CAT Soil and Asphalt Compaction Manual

Four forces are used in compaction:1) static pressure, 2) manipulation (kneading process), 3)
impact and 4) vibration.
Drum-driven, static rollers with lower Nijboer quotients perform better on thick lifts of soft
material.
Manipulation effective at the surface of the lift of material, compact heavily stratified soils, such
as clay type soils, final wearing surface of an asphalt pavement. Manipulation helps to close the
small, hairline cracks through which moisture could penetrate and cause premature pavement
failure. Sheepsfoot rollers and staggered wheel, pneumatic compactors are specifically designed
to deliver this type of compactive force.
Impact: creates greater compaction force than static load. Impacts are usually a series of blows.
Impact blows of 50-600 blows per minute are considered low frequency ranges and are used on
impact hammers and hand tampers. Impact blows of 1400-3000 blows per minute are high
frequency and are used on vibratory compactors.
Vibration: Centrifugal force, amplitude, and frequency. Vibratory pressure waves are useful in
breaking the bonds between the particles of the material being compacted.
Granular soils tend to transmit vibratory forces well. Cohesive soils tend to have a damping effect
on vibratory forces. The sum of these properties are termed mass stiffness and damping.
The factors affecting the performance of vibratory compaction include material type, amplitude,
frequency, frame size, overall weight, wheelbase, ratio of machine weight supported over the front
drum to rear drum or tires, and balance of machine weight from left to right of the machine, drum
diameter, drum length, drum mass, shock isolators, eccentric weight mass, and the distance
between the eccentric weight center of gravity and drum axle etc. The objective in vibratory
compaction is to find a point of maximum transmitted force into the material to be compacted.
Optimal vibratory is the sum of all the components