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Superpave Gyratory Compaction Requirements for FAA’s Hot Mix Asphalt Specification. D. Christensen, T. Bennert, R. McQueen, and H. Brar FAA Airport Technology Transfer Conference, April 2010. Introduction.
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Superpave Gyratory Compaction Requirements for FAA’s Hot Mix Asphalt Specification D. Christensen, T. Bennert, R. McQueen, and H. Brar FAA Airport Technology Transfer Conference, April 2010
Introduction • Ongoing research on relationship between 75-blow Marshall and Superpave gyratory compaction • Develop recommendations for N-design • Help establish specifications using gyratory compaction • Verification testing
General Approach • Verify Marshall design • Prepare gyratory specimens at three compaction levels • 50, 75, 100 • 75, 100, 125 • Plot air voids as a function of gyrations • Determine N-equivalent
General Approach • Two independent laboratories • Advanced Asphalt Technologies, LLC • Soiltek • Three binders • PG 64-22 • PG 76-22, SBS modified • PG 76-22, Novaphalt (PE modified) • Full replication
Results: Statistics • Average N-equivalent 62 gyrations, but high degree of variability • Two significant effects • Laboratory (p = 0.001) • Mix type (p < 0.001) • Insignificant effects • Binder type/grade (p = 0.51) • Binder content (p = 0.62) • Air voids marginal (p = 0.16)
Variability in N-equivalent • Variability between mixes not surprising • Marshall and gyratory compaction effected differently by aggregate size, shape, texture • Significant variability between laboratories due to differences in verified Marshall designs • In repeating verifications, found more uniform results
Comparison with Other Studies • Cooley et al., AAPTP Project 04-03 on Superpave Design • Average N-equivalent of 49 • Recommended values of 50, 65 and 80 depending on tire pressure • Rushing, Army ERDC Study • Average N-equivalent of 69 • Rounded to 70 • We recommend using 70 gyrations
Asphalt Binder Contents • AAT average asphalt content for 70-gryation mixes: 5.43 • Soiltek average asphalt content for 70 gyration mixes: 5.55 • JMF (Marshall) average asphalt content: 5.15 • Results fairly consistent
How Will Change to 70-Gyration Design Effect Performance? • Rutting, fatigue resistance • Overall or average effect • Slight change in overall binder content? • Slight change in typical gradation? • Changes in variability of performance • Variability in binder content • Variability in gradation
Performance Testing • Rut resistance • Flow number • Asphalt pavement analyzer (APA) modified for high pressure • Fatigue test using uniaxial (push-pull) fatigue test and continuum damage analysis
Preliminary Results of Performance Testing: Flow Number Test, PG 64
Preliminary Results of Performance Testing: Rut Resistance • Similar level of rut resistance for Marshall and gyratory designs • Variability similar • Most mixes made with PG 64-22 showing performance consistent with highway traffic levels of 3 to 10 million ESALs
Conclusions • Average N-equivalent for HMA mixes with good performance record was found to be 62 • Rounded up to 70 for consistency with ERDC recommendations • Significant variability in N-equivalent among mixes • Currently evaluating performance in laboratory tests
Acknowledgments • FAA • Co-authors • Lab personnel at AAT and Soiltek