Asphalt spreaders are a type of black pavement construction machinery, essential for highway, urban road, airport, and port construction. They primarily apply various types of asphalt to the road surface, meeting the construction requirements of various road grades, including the base coat, tack coat, upper and lower seal coats, and fog seal.
However, some asphalt spreaders on the market offer suboptimal results, exhibiting lateral unevenness. This lateral unevenness is typically manifested as horizontal streaks. Taking certain measures can effectively improve the lateral uniformity of asphalt distribution.

1. Improving the Nozzle Structure
This approach serves the following purposes: first, to adapt the spray pipe structure to ensure nearly uniform asphalt flow distribution across each nozzle; second, to optimize the shape and size of the spray projection of a single nozzle to meet design requirements and ensure that the asphalt flow distribution within the area meets design requirements; and third, to accommodate the construction requirements of different asphalt types and different distribution rates.
2. Appropriately Increasing the Spreader Speed
As long as the speed of an intelligent asphalt spreader remains within a reasonable range, the longitudinal uniformity of the asphalt distribution will not be affected. Because faster vehicle speeds increase the amount of asphalt sprayed per unit time, while the amount of asphalt spread per unit area remains constant, changes in vehicle speed significantly impact lateral uniformity.
At higher vehicle speeds, the flow rate per nozzle increases per unit time, the projected spray area expands, and the overlap rate increases. Simultaneously, the jet velocity increases, increasing the impact energy of the asphalt and enhancing the "impact-splash-homogenization" effect, resulting in more uniform lateral spread. Therefore, a faster vehicle speed should be used to maintain optimal lateral uniformity.
3. Improving Asphalt Properties
Higher asphalt viscosity increases asphalt flow resistance, resulting in less spray formation and fewer overlap rates. To overcome these shortcomings, increasing the nozzle diameter is generally recommended. However, this inevitably reduces jet velocity, weakening the "impact-splash-homogenization" effect and causing uneven lateral spread. To improve asphalt application performance, asphalt properties should be improved. 4. Make the spray pipe height adjustable and closed-loop controlled.
Since the spray fan angle is affected by factors such as vehicle speed, asphalt type, temperature, and viscosity, the height should be determined based on construction experience and adjusted accordingly.
If the spray pipe height is too high, the impact of the asphalt spray will be reduced, weakening the "impact-splash-evening" effect. If the spray pipe height is too low, the overlap of the asphalt spray fan will be reduced. The spray pipe height should be adjusted according to actual conditions to improve the asphalt spraying effect.