ABSTRACT
Traffic causes damages, vibrations and acoustic waves. These affect maintenance, rehabilitation, asset management, health issues in bystanders, and damages to historical buildings. Consequently, structural health monitoring and damage detection are vital. The main scope of the study described in this paper was the detection and analysis of the vibro-acoustic signature of a pavement. Traffic-induced vibrations and acoustic waves were analyzed. Accelerated loading tests were carried out. A set of asphalt concrete slabs was built and tested through a linear kneading compactor (EN 12697-22:2007). A microphone was placed in a hole drilled in the slab and signals were sampled and processed, before and after cracks appearance. Comparative analyses before-after were carried out. Results are encouraging about the possibility to associate to a given pavement condition a specific acoustic signature, based on course properties and state of health (structural health monitoring). Results can benefit both practitioners and researchers.
