Evaluation of Hydraulic Permeability of Open-Graded Asphalt Mixes Using a Full Numerical Simulation
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 26, Issue 4
Abstract
Permeability of open-graded asphalt mixes is defined as the ability to transmit fluids through the voids. The infiltration of water affects the durability and safety of pavement systems. Traditionally, an empirical approach, based on laboratory tests or on field measurements, is used to evaluate hydraulic permeability. In general, such an approach allows the ex post calculation of the drainage capability of the open-graded pavement. In order to evaluate the hydraulic permeability during the phase of mix design, in this paper a novel method is proposed, based on simulation of unsteady flow of water through open-graded mixture. In particular, a real sample of asphalt mix is simulated in the shape of a Marshall test sample. It is composed of a set of particles, selected according to the real grading, positioned in the space domain following the random sequence adsorption approach (RSA) and covered by a film of bitumen. The flow of water through the synthetical sample is simulated through the lattice Boltzmann method. In this method, the particles of water propagate and collide while moving on a lattice, obtained by discretizing the physical space. This lattice is formed by equidistant nodes, where each node corresponds to a void or to a solid. The velocity of the particles depends on a set of microscopic velocity vectors. Simulation results allow prediction of the permeability of open-graded pavement through a theoretical calculation based on the Kozeny-Carman equation. The model is validated using experimental tests.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Al Omari, A., and Masad, E. (2005). “Analysis of HMA permeability through microstructure characterization and simulation of fluid flow in X-ray CT images.” Proc., 1st Middle East Int. Conf. on Advances in Civil, Mechanical, and Materials Engineering, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Jordan, Balqa, Jordan.
Arns, C. H., Knackstedt, M. A., Pinezzewski, W. V., and Lindquist, W. B. (2001). “Accurate estimation of transport properties from microtomographic images.” Geophys. Res. Lett., 28(17), 3361–3364.
ASTM. (1999). “Standard test method for measurement of hydraulic conductivity of saturated porous materials using a flexible wall permeameter.” D5084-90, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2000). “Standard test method for permeability of granular soils (constant-head).” D2434-68, West Conshohocken, PA.
Bear, J. (1972). Dynamics of fluids in porous media, Elsevier, New York.
Benedetto, A. (2007). “Open graded asphalt mixes: Permeability and mechanical characteristics.” Int. J. Pavement, 6(1), 63–74.
Benedetto, A. (2009). “Numerical simulation of mechanical and hydraulic characteristics of open graded mix.” Proc., Conf, on Maintenance and Rehabilitation of Pavements and Technical Control, Universidade do Minho, Departamento de Engenharia Civil, Guimarães, Portugal.
Bhatnagar, P. L., Gross, E. P., and Krook, M. (1954). “A model for collision processes in gases. Small amplitude processes in charged and neutral one-component systems.” Phys. Rev., 94, 511–525.
Blair, S. C., Berge, P. A., and Berryman, J. G. (1996). “Using two-point correlation functions to characterize microgeometry and estimate permeabilities of sandstones and porous glass.” J. Geophys. Res., 101(B9), 20359–20375.
Carman, P. C. (1956). Flow of gases through porous media, Academic Press, New York.
Cercignani, C. (1975). Theory and application of the Boltzmann equation, Scottish Academic Press, Minneapolis, MN.
Chapman, S., and Cowling, T. G. (1970). The mathematical theory of non-uniform gases, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.
Chapuis, R. P., and Aubertin, M. (2003). “Predicting the coefficient of permeability of soils using the Kozeny-Carman equation.”, Département des génies civil, géologique et des mines, École Polytechnique de Montréal, Montreal.
Childs, E. C., and Collis-George, N. (1950). “The permeability of porous materials.” Proc. R. Soc. London, A201(1066), 392–405.
Choubane, B., Page, G., and Musselman, J. (1998). “Investigation of water permeability of coarse graded Superpave pavements.” J. Assoc. Asphalt Paving Technol., 67, 254–276.
Cooley, A. L. (1999). “Permeability of Superpave mixtures: Evaluation of field permeameters.”, National Center for Asphalt Technology, Auburn Univ., Auburn, AL.
Cooley, A. L., Jr., Brown, R. E., and Maghsoodloo, S. (2001). “Development of critical field permeability and pavement density values for coarse-graded Superpave pavements.”.
Cooley, A. L., Jr., Mallick, R. B., Teto, M. R., Bradbury, R. L., and Peabody, D. (2003). “An evaluation of factors affecting permeability of Superpave designed pavements.”.
Cooley, A. L., Jr., Prowell, B. D., Brown, E. R., Hall, K., Button, J., and Davis, R. (2002). “Issues pertaining to the permeability characteristics of coarse-graded Superpave mixes.” Assoc. Asphalt Paving Technol. Proc. Technical Sessions, 71, 1–29.
Dos Santos, L. O. E., Philippi, P. C., Bertoli, S. L., and Facin, P. C. (2002). “Lattice-gas models for single and two-phase flows: Application to the up-scaling problem in porous microstructures.” Comput. Appl. Math., 21(2), 545–571.
Fredlund, D. G., Xing, A., and Huang, S. (1994). “Predicting the permeability function for unsaturated soils using the soil–Water characteristic curve.” Can. Geotech. J., 31(3), 521–532.
Fwa, T. F., Tan, S. A., and Chuai, C. T. (1998). Laboratory permeability measurement of base materials using falling-head test apparatus, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 94–99.
He, X., and Luo, L. (1997). “Theory of lattice Boltzmann method: From the Boltzmann equation to the lattice Boltzmann.” Phys. Rev., 56(6), 6811–6817.
Huang, B., Mohammad, L., Raghavendra, A., and Abadie, C. (1999). “Fundamentals of permeability in asphalt mixtures.” J. Assoc. Asphalt Paving Technol., 68, 479–500.
Kanitpong, K., Benson, C. H., and Bahia, H. U. (2001). Hydraulic conductivity (permeability) of laboratory compacted asphalt mixtures, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 25–33.
Koplic, J., Lin, C., and Vermette, M. (1984). “Conductivity and permeability from microgeometry.” J. Appl. Phys., 56, 3127.
Kunze, R. J., Uehara, G., and Graham, K. (1968). “Factors important in the calculation of hydraulic conductivity.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc., 32(6), 760–765.
Lock, P. A., Jing, X. D., Zimmerman, R. W., and Schlueter, E. M. (2002). “Predicting the permeability of sandstone from image analysis of pore structure.” J. Appl. Phys., 92, 6311–6319.
Mallick, R. B., Mogawer, W. S., Teto, M. R., and Crockford, W. C. (2002). “Evaluation of permeability of Superpave mixes.” Project NETC 00-2, Univ. of Vermont, Burlington, VT.
Marshall, T. J. (1958). “A relation between permeability and size distribution of pores.” J. Soil Sci., 9(1), 1–8.
Masad, E. (1998). “Permeability simulation of anisotropic reconstructed soil medium.” Ph.D. dissertation, Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA.
Masad, E. A., Muhunthan, B., and Martys, N. (2000). “Simulation of fluid flow and permeability in cohesionless soils.” Water Resour. Res., 36(4), 851–864.
Maupin, G. W., Jr. (2001). Asphalt permeability testing: Specimen preparation and testing variability, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 33–39.
McNamara, G., and Zanetti, G. (1988). “Use of the Boltzmann equation to simulate lattice gas automata.” Phys. Rev., 61(20), 2332–2335.
Mualem, Y. (1976). “A new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media.” Water Resour. Res., 12(6), 1248–1254.
Penrose, M. D. (2001). “Random parking, sequential adsorption, and the jamming limit.” Commun. Math. Phys., 218(1), 153–176.
Pilotti, M. (2003). “Viscous flow in three-dimensional reconstructed porous media.” Int. J. Numer. Anal. Methods Geomech., 27(8), 633–649.
Rajani, B. B. (1988). “A simple model for describing variation of permeability with porosity for unconsolidated sands.” In Situ, 12(3), 209–226.
Roberson, J. A., and Crowe, C. T. (1997). Engineering fluid mechanics, 6th Ed., Wiley, New York.
Tashman, L., Masad, E., Crowe, C., and Muhunthan, B. (2003). “Simulation of fluid flow in granular microstructure using a non-staggered grid scheme.” Comput. Fluids, 32(9), 1299–1323.
Taylor, S. W., Milly, P. C. D., and Jaffe, P. R. (1990). “Biofilm growth and the related changes in the physical properties of a porous medium permeability.” Water Resour. Res., 26(9), 2161–2169.
Von Neumann, J. (1940). “The estimation of probable error from successive differences.”, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, MD.
Walsh, J. B., and Brace, W. F. (1984). “The effect of pressure in porosity and the transport properties of rock.” J. Geophys. Res., 89(B11), 9425–9431.
Wang, J. C., Leung, C. F., and Chow, Y. K. (2003). “Numerical solutions for flow in porous media.” Int. J. Numer. Anal. Methods Geomech., 27(7), 565–583.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 26 • Issue 4 • April 2014
Pages: 599 - 606
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 18, 2012
Accepted: May 31, 2013
Published online: Jun 3, 2013
Discussion open until: Nov 3, 2013
Published in print: Apr 1, 2014
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.