than that of PCMV1Ω and 6.76% higher than that of PCMV2Ω. Taking PCMV as indicator, the paving compactness is detected more accurately. Research results can provide a reference for online detection of the paving compactness. •Acceleration spectrum of the screed device contains three components.•The paving compactness is detected by tamper components.•PCMV has better detection effect on paving compactness.