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Performance Evaluation of Foamed Warm Mix Asphalt Produced by Water Injection

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2013, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, Civil Engineering.
In recent years, a new group of technologies has been introduced in the United States that allow producing asphalt mixtures at temperatures 30 to 100oF lower than what is used in traditional hot mix asphalt (HMA). These technologies are commonly referred to as Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA). From among these technologies, foamed WMA produced by water injection has gained increased attention from the asphalt paving industry in Ohio since it does not require the use of costly additives. This type of asphalt mixtures is advertised as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional HMA and promoted to have better workability and compactability. In spite of these advantages, several concerns have been raised regarding the performance of foamed WMA because of the reduced production temperature and its impact on aggregate drying and asphalt binder aging. Main concerns include increased propensity for moisture-induced damage (durability) and increased susceptibility to permanent deformation (rutting). Other concerns include insufficient coating of coarse aggregates, and applicability of HMA mix design procedures to foamed WMA mixtures. This dissertation presents the results of a comprehensive study conducted to evaluate the laboratory performance of foamed WMA mixtures with regard to permanent deformation, moisture-induced damage, fatigue cracking, and low-temperature (thermal) cracking; and compare it to traditional HMA. In addition, the workability of foamed WMA and HMA mixtures was evaluated using a new device that was designed and fabricated at the University of Akron, and the compactability of both mixtures was examined by analyzing compaction data collected using the Superpave gyratory compactor. The effect of the temperature reduction, foaming water content, and aggregate moisture content on the performance of foamed WMA was also investigated. Furthermore, the rutting performance of plant-produced foamed WMA and HMA mixtures was evaluated in the Accelerated Pavement Load Facility (APLF) at Ohio University, and the long-term performance of pavement structures constructed using foamed WMA and HMA surface and intermediate courses was analyzed using the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). Based on the experimental test results and the subsequent analyses findings, the following are the main conclusions made: - In general, comparable laboratory test results were obtained for foamed WMA and HMA mixtures prepared using 30oF (16.7oC) temperature reduction, 1.8% foaming water content, and fully dried aggregates. Therefore, the performance of the resulting foamed WMA is expected to be similar to that of the HMA. - Surface foamed WMA mixtures had comparable rutting performance in the APLF to that of the HMA mixtures. This was also the case for intermediate foamed WMA and HMA mixtures. These results indicate the field performance of the foamed WMA mixtures is similar to that of the HMA mixtures.
Ala Abbas, Dr. (Advisor)
Craig Menzemer, Dr. (Committee Member)
Anil Patnaik, Dr. (Committee Member)
Yilmaz Sozer, Dr. (Committee Member)
Kevin Kreider, Dr. (Committee Member)
217 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ali, A. W. (2013). Performance Evaluation of Foamed Warm Mix Asphalt Produced by Water Injection [Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1374518551

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ali, Ayman. Performance Evaluation of Foamed Warm Mix Asphalt Produced by Water Injection . 2013. University of Akron, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1374518551.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ali, Ayman. "Performance Evaluation of Foamed Warm Mix Asphalt Produced by Water Injection ." Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1374518551

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)