Evaluation of Field Compaction Density by Non-nuclear Density Gauge

PURPOSES : The objective of this study is to compare the densities of asphalt pavements measured both in the field and in the laboratory, and also to evaluate the applicability of field density measuring equipment, such as the pavement quality indicator (PQI), by using statistical analysis. METHODS : For the statistical analysis of the density measured from asphalt pavement, student t-tests and a coefficient of correlation are investigated. In order to compare the measured densities, two test sections are prepared, with a base layer and an intermediate layer constructed. Each test section consists of 9 smaller sections. During construction, the field densities are measured for both layers (base and intermediate) in each section. Core samples are extracted from similar regions in each section, and moved to the laboratory for density measurements. All the measured densities from both the field and laboratory observations are analyzed using the selected statistical analysis methods. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION : Based on an analysis of measured densities, analysis using a correlation coefficient is found to be more accurate than analysis using a student t-test. The correlation coefficient (R) between the field density and the core density is found to be very low with a confidence interval less than 0.5. This may be the result of inappropriate calibration of the measuring equipment. Additionally, the correlation coefficient for the base layer is higher than for the intermediate layer. Finally, we observe that prior to using the density measuring equipment in the field, a calibration process should be performed to ensure the reliability of measured field densities.