2017 Volume 27 Issue 2 Pages 124-132
When constructing a trapezoidal dam with cemented sand and gravel, it is standard practice to produce embankment material by mixing locally available earth material such as riverbed deposits and excavated material with cement and water. In order to achieve the required strength of embankment material, therefore, grading control checks need to be made to ensure that its strength is kept within the allowable range. The conventional practice is to take samples and carry out sieve analyses at regular intervals, which is both labor- and time-consuming. The authors have developed a new continuous grading management system using three-dimensional image processing technology. The newly developed system makes real-time monitoring of grading possible by irradiating line laser light onto the material on the conveyor, calculating the volume of particles of each size from the image data continuously acquired with a digital camera and thereby determining particle size distribution.
