Research on Three-Axis Vibration Characteristics and Vehicle Axle Shape Identification of Cement Pavement Under Heavy Vehicle Loads Based on EMD-Energy Decoupling Method.

Area of Science:

• Civil Engineering
• Structural Engineering
• Transportation Engineering

Background:

• Cement concrete pavement integrity is crucial for traffic safety and efficiency.
• Heavy-duty vehicular traffic poses significant challenges to pavement structural health.
• Accurate characterization of pavement dynamic responses is vital for structural health monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the triaxial dynamic response of cement concrete pavements under low-speed, heavy-duty vehicle loads.
• To analyze vibration signals using advanced signal processing techniques.
• To establish a framework for pavement performance assessment and axle load identification.

Main Methods:

• In situ field measurements using embedded triaxial MEMS accelerometers.
• Data preprocessing with smoothing wavelet transform.
• Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) and Short-Time Energy (STE) analysis.

Main Results:

• Heavy, slow-moving vehicles induce substantial triaxial vibrations.
• Vertical (Z-axis) vibrations show greater amplitude and higher dominant frequencies than horizontal axes.
• EMD identified distinct frequency components related to impacts, structural dynamics, and system trends.
• STE analysis revealed localized energy peaks corresponding to transient axle loads.

Conclusions:

• The study provides a comprehensive understanding of pavement dynamic behavior under heavy loads.
• A robust methodological framework for pavement performance assessment and axle load identification is established.
• Findings support improved structural health monitoring and early warning systems for pavements.