Investigation of In-Place Asphalt Film Thickness and Performance of Hot-Mix Asphalt Mixtures
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 21, Issue 6
Abstract
This research work investigates approaches for computing the average asphalt film thickness in asphalt mixtures and examines whether the in-place asphalt film thickness has a rational relationship with the performance of hot-mix asphalt mixtures. Two methods for calculating the aggregate surface areas, the surface area factor and index methods, are discussed in this research and the analytical results show that both the fine aggregate particles and aggregate shapes significantly affect the calculation and should be taken into consideration to obtain greater accuracy for the surface area. A computation method is proposed and significantly improves the current conventional method for the asphalt film thickness calculation by incorporating shape factors and flat surface factors for all sieve sizes. Field performance data from MnROAD and rutting data from laboratory fabricated mixtures, including both coarse and fine gradations, were analyzed to investigate the asphalt film thickness and corresponding performance of asphalt mixtures. Both the field data and laboratory experimental results show that the asphalt film thickness is a significant factor affecting the rutting performance for asphalt mixtures. However, more research work is needed to investigate the relationship between the asphalt film thickness and the other performance parameters of asphalt mixtures, such as fatigue cracking, before a film thickness specification can be proposed.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The support provided by Minnesota Department of Transportation and Local Road Research Board for part of this research is gratefully acknowledged.
References
Anderson, M. R., and Bentsen, A. R. (2001). “Voids in the mineral aggregate on the mechanical properties of coarse and fine asphalt mixtures.” Asph. Paving Technol., 70, 1–37.
Asphalt Institute. (1995). “Mix design method for asphalt concrete and other hot-mix-types (MS-2).” Asphalt Institute, Lexington, Ky.
Asphalt Institute. (1996). “SP-2 Superpave mix design.” Asphalt Institute, Lexington, Ky.
Campen, W. H., Smith, J. R., Erickson, L. G., and Mertz, L. R. (1957). “The control of voids in aggregate for bituminous paving mixtures.” Asph. Paving Technol., 26, 297–311.
Campen, W. H., Smith, J. R., Erickson, L. G., and Mertz, L. R. (1959). “The relationships between voids, surface area, film thickness and stability in bituminous paving mixtures.” Asph. Paving Technol., 28, 149–178.
Coree, B. J., and Hislop, W. P. (1999). “Difficult nature of minimum voids in the mineral aggregate.” Transportation Research Record. 1681, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 148–156.
Goode, J. F., and Lufsey, L. A. (1965). “Voids, permeability, film thickness vs. asphalt hardening.” Asph. Paving Technol., 34, 430–463.
Heitzman, M. (2006). “New approaches for computing film thickness.” Electron. J. Assoc. Asph. Paving Technol. (CD-ROM), 75.
Hinrichsen, J. A., and Heggen, J. (1996). “Minimum voids in the mineral aggregate based on gradation and volumetric properties.” Transportation Research Record. 1545, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 1996, 75–79.
Kandhal, P. S., and Chakraborty, S. (1996) “Effect of asphalt film thickness on short- and long-term aging of asphalt paving mixtures.” Transportation Research Record. 1535, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 83–90.
Kandhal, P. S., Foo, K. Y., and Mallick, R. B. (1998). “A critical review of VMA requirements in Superpave.” Transportation Research Record. 1609, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 21–27.
Kumar, A., and Geotz, W. H. (1977). “Asphalt hardening as affected by film thickness, voids and permeability in asphaltic mixtures.” Asph. Paving Technol., 46, 571–605.
Lu, B., and Torquato, S. (1992). “Nearest-surface distribution functions for polydispersed particle system.” Phys. Rev. A, 45(8), 5530–5544.
McLeod, N. W. (1956). “Relationship between density, bitumen content, and voids properties of compacted paving mixtures.” Proc., Highway Research Board, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 35.
Nukunya, B., Roque, R., Tia, M., and Brigisson, B. (2001). “Evaluation of VMA and other volumetric properties as criteria for the design and acceptance of Superpave mixtures.” Asph. Paving Technol., 70, 38–69.
Radovskiy, B. (2003). “Analytical formulas for film thickness in compacted asphalt mixture.” Transportation Research Record. 1829, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 26–32.
Ruth, B. E., Roque, R., and Nukunya, B. (2002). “Aggregate gradation characterization factors and their relationships to fracture energy and failure strain of asphalt mixtures.” Asph. Paving Technol., 71, 310–344.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 21 • Issue 6 • June 2009
Pages: 262 - 270
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 7, 2008
Accepted: Dec 29, 2008
Published online: May 15, 2009
Published in print: Jun 2009
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Baoshan Huang
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.