biostudies-literatureHao CKey Research and Development Special Project grant funded by China Henan Provincial Department of Science and TechnologyNational Defense Science and Technology Innovation Fund of the Chinese Academy of Sciencese0334910https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12574833biostudies-literatureUnknown20(10)Thin-layer interlayer debonding in semi-rigid base asphalt pavements is difficult to detect with conventional techniques due to their limited sensitivity. This study proposes a novel acoustic-based detection approach that utilizes a distributed elastic variable damping (DEVD) Maxwell model and introduces an A-weighted sound pressure level (SPL) index to enhance detection of small-scale debonding. Comprehensive numerical simulations were integrated with full-scale experiments to analyze acoustic signals under different excitation modes and debonding scenarios. The results show a strong correlation between the A-weighted acoustic metrics and debonding area, and the proposed method reliably distinguishes thin debonding layers that ground-penetrating radar (GPR) could not detect. Our acoustic PloS oneAcoustic-based detection of debonding in thin-layer semi-rigid base asphalt pavements using a-weighted sound pressure levels.PMC125748332411112416002025YFE0199500231111520200Ye MLi ZZuo XHao CZhang QSun ZfalseAcoustic-based detection of debonding in thin-layer semi-rigid base asphalt pavements using a-weighted sound pressure levels.Thin-layer interlayer debonding in semi-rigid base asphalt pavements is difficult to detect with conventional techniques due to their limited sensitivity. This study proposes a novel acoustic-based detection approach that utilizes a distributed elastic variable damping (DEVD) Maxwell model and introduces an A-weighted sound pressure level (SPL) index to enhance detection of small-scale debonding. Comprehensive numerical simulations were integrated with full-scale experiments to analyze acoustic signals under different excitation modes and debonding scenarios. The results show a strong correlation between the A-weighted acoustic metrics and debonding area, and the proposed method reliably distinguishes thin debonding layers that ground-penetrating radar (GPR) could not detect. Our acoustic 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z20252026-05-13T14:49:06.42Z2026-05-13T14:29:18.535ZS-EPMC125748334116638110.1371/journal.pone.0334910