"The presence of moisture can lead to serious damage in Hot Mix Asphalt mixes and failures of HMA pavements. This is of an even greater concern for Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) due to the use of much lower production temperatures which may not be high enough to completely dry the aggregates. In this Maine DOT study, the use of fracture energy parameters was evaluated to determine the influence of incomplete drying of mixes on their mechanical properties. Fracture energy based parameters (ER: energy ratio; RER: ratio of energy ratio) were determined from the following indirect tensile testing on mixes with fully and partially dried aggregates, some of which were subjected to moisture conditioning: Resilient modulus (Mr), creep compliance, and indirect tensile strength (ITS) strength at 5oC. The results indicate that: i. resilient modulus, creep compliance, and indirect tensile strength were all affected by the presence of moisture in mixes; ii. the trend and degree of influence by moisture for the different mechanical parameters are different; iii. The moisture conditioning process has caused larger decreases in resilient modulus and ITS values than incomplete drying of aggregates; however, the same moisture conditioning process has caused much larger decreases in modulus and ITS in asphalt mixes prepared with incompletely dried aggregates than the counterparts prepared with fully dried aggregates; and iv. fracture energy-based parameters (ER and RER) appear to be more distinctive moisture effect/damage indicators than the other parameters. "

Silty soils are a common occurrence and can exhibit low strengths, and minimal bearing capacity, causing widespread construction and performance problems. These soils are highly moisture-sensitive and their stability is greatly influenced by the degree of densification achieved during compaction. The strength and stiffness of silty-subgrade soils is also greatly reduced when moisture infiltrates the compacted soil during post construction period. This investigation concentrated on further developing the description of the pumping problem for soils with high silt content and the development of guidelines for stabilization of problematic silts. Using documented field experiences of the DOTD districts, the study presents a testing program to investigate the nature of the problem, the character of the silt materials, and their performance with modifying/stabilizing agents. Seven representative silt soil samples were used in the laboratory program. The unique characteristics that identify a soil with a high potential to pump were determined with standard laboratory tests. The response and stability of the silts under compaction and loading with various moisture levels and compaction efforts was also tested. The susceptibility to pumping of the different samples was reviewed in terms of their physical characteristics. In addition to the silt content percentage, the plasticity character was noted as being significant. The potential for the modification/stabilization of the problem silt soils was also studied. The laboratory tests were selected with respect to construction needs and possible post construction conditions. A limited number of specific additives were proposed with consideration for their ability to dry the subgrade silts sufficiently to be compacted and with the strength to provide a "working table" for the construction of the base and pavement. The additives selected included hydrated lime, portland cement, and class c fly ash. A unitary set of guidelines for stabilizing problematic silts is proposed.

Economic, environmental and engineering benefits promote the rapid implementation of WMA technologies. However, concerns remain based on changes in the production process that may lead to moisture susceptibility in the early life as compared to HMA. To evaluate WMA moisture susceptibility during this critical period, standard laboratory tests were used for three field projects each with an HMA control mixtures and multiple WMA mixtures. Different specimen types were also evaluated to capture differences in mix design, quality control/quality assurance, and field performance. Specimens were evaluated for moisture susceptibility by Indirect Tensile (IDT) Strength, Resilient Modulus (MR) and Hamburg Wheel-Track Testing (HWTT). Specimens for IDT and MR were tested dry and then tested wet after conditioning as described in AASHTO T283 with one freeze-thaw cycle. HWTT was used to assess both moisture susceptibility and rutting potential under repeated loads in the presence of water at elevated temperatures (i.e., 122°F [50°C]), and the output parameters used for evaluation were the calculated Stripping Inflection Point (SIP) and the rut depth at 5000 load cycles. Based on the results of the laboratory tests performed on PMFC cores acquired at construction and with time, WMA during its early life exhibited inferior moisture resistance when compared to HMA. However, with time, specifically after one summer, the dry and wet properties of WMA became equivalent to those of HMA. For WMA constructed in the fall, the results from this study suggest that the inclusion of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) or an anti-stripping agent may alleviate possible moisture susceptibility issues in the early life during wet, winter weather conditions. While some laboratory test results demonstrated that WMA is more moisture susceptible than HMA, field performance reported to date from the three projects used in this study shows no evidence of moisture damage. Therefore the search for a laboratory test to screen mixtures for moisture susceptibility continues. An alternative approach, applying Griffith crack growth theory and utilizing IDT, MR and air voids% the adhesive bond energy of asphalt mixtures was calculated for Texas field project. This value holds promise for characterizing performance of asphalt mixtures by considering basic properties and grouping into one representative value.

Moisture susceptibility of hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements continues to be a major pavement distress. Past research has primarily focused on HMA stripping prevention through material component evaluation/testing and addition of preventative additives. Stripping is caused by traffic, water, and high in-place service temperatures. Today, agencies use various methods to evaluate HMA moisture susceptibility with varying degrees of success. The study objective was to evaluate a prototype stripping simulator?s ability to predict HMA moisture susceptibility. The simulator evaluates moisture susceptibility by measuring conditioning water turbidity. Boil test and indirect tensile strength testing were also conducted for comparison purposes. Stripping simulator results indicate further refinement is required before it can be used for moisture susceptibility prediction.

Moisture damage in asphalt pavement has always been a problem for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate moisture susceptibility of Hot-Mix Asphalt (HMA) and to investigate mitigation techniques using different antistripping agents. Three types of antistripping agents were used in this research investigation. Two of which are chemical based and the other is hydrated lime. The two types of liquid antistripping agents used in this study include Arr Maz CC LOF-6500 and Arr Maz CC XL-9000. These two liquid antistripping agents were tested at 0.25%, 0.50%, and 0.75%. Hydrated Lime was tested at 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0%. The binder used in this study is Asphalt Performance Grade (PG) 64-16 provided by Oxnard Refinery. The crushed stone aggregate used in this study was provided by Cal Portland. This study follows the guidelines of standardized AASHTO, ASTM, and SuperPave mix design for all preparation and test procedures. A total of 120 4-inch by 2.83-inch core specimens with void ratios between 6 to 8 percent were created to test for moisture susceptibility in accordance with the Modified Lottman Test, which tested for Indirect Tensile Strength and Immersion Compression Test, which tested for Compression Strength and Elasticity. During the test, half of these specimens were placed in a hot water bath for 24 hours to condition the sample to represent field performance and the other half were unconditioned. Based on the results, the best liquid antistripping agent is XL-9000 at 0.50% and hydrated lime is most efficient at a dosage rate of 1.5%. The best performing antistripping additive for the value is hydrated lime at 1.5%.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Mustaque Hossain / Because of recent rises in asphalt binder prices, state agencies and contractors are now willing to use higher volumes of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). In this project, the effects of increasing RAP percentage and using fractionated RAP (FRAP) in hot-mix asphalt (HMA) mixtures have been studied. Fractionation involved processing and separating of RAP materials into at least two sizes, typically a coarse fraction and a fine fraction. This study evaluated the effects of increasing the proportions of RAP and FRAP on moisture resistance, rutting, and fatigue cracking of Superpave mixtures. Furthermore, the effect of using different sources of RAP in the mix has been investigated. HMA mixtures with five varying RAP and FRAP contents (20, 30, and 40% RAP, and 30 and 40% FRAP) were studied. The Hamburg wheel-tracking device (HWTD) test (TEX-242-F), the Kansas standard test method no. 56 (KT-56), or modified Lottman test, and the dynamic modulus test (AASHTO TP: 62-03) were used to predict moisture damage, rutting potential, and fatigue cracking resistance of the mixes. HMA specimens were made based on Superpave HMA mix design criteria for 12.5-mm (1/2-inch) nominal maximum aggregate size (NMAS) and compacted using the Superpave gyratory compactor. For the first source of RAP, results of this study showed that although mixture performance declined as the percentage of RAP increased, mixtures with even 40% RAP met minimum performance requirements. The second source of RAP, however, almost failed to meet minimum requirements even at 20% RAP. Results proved the maximum percentage of RAP allowed in the mix is highly influenced by its source. Although some improvements have been observed, especially for the second source of RAP, when RAP is compared to FRAP, FRAP does not seem to considerably affect performance of the HMA mixture.

Este estudo apresenta uma contribuição à compreensão do fenômeno da adesão e da sua perda que as misturas asfálticas apresentam em conseqüência da ação da água. Para tanto, foram testados diversos tipos de misturas asfálticas à luz dos processos preconizados pela ASTM e pela AASHTO para avaliação de suscetibilidade à umidade. Foram executados vários experimentos fatoriais, que consideraram as principais variáveis influentes no fenômeno da adesão, tais como: tipo de agregado (basalto, gabro e granito), tipo de asfalto (CAP 20 e CAP 40), processo de produção de misturas (Marshall, ASTM e AASHTO), volume de vazios (4 e 7%), teor de asfalto (3) e uso ou não de cal. As propriedades monitoradas foram a resistência à tração e o módulo de resiliência. Entre outras constatações, verificou-se nesta pesquisa que a cal melhorou a adesividade das misturas na maioria dos casos; o procedimento da AASHTO mostrou-se mais efetivo na detecção de suscetibilidade à ação de água nas misturas; ensaios de módulo de resiliência indicaram variações nas características mecânicas dos corpos-de-prova que os ensaios de resistência à tração não conseguiram detectar; as misturas com asfalto tipo CAP 20 apresentaram menos suscetibilidade à umidade que as com CAP 40; o aumento no volume de vazios das misturas redundou em maior perda de adesividade e maiores teores de asfalto levaram as misturas a menores sensibilidades à água. Dentre todas as misturas estudadas, as com granito foram as que exibiram maior sensibilidade aos efeitos da água, independentemente do tipo e do teor de asfalto utilizados. / This study presents a contribution to the understanding of the adhesion phenomenon and its loss when water acts in asphalt mixtures. Several kinds of asphalt mixtures were evaluated by means of ASTM and AASHTO moisture susceptibility tests. Experiments based on factorial design were performed considering some of the main factors that act on adhesion phenomenon, such as: aggregate (basalt, gabbro and granite), asphalt (CAP 20 and CAP 40), laboratorial mixture production procedure (Marshall, ASTM and ASHTO), air voids content (4 and 7%), asphalt content (3 levels) and the presence of lime. Mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures were evaluated by resilient modulus and tensile strength. The main conclusions are: lime improved adhesiveness of asphalt mixtures for all studied cases; AASHTO’s procedure was more effective to diagnostic the moisture susceptibility; resilient modulus test indicated changes in mechanical characteristics of specimens that the tensile strength did not detect; mixtures with CAP 20 exhibited less moisture susceptibility than mixtures with CAP 40; mixtures with high air voids presented higher loss of adhesiveness; mixtures with higher asphalt content tended to exhibit lower adhesiveness losses. In almost all cases, the asphalt mixtures with granite aggregate exhibited more water susceptibility, despite asphalt’s kind and content.

Este estudo apresenta uma contribuição à compreensão do fenômeno da adesão e da sua perda que as misturas asfálticas apresentam em conseqüência da ação da água. Para tanto, foram testados diversos tipos de misturas asfálticas à luz dos processos preconizados pela ASTM e pela AASHTO para avaliação de suscetibilidade à umidade. Foram executados vários experimentos fatoriais, que consideraram as principais variáveis influentes no fenômeno da adesão, tais como: tipo de agregado (basalto, gabro e granito), tipo de asfalto (CAP 20 e CAP 40), processo de produção de misturas (Marshall, ASTM e AASHTO), volume de vazios (4 e 7%), teor de asfalto (3) e uso ou não de cal. As propriedades monitoradas foram a resistência à tração e o módulo de resiliência. Entre outras constatações, verificou-se nesta pesquisa que a cal melhorou a adesividade das misturas na maioria dos casos; o procedimento da AASHTO mostrou-se mais efetivo na detecção de suscetibilidade à ação de água nas misturas; ensaios de módulo de resiliência indicaram variações nas características mecânicas dos corpos-de-prova que os ensaios de resistência à tração não conseguiram detectar; as misturas com asfalto tipo CAP 20 apresentaram menos suscetibilidade à umidade que as com CAP 40; o aumento no volume de vazios das misturas redundou em maior perda de adesividade e maiores teores de asfalto levaram as misturas a menores sensibilidades à água. Dentre todas as misturas estudadas, as com granito foram as que exibiram maior sensibilidade aos efeitos da água, independentemente do tipo e do teor de asfalto utilizados. / This study presents a contribution to the understanding of the adhesion phenomenon and its loss when water acts in asphalt mixtures. Several kinds of asphalt mixtures were evaluated by means of ASTM and AASHTO moisture susceptibility tests. Experiments based on factorial design were performed considering some of the main factors that act on adhesion phenomenon, such as: aggregate (basalt, gabbro and granite), asphalt (CAP 20 and CAP 40), laboratorial mixture production procedure (Marshall, ASTM and ASHTO), air voids content (4 and 7%), asphalt content (3 levels) and the presence of lime. Mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures were evaluated by resilient modulus and tensile strength. The main conclusions are: lime improved adhesiveness of asphalt mixtures for all studied cases; AASHTO’s procedure was more effective to diagnostic the moisture susceptibility; resilient modulus test indicated changes in mechanical characteristics of specimens that the tensile strength did not detect; mixtures with CAP 20 exhibited less moisture susceptibility than mixtures with CAP 40; mixtures with high air voids presented higher loss of adhesiveness; mixtures with higher asphalt content tended to exhibit lower adhesiveness losses. In almost all cases, the asphalt mixtures with granite aggregate exhibited more water susceptibility, despite asphalt’s kind and content.

No description available.

This thesis has determined that using fly ash as a mineral filler in asphalt pavements can help strengthen and reduce asphalt moisture damage. Also, dynamic shear rheometer tests show that these additives have a stiffening effect on asphalt binder. Moisture related damage is considered one of the main causes of asphalt pavement failure. As water infiltrates a layer of asphalt, it slowly strips away asphalt binder, weakening the aggregate/binder bond. This process, combined with the cyclic loading of traffic, can lead to several different types of asphalt failure including rutting, raveling, bleeding, and cracking. For several decades, research has been conducted to find a solution to this problem. Currently in practice, hydrated lime and a variety of amine-based chemicals are being used as anti-stripping agents. However, as an emphasis towards sustainability has increased, waste products are now being investigated for this purpose. This thesis investigated the anti-stripping effectiveness of two waste products: fly ash and cement kiln dust (CKD), and compared them with hydrated lime and an amine-based chemical additive. The results indicate that class C fly ash can be used as an asphalt anti-stripping additive; however it is more costly than lime or amine chemicals.