Behavior of P-401 HMA Surface in Accelerated Pavement Testing at High Temperatures and Tire Pressures

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) uses a heavy vehicle simulator-airfield (HVS-A) to conduct full scale accelerated pavement tests (APT) on pavement surface layers at the National Airport Pavement and Materials Research Center (NAPMRC) located at the William J. Hughes Technical Center, Atlantic City, NJ. The objectives of Test Cycle 1 (TC1) included tire pressure effects on P401 hot mix asphalt (HMA) and warm mix asphalt (WMA), effect of binder grade on pavement performance, and comparison of P401 HMA and WMA performance under aircraft wheel loads, and high pavement temperatures. This paper presents the results of full scale APT test on P401 HMA with PG64-22 and PG76-22 under two different tire pressures (210 and 254 psi) at pavement temperature of 120°F measured two inches below HMA surface. A third test area in the same test lane was tested at design condition used in FAARFIELD (HMA modulus–200 ksi) and at 254 psi tire pressure. The Failure criterion was surface rut of one inch. Progression of rut depth and HMA strains are presented in this paper.