Variations in the Vertical Acceleration During Rolling Dynamic Compaction

Rolling dynamic compaction (RDC), which involves towing a non-circular roller at a relatively high velocity, has been widely utilized in various construction projects for soil improvements. During the process, the roller rotates about one of its corners imparting a combination of kinetic and potential energy into the ground. In recent years, a continuous impact response (CIR) system has been introduced in practice, which measures and records the vertical accelerations of the impact roller as it runs around the construction sites. However, current applications of the CIR system have not considered the influences of the moisture contents and water tables. In this paper, 4 model tests at a scale of 1:10 were conducted to investigate the effects of these influencing factors. A 3-sided impact roller was deployed with an accelerometer attached to record the accelerations. Based on the measured data, as the soil becomes denser, the vertical accelerations increase with reduced contacting time due to increased stiffness. However, the accelerations are dependent on the initial soil conditions and cannot be directly linked to the final soil density.