Saskatchewan Ministry of Highway and Infrastructure (SMHI) currently use the Marshall compaction method for the preparation of hot-mix asphalt laboratory samples. Due to increases in commercial truck traffic on most provincial highways, there has been an observed increasing trend in the occurrence of permanent deformation within the hot-mix asphalt concrete (HMAC) layer. One of the most important material properties found to influence the resistance of HMAC to structural permanent deformation is volumetric air voids within the mix.<p> End product air voids within a hot mix asphalt concrete pavement in the field is simulated by the method of compaction used during the laboratory design process. Based on findings of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP), the gyratory compactor is believed to better simulate field compaction of asphalt mixes at the time of construction, as well as better predict mix consolidation over the field performance period. However, the SuperpaveTM sample preparation protocol specifies a fixed angle of gyratory compaction, which may not be the optimal parameters to evaluate Saskatchewan hot-mix asphalt concrete mixes during the laboratory mix design phase.<p> The primary objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between laboratory characterization and field evaluation of Saskatchewan SPS-9A asphalt mixes across alternate laboratory compaction protocols. A second objective of this research was to quantify the effect of gyratory and Marshall compaction energy on the physical and mechanical properties of Saskatchewan SPS-9A asphalt mixes in the laboratory. The third objective of this research was to compare field ground penetrating radar dielectric permittivity profiles and rutting performance across Saskatchewan SPS-9A test sections.<p> The hypothesis of this research is that gyratory laboratory compaction will provide improved sensitivity in the characterization of physical asphaltic mix properties. It is also hypothesized that varied volumetric properties of HMAC mixes influence the mechanistic triaxial frequency sweep material properties of both conventional Saskatchewan and SuperpaveTM dense graded HMAC mixes.<p> The laboratory portion of this research included volumetric and mechanical properties of the seven Saskatchewan SPS-9A asphaltic mixes. The scope of this research included an investigation of the Saskatchewan Specific Pavement Study-9A (SPS-9A) asphalt mixes constructed in Radisson Saskatchewan in 1996. Physical volumetric properties as well as mechanistic triaxial frequency sweep properties were characterized across all seven Radisson SPS-9A mixes. Rutting after ten years of performance in the field was quantified as well as in situ ground penetrating radar dielectric permittivities of the Radisson SPS-9A test sections.<p> Based on the findings of the study, there was a significant reduction in VTM with an increase in Marshall compaction energy from 50 to 75 blows. Marshall stability was observed to be higher at 75 blow compared to 50 blows across the test sections.<p> Similarly, with regards to gyratory sample preparation, there was an observed reduction in VTM with an increase in gyratory compaction energy. VTM of SuperpaveTM mixes were higher than VTM SMHI Marshall mixes. VTM of the SuperpaveTM mixes were above acceptable SMHI limits at all angles of gyration at Ndesign. SuperpaveTM gyratory compactor accurately predicted field air voids of the Radisson SPS-9A asphalt after ten years of traffic loading at 2.00° angle of gyration.<p> In general, this research showed significant sensitivity of volumetric material properties across both Marshall and gyratory compaction energy.<p> This research also demonstrated that there was an improvement in the triaxial mechanistic material properties of the Radisson SPS-9A HMAC mixes with an increase in gyratory compaction energy. Dynamic moduli across all test section mixes increased with an increase in gyratory compaction energy. Similarly, it was shown that Poissons ratio generally increased with an increase in compaction energy across all test sections. Phase angle also increased with an increase in gyratory compaction energy. Radial microstrain (RMS) displayed the most significant sensitivity to increased gyratory compaction energy.<p> This research concluded that compaction energy in the laboratory can significantly influence the volumetric and mechanistic properties of hot-mix asphalt concrete mixes. As indicated by the field performance of the Radisson SPS-9A test sections, it is known that both volumetric and mechanistic properties can influence field performance. Mechanical material properties of HMAC may be improved by increasing compaction energy, as long as volumetric properties are adhered to. The use of rapid triaxial frequency sweep testing demonstrated the ability to characterize mechanistic material properties as a function of varied compaction energy.<p> Based on the findings of this research, it is recommended that Saskatchewan asphalt mixes, both Marshall and SuperpaveTM types, be characterized using gyratory compaction with 2.00° angle of gyration and the SHRP specified number of gyrations. Further, the gyratory compacted samples provide the ability to characterize the mechanistic material constitutive properties of asphaltic mixes for mechanistic based road structural design purposes.<p> Future research should evaluate the relationship of laboratory material properties to the field performance of various Saskatchewan asphalt mixes across various field state conditions.

Saskatchewan Ministry of Highway and Infrastructure (SMHI) currently use the Marshall compaction method for the preparation of hot-mix asphalt laboratory samples. Due to increases in commercial truck traffic on most provincial highways, there has been an observed increasing trend in the occurrence of permanent deformation within the hot-mix asphalt concrete (HMAC) layer. One of the most important material properties found to influence the resistance of HMAC to structural permanent deformation is volumetric air voids within the mix.<p> End product air voids within a hot mix asphalt concrete pavement in the field is simulated by the method of compaction used during the laboratory design process. Based on findings of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP), the gyratory compactor is believed to better simulate field compaction of asphalt mixes at the time of construction, as well as better predict mix consolidation over the field performance period. However, the SuperpaveTM sample preparation protocol specifies a fixed angle of gyratory compaction, which may not be the optimal parameters to evaluate Saskatchewan hot-mix asphalt concrete mixes during the laboratory mix design phase.<p> The primary objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between laboratory characterization and field evaluation of Saskatchewan SPS-9A asphalt mixes across alternate laboratory compaction protocols. A second objective of this research was to quantify the effect of gyratory and Marshall compaction energy on the physical and mechanical properties of Saskatchewan SPS-9A asphalt mixes in the laboratory. The third objective of this research was to compare field ground penetrating radar dielectric permittivity profiles and rutting performance across Saskatchewan SPS-9A test sections.<p> The hypothesis of this research is that gyratory laboratory compaction will provide improved sensitivity in the characterization of physical asphaltic mix properties. It is also hypothesized that varied volumetric properties of HMAC mixes influence the mechanistic triaxial frequency sweep material properties of both conventional Saskatchewan and SuperpaveTM dense graded HMAC mixes.<p> The laboratory portion of this research included volumetric and mechanical properties of the seven Saskatchewan SPS-9A asphaltic mixes. The scope of this research included an investigation of the Saskatchewan Specific Pavement Study-9A (SPS-9A) asphalt mixes constructed in Radisson Saskatchewan in 1996. Physical volumetric properties as well as mechanistic triaxial frequency sweep properties were characterized across all seven Radisson SPS-9A mixes. Rutting after ten years of performance in the field was quantified as well as in situ ground penetrating radar dielectric permittivities of the Radisson SPS-9A test sections.<p> Based on the findings of the study, there was a significant reduction in VTM with an increase in Marshall compaction energy from 50 to 75 blows. Marshall stability was observed to be higher at 75 blow compared to 50 blows across the test sections.<p> Similarly, with regards to gyratory sample preparation, there was an observed reduction in VTM with an increase in gyratory compaction energy. VTM of SuperpaveTM mixes were higher than VTM SMHI Marshall mixes. VTM of the SuperpaveTM mixes were above acceptable SMHI limits at all angles of gyration at Ndesign. SuperpaveTM gyratory compactor accurately predicted field air voids of the Radisson SPS-9A asphalt after ten years of traffic loading at 2.00° angle of gyration.<p> In general, this research showed significant sensitivity of volumetric material properties across both Marshall and gyratory compaction energy.<p> This research also demonstrated that there was an improvement in the triaxial mechanistic material properties of the Radisson SPS-9A HMAC mixes with an increase in gyratory compaction energy. Dynamic moduli across all test section mixes increased with an increase in gyratory compaction energy. Similarly, it was shown that Poissons ratio generally increased with an increase in compaction energy across all test sections. Phase angle also increased with an increase in gyratory compaction energy. Radial microstrain (RMS) displayed the most significant sensitivity to increased gyratory compaction energy.<p> This research concluded that compaction energy in the laboratory can significantly influence the volumetric and mechanistic properties of hot-mix asphalt concrete mixes. As indicated by the field performance of the Radisson SPS-9A test sections, it is known that both volumetric and mechanistic properties can influence field performance. Mechanical material properties of HMAC may be improved by increasing compaction energy, as long as volumetric properties are adhered to. The use of rapid triaxial frequency sweep testing demonstrated the ability to characterize mechanistic material properties as a function of varied compaction energy.<p> Based on the findings of this research, it is recommended that Saskatchewan asphalt mixes, both Marshall and SuperpaveTM types, be characterized using gyratory compaction with 2.00° angle of gyration and the SHRP specified number of gyrations. Further, the gyratory compacted samples provide the ability to characterize the mechanistic material constitutive properties of asphaltic mixes for mechanistic based road structural design purposes.<p> Future research should evaluate the relationship of laboratory material properties to the field performance of various Saskatchewan asphalt mixes across various field state conditions.

Although evidence is mounting that asphalt binder oxidizes in pavements, and that oxidation and subsequent hardening of asphalt binder has a profound effect on pavement durability, important implementation issues remain to be better understood. Quantitative assessment of asphalt binder oxidation for a given pavement is a very important, but complex issue. In this dissertation, a fundamentals-based oxygen transport and reaction model was developed to assess quantitative asphalt binder oxidation in pavements. In this model, oxygen transport and reaction were described mathematically as two interlinked steps: 1) diffusion and/or flow of oxygen from the atmosphere above the pavement into the interconnected air voids in the pavement; and 2) diffusion of oxygen from those air voids into the adjoining asphalt-aggregate matrix where it reacts with the asphalt binder. Because such a model calculation depends extensively on accurately representing pavement temperature, understanding oxygen diffusivity in asphalt binders and mastics, and characterizing air voids in pavements, these key model elements were studied in turn. Hourly pavement temperatures were calculated with an improved one-dimensional heat transfer model, coupled with methods to obtain model-required climate data from available databases and optimization of site-specific pavement parameters nationwide; oxygen diffusivity in binders was determined based on laboratory oxidation experiments in binder films of known reaction kinetics by comparing the oxidation rates at the binder surface and at a solid-binder interface at the film depth. The effect of aggregate filler on oxygen diffusivity also was quantified, and air voids in pavements were characterized using X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT) and image processing techniques. From these imaging techniques, three pavement air void properties, radius of each air void (r), number of air voids (N), and average shell distance between two air voids (rNFB) were obtained to use as model inputs in the asphalt binder oxidation model. Then, by incorporating these model element improvements into the oxygen transport and reaction model, asphalt binder oxidation rates for a number of Texas and Minnesota pavements were calculated. In parallel, field oxidation rates were measured for these corresponding pavement sites and compared to the model calculations. In general, there was a close match between the model calculations and field measurements, suggesting that the model captures the most critical elements that affect asphalt binder oxidation in pavements. This model will be used to estimate the rate of asphalt binder oxidation in pavements as a first step to predicting pavement performance, and ultimately, to improve pavement design protocols and pavement maintenance scheduling.

Šiame darbe tirtos ir analizuotos šiltojo maišymo asfalto mišinių naudojimo Lietuvos keliuose galimybės. Darbe pateikta asfalto mišinių klasifikacija pagal gamybos ir klojimo temperatūrą, analizuota asfalto mišinių darbo temperatūros žeminimo technologijų raida (istorija) bei pateikta tyrimų, susijusių su šiltojo maišymo asfalto mišinių panaudojimu, apžvalga. Darbe analizuotos ir lygintos įvairios šiltojo maišymo asfalto mišinių gamybos technologijos. Taip pat darbe analizuoti ir vertinti šių mišinių privalumai ir trūkumai, atliktas skirtingų šiltojo maišymo asfalto mišinių gamybos ir naudojimo technologijų palyginimas. Šio darbo metu atlikti eksperimentiniai laboratoriniai tyrimai bei šiltojo maišymo asfalto mišinių cheminių priedų (Iterlow T) ir ceolitų (gamtinio ceolito ir Aspha–min) gamybos technologijos išbandytos kelyje įrengiant eksperimentines asfalto dangų atkarpas Lietuvos valstybinės reikšmės keliuose Nr. 4007, Nr. 153 ir Nr. 3907. Eksperimentinių dangų įrengimo metu fiksuotos asfalto mišinių gamybos ir klojimo temperatūros, tikrintas mišinių sutankinimas, vykdyta asfalto dangos vizuali apžiūra (iš karto po dangos paklojimo ir po 6 mėnesių eksploatacijos). Eksperimentiniai laboratoriniai tyrimai vykdyti Vilniaus Gedimino technikos universiteto Aplinkos inžinerijos fakulteto Kelių tyrimo instituto Automobilių kelių mokslo laboratorijoje. Šiltojo maišymo asfalto mišinių laboratorinių tyrimų metu projektuoti ir tirti AC 16 PD ir SMA 11 S asfalto mišiniai su... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This master thesis presents research, analysis and evaluation of possibilities for the use of warm mix asphalt (WMA) in Lithuania. Classification of asphalt mix (according to its production temperature) are given in this thesis along with the short overview of different WMA technologies and analysis of advantages and disadvantages of these technologies compared to traditional hot mix asphalt. Comparison of different WMA technologies is also made. It also presents WMA experimental laboratory and field researches done by Road Research Institute of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. During experimental field research chemical (Iterlow T) and water bearing (natural zeolite and Aspha–min) additives technologies were used to lower asphalt mix production and compaction temperatures. Asphalt mix laying temperatures and compaction level were recorded when asphalt mix was laid on the road. Experimental laboratory researches of WMA are introduced in this thesis also. Organic additives technologies were used in this research to lower asphalt mixes production and compaction temperatures. AC 16 PD and SMA 11 S asphalt mixes were analysed. Specimens taken from experimental field sections were also examined. Analysis and evaluation of WMA technologies used for laboratory and field researches is given in this master thesis along with conclusions and recommendations for the further research and use of WMA in Lithuania.

The X-ray computed tomography is a technology to investigate air void structure of drilled asphalt cores, which provides a non-destructive alternative to traditional laboratory methods, usually destructive testing.In this work, six in-situ specimens from a double layer porous asphalt pavement in Linköping, Sweden, were taken and analysed using both qualitative and quantitative methods of tomography. The qualitative study focused on identifying different features of the drilled cores, such as densification and air voids in the interface between the two porous layers. In the quantitative study, the air voids contents were quantified from processed tomography images. The tomography results of air voids content in all three directions (X, Y and Z), when increasing the calculated number of slices from 4 to 8, were compared to the measured air voids contents from a standardized laboratory method. Both t-test and F-test were applied to determine if a significant difference was found. Besides, the Evaluation Index (EI) was introduced to determine the most accurate combination slices and directions.The results shown here indicate that a reduced number of tomography slices can give enough accuracy in the determination of air voids content for the porous layers. The results also showed that air voids content determined with tomography gave no significant difference compared to the laboratory results. The most accurate combination found was, in this case, the Y+Z direction. Future development will focus on automatizing the determination of air voids, as well as mastic and aggregate phases using the same methodology of comparing tomography results with laboratory results.

Porous asphalt has gradually gained a lot of popularity in the past ten years for its ability to reduce traffic noise, especially noise generated between tire and road surface. The acoustical absorption properties are mainly due to the pore structure and the texture of the mixture. However, the percentage of these pores decrease during the lifetime. The main reason is that dirt and organic material get stuck in the air void structure and eventually cause clogging. In Nordic countries, particles from the road which get released due to the use of spiked tires accelerate clogging. To minimize wear and tear of these roads, larger aggregates are used. But, larger stone size diminishes the noise absorption ability of the mixture. Another reason that is attributed to void reduction is post-compaction. The fact that these mixtures damage prematurely and need more maintenance than conventional pavements is the main reason for its limited use. Given these problem, it is therefore important to understand how clogging can be minimized and/or reverted via operational maintenance actions. Different types of cleaning vehicles have been used previously to restore porosity. Unfortunately, these cleaning attempts have led to ambiguities and the effect of cleaning is widely debated. A method to look inside and to measure this effect is needed. This thesis has compared nine field core samples of porous asphalt from E4 Huskvarna, with the aim to conduct an in depth analysis of the air voids distribution before and after cleaning with a particular cleaning method. For this, the Skanska maintenance vehicle was selected, named VägRen  which is claimed to be optimized for porous asphalt under Nordic conditions has been used to clean a 100 m section. Cores were drilled before and after cleaning. The samples were scanned with high resolution X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanner in order to capture the entire morphology.  The digital image analysis program, AvizoFire® was used to characterize the 3D internal structure of air voids. Porosity evaluation as a function of depth of the asphalt layers has been studied to analyze the void distribution and cleaning effectiveness of the dirt with the investigated method. The results show that: (i) No visible damage induced by VägRen could be detected. (ii) Skanska's maintenance vehicles increased the air voids in the entire cleaned core and connected air voids increased by 83 %. The knowledge generated from this study can assist in the broader understanding of effectively utilizing porous asphalt under Nordic Conditions, though more research will be needed for conclusive results on the general effectiveness of the cleaning method and the effect of the life time of the pavement. / Intresset för att använda bullerreducerande beläggningar har gradvis ökat de senaste tio åren på grund av dess förmåga att reducera trafikbuller och i synnerhet det buller som genereras mellan däck och vägbana. Den bullerreducerande förmågan beror främst på beläggningens textur samt porstruktur. Dessutom minskar den procentuella andelen hålrum med tiden, det är främst partiklar och vägdamm som fastnar i porstrukturen och medverkar till igensättning av hålrummen. Denna igensättning accelereras i de nordiska länderna på grund av frekvent användande av dubbdäck. För att minska dubbdäcksslitaget används ofta beläggningar med större maximal stenstorlek, dessa större stenar genererar dock mer trafikbuller. En annan faktor som kan bidra till minskat hålrum är relaterat till efterpackning av beläggningen. Faktum att dessa typer av asfalt försämras i förtid och kräver mer underhåll generellt motverkar en bredare användning av bullerreducerande beläggningar. Ovannämnda problem belyser vikten att förstå till vilken grad igensättningsprocessen av beläggningens porstruktur kan minimeras samt återställas med riktade underhållsåtgärder. För att förbättra den akustiska livslängden har olika typer av rengöringsutrustningar testats. Utvärderingen från dessa tester har inte varit entydiga, vilket har lett till att effekterna av rengöring har ifrågasatts. Det finns således ett behov av att kunna utvärdera porstrukturen före och efter rengöring. Föreliggande avhandling har jämfört nio borrkärnor från en bullerreducerande beläggning från E4 utanför Huskvarna, med syftet att utföra en djupanalys av borrkärnornas porstruktur. Skanskas egenutvecklade underhållsfordon, VägRen (VR), optimerad för nordiska förhållanden användes för att rengöra en sträcka på ca 100 m av E4:an. Borrkärnorna togs före och efter rengöringen. Provkropparna analyserades med en högupplöst röntgen datortomograf (CT) skanner för att framställa hela morfologin. Bilderna erhållna från datortomografin bearbetades till 3D med bildanalysprogrammet, AvizoFire®. Porositeten som funktion av beläggningsdjup har studerats för att analysera effeketen av den valda rengöringsmetoden. Resultaten visar  att: (i) Inga synliga skador på den rengjorda sträckan, orsakade av  VägRen. (ii) Skanskas rengöringsfordon återställde en del av hålrummet på samtliga nivåer för de tvättade provkropparna. Andel sammanhängande porer ökade med 83 \%. Kunskap erhållen från denna studie kan bidra till en djupare förståelse om mer optimal användande av bullerreducerande beläggningar under nordiskt klimat. Dock behövs det mer forskning för att fastställa effektiviteten av rengöringsmetoden och hur den påverkar livslängen.

X-ray computed tomography is a technique that has been successfully utilized to characterize internal microstructure of asphalt mixtures. The city of Linköping (Sweden) developed an action plan to reduce noise; accordingly KTH and VTI developed a method to determine air void content in porous asphalt using x-ray computed tomography and an image processing software called ImageJ. The present study is a continuation of the previously mentioned work and focuses on the investigation of aggregate structure in porous asphalt by x-ray computed tomography. First the previously proposed method to estimate air void content was validated. Then, the assessment of aggregate structure including qualitative and quantitative analysis was completed. Qualitative evaluation was performed to determine the quality of slices in regard to establishing challenging areas, and the extent of beam hardening present in the X-ray images. This evaluation produced quality slices for each sample in Y-direction to work as a reference to establish general threshold ranges and image enhancement procedures, as well as identifying the interface between the top and bottom layer of the porous asphalt. The quantitative analysis consisted of analysing aggregate structures in the porous asphalt and developing a method to estimate the aggregate size distribution in porous asphalt layers. The gradation curves from the quantification of aggregate size distribution in all directions (X, Y, Z) were compared to the gradation curves from laboratory sieving tests previously performed on the drilled asphalt cores. To determine the accuracy of the method a perimeter analysis was performed to evaluate the suggested method to measure the aggregates. The results obtained indicate that to quantify the aggregates in porous asphalt, enhancement of the images is needed, as well as morphological operations to deal with beam hardening and overlapping stones due to unsuccessful separation of aggregates when thresholding. This further indicates that ImageJ Fiji is more suitable for complex cases, such as cases where aggregates and mastic are hard to distinguish from each other, rather than the original ImageJ software. This is due to the extended plugins available in ImageJ Fiji, where more options of for example filtering and enhancing of images are available. The results also suggest that the proposed method is a suitable method to determine the aggregate size distribution in porous asphalt pavements, as it allows to quantify the aggregate distribution and produces realistic results with slight inaccuracies due to the analysis being performed in 2D. Future development will be focused on automizing the determination of air void structure and aggregate size distribution, but also on the development of procedures to determine other relevant parameters such as mastic and binder content to establish a complete methodology to investigate the internal structure of a porous asphalt pavement, as well as 3D analysis to determine these parameters.

Asphalt mixture compaction is an important procedure of asphalt mixture construction and can significantly affect the performance of asphalt pavement. Many laboratory compaction methods (or devices), have been developed to study the asphalt mixture compaction. Nevertheless, the whole process from the selection of aggregate to laboratory compaction is still time-consuming and requires significant human and material resources. In order to better understand asphalt mixture compaction, some researchers began to use finite element method (FEM) to study and analyze mixture compaction. However, FEM is a continuum approach and lacks the ability to take into account the slippage and interlocking of aggregates during compaction. Discrete Element Method (DEM) is a discontinuum analysis method, which can simulate the deformation process of joint systems or discrete particle assembly under quasi-static and dynamic condition. Therefore, it can overcome the shortcomings of FEM and is a more effective tool than FEM to simulate asphalt mixture compaction. In this study, an open source 3D DEM code implemented with the C++ programming language was modified and applied to simulate the compaction of hot-mix asphalt (HMA). A viscoelastic contact model was developed in the DEM code and was verified through comparison with well established analytical solutions. The input parameters of the newly developed contact model were obtained through nonlinear regression analysis of dynamic modulus test results. Two commonly used compaction methods (Superpave gyratory compaction and asphalt vibratory compaction) and one linear kneading compaction based on APA machine were simulated using the DEM code, and the DEM compaction models were verified through the comparison between the DEM predicted results and the laboratory measured test results. The air voids distribution within the asphalt specimens was also analyzed by post processing virtual DEM compaction digital specimens and the level of heterogeneity of the air void distribution within the specimens in the vertical and lateral directions was studied. The DEM simulation results in this study were in a relatively good agreement with the experimental data and previous research results, which demonstrates that the DEM is a feasible method to simulate asphalt mixture compaction under different loading conditions and, with further research, it could be a potentially helpful tool for asphalt mix design by reducing the number of physical compactions in the laboratory.

The purpose of this study is to summarize theoretical and practical knowledge of frost resistance of concrete. It suggests, that there are numerous factors affecting the freeze-thaw resistence of concrete. These are especially raw materials, production technology, time and method of curing. The influence of addition, air entrainment and air void structure is complied and evaluated experimentally. The testing method is crucial for the evaluation of durability of concrete. Hence, this thesis includes a research of methods used around the world and practical comparison of some of them. This thesis is valuable because of implementation of the requirement in the standard ČSN EN 206 (2014) for the frost resistence of concrete in exposure classes XF1 and XF3.

The importance of aggregate structure and air voids distribution for asphalt mixture rutting and cracking performance has been well established on the basis of experience and is well documented in the literature. Past and current investigations are limited to assessment of performance based on macroscopic behavior due to the difficulty associated with the quantitative measurement and analysis of the internal structure of asphalt mixtures. Lately, technical advances in X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) and image processing and analysis has made possible to bring the attention also to the internal structure of asphalt mixtures. SPT results from asphalt field cores, including dynamic modulus (before and after loading) and microstrain accumulation (flow number), exhibited significant variability; most likely, induced by irregularities in the core shape. The analysis of aggregate structure and air voids distribution performed trough X-ray CT, clearly identified segregation in the asphalt mixture as a key factor that induced variability in SPT results. / QC 20120320