Evaluation of the Effect of Density on Asphalt Pavement Durability through Performance Testing
Considering the budget allotted to construct and maintain roadway surfaces, a 5 to 10 percent increase in their performance could potentially yield an annual savings of billions of dollars. Considering this, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) launched a project to better understand the effect of in-place density on the durability of their hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavements, which is known to be a crucial factor in HMA performance. Asphalt Institute in cooperation with KYTC embarked upon the research and collected numerous HMA samples from five pavement construction sites in Kentucky. A laboratory experimental plan was developed to examine the potential improvement in the mixtures’ performance if they were compacted to a higher and desired density. The laboratory test plan was comprised of flow number, flexural beam fatigue, and disk-shaped compact tension tests to evaluate the mixtures’ performance with respect to rutting, fatigue cracking, and low-temperature cracking. A statistical analysis of the results was performed to evaluate the effect of density on durability of each one of the pavements. The results showed that the service life of the pavements could improve considerably by achieving the target density of 92 percent. The compactibility of the HMA mixtures was also investigated through their compaction characteristic curves using the Superpave gyratory compactor. Based upon the compactibility analysis, the mixtures could be better compacted in the field by increasing their lift thickness.
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Supplemental Notes:
- This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AFK50 Characteristics of Asphalt Paving Mixtures to Meet Structural Requirements. Alternate title: Evaluation of Effect of Density on Asphalt Pavement Durability Through Performance Testing.
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Corporate Authors:
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC United States 20001 -
Authors:
- Zeinali, Alireza
- Blankenship, Phillip B
- Mahboub, Kaymar C
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Conference:
- Transportation Research Board 93rd Annual Meeting
- Location: Washington DC
- Date: 2014-1-12 to 2014-1-16
- Date: 2014
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 17p
- Monograph Title: TRB 93rd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Asphalt pavements; Density; Durability; Fatigue cracking; Hot mix asphalt; Pavement performance; Rutting; Service life
- Geographic Terms: Kentucky
- Subject Areas: Highways; Materials; Pavements; I30: Materials;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01519201
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: 14-5570
- Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
- Created Date: Mar 24 2014 12:01PM