Yaqob: Impacts Of Re-Heating And Compaction Temperatures On Hot Mix Asphalt

Impacts Of Re-Heating And Compaction Temperatures On Hot Mix Asphalt

Volumetrics

Romel Nano Yaqob

Assistant lecturer/ University of Kirkuk/Civil Engineering Department

Abstract
The need for accurate, consistent laboratory tests of the volumetric properties of the hot
mix asphalt (HMA) has become increasingly important in the past few years. The objective of
this study was to evaluate the effect of re-heating and compaction temperatures on the
volumetric properties of the HMA mixtures. These effects were studied with two experiments.
In the first experiment, mix was compacted after 0, 3 and 20 hour's storage time. In the second
experiment, mix was compacted at three different temperatures; standard target compaction
temperature for the grade of asphalt cement in the mixture, target - 14oC and target + 14o C.
Above and under superpave restricted zone graded mixtures comprised of two sources of
aggregates, and one type of binder were compacted with the Marshall compactor machine and
their volumetric properties measured. The results show that there are significant differences in
volumetric properties as the mix stored by 3 hours or more and changes in volumetric
properties occur as the compaction temperature varies.

Keywords: Volumetrics, compaction temperature, storage time, re-heating

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(HMA)
.
.

( 20 , 3 , 0) , .
,
0 0
. 14 + 14- ,
( superpave restricted zone)
.

, , :

Received 10 Feb. 2008 Accepted 28 May 2008

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Al-Rafidain Engineering Vol.17 No.2 April 2009
Introduction
In the hot mix asphalt (HMA) construction industry, the need for accurate, consistent
volumetric measurements has recently become more important. Since more states are relying
on volumetric properties to both design the mixture and then to evaluate the final product
during the construction phase, the need for reliable test results has become a necessity.
It is believed by some that discrepancies between agency and contractor test results may
be partially related to re-heating mixture samples that have cooled below compaction
temperatures. Also, when re-heating mixtures, the compaction temperature, if not closely
monitored, could be inaccurate and thus cause more deviation. The effects of these two issues
need to be looked at more closely to determine if they significantly affect sample volumetrics.
[1].
Hot Mix Asphalt Volumetrics
There are three volumetric properties most commonly measured to evaluate the physical
characteristics of HMA [2]: voids in total mix (VTM), voids in mineral aggregate (VMA),
and voids filled with asphalt cement (VFA). These mixture properties are explained in figure
1 and defined as follows:
Voids in Total Mix (VTM): the total of the small pockets of air between the coated aggregate
particles throughout a compacted paving mixture, expressed as a percent of the volume of the
compacted paving mixture.
Voids in mineral aggregate (VMA): the volume of intergranular void space between the
aggregate particles of a compacted paving mixture that includes the air voids and asphalt
cement not absorbed in to the aggregate.
Voids filled with asphalt cement (VFA): the volume of the VMA, expressed as a percentage,
which is filled with the asphalt cement.
These properties are measured during mix design and production of HMA.

VTM Air Mair

VMA VFA Asphalt Mb Mbe
Vb
Vmb Vba Absorbed Asphalt
Entrapped Air Mmix
Vmm
Vsb
Vse
Aggregate Magg

VMA= Volume of voids in mineral aggregate Mmix= Total mass of asphalt mixture
Vmb= Bulk volume of compacted mix Mb= Mass of asphalt binder
Vmm= Voidless volume of paving mix Mbe= Mass of effective aggregate binder
VFA= Volume of voids filled with asphalt Magg= Mass of aggregate
VTM= Volume of air voids Mair= Mass of air = 0
Vsb= Volume of mineral aggregate Vse= Volume of mineral aggregate
(By effective specific gravity)
(By bulk specific gravity) Vb= Volume of asphalt binder
Vba= Volume of absorbed asphalt binder
Figure 1: Components of a Compacted HMA Specimen [2]
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 Yaqob: Impacts Of Re-Heating And Compaction Temperatures On Hot Mix Asphalt
Background
The different ways that the mixtures are handled prior to testing is believed to play a
role in the variability between governmental agency and contractor measured properties. One
common reason given for these differences has been the effect of re-heating the HMA mixture
prior to laboratory compaction. There are two reasons for re-heating of the mixture. one
reason for re-heating the mixture is a result of transporting the sample to the laboratory for
testing, while the second occurs when either referee or verification samples must be tested.
These samples will have cooled for hours or even days. In order to compact these mixtures
they must be re-heated to compaction temperatures. When mixtures are re-heated for
compaction, another issue develops that may affect the final properties of compacted samples.
This issue is control of test temperature, that the temperature at which the mixture is
compacted might be either higher or lower than the target compaction temperature if no
standard procedure is followed for re-heating nor for selecting compaction temperature. [1]
Temperature and Compactibility
Because asphalt cement viscosity changes with temperature, mix compaction
temperature is important. [3] However, one study performed at the University of Wisconsin –
Madison, NCHRP 9-10 [4], showed surprising data that indicated little change in density with
change in compaction temperature. This data showed that although the asphalt cement
viscosity changed by 3 – orders of magnitude between 80o C and 155o C, compaction
temperature had little to no effect on volumetric properties of the compacted samples. A
second evaluation was carried out using other modes of laboratory compaction along with the
superpave gyratory compactor (SGC). In this evaluation similar mixtures samples were
compacted on three different compactors (Marshall, Hveem, and SGC) utilizing three
different compaction temperatures (160, 115 and 80o C). The results of this work, as
illustrated in figure 2, showed that all three compactors differed in terms of sensitivity to
temperature, with the SGC being the least sensitive. [5]
NCAT - Fine 4.3 %

11

10

8
AirVoids, %

3
60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Temperature, C

Marshall Hveem SGC

Figure 2: Effect of Temperature on Air Voids measured after Compaction

Using Different Compaction Methods for HMA containing a Fine Crushed

Gravel Mixture. [5]

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Al-Rafidain Engineering Vol.17 No.2 April 2009

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of both re-heating and
compaction temperature on volumetric properties of HMA mixtures. To accomplish this,
various mixtures were compacted at three temperatures with the same compactive effort to
determine their volumetric properties. In order to consider a range of mixtures, two gradations
of above and below superpave restricted zone as shown in table 1were used, two source of
aggregate from Al-Nebaey and Daquq Soo which differs in their properties as shown in table
2 were used, and one grade (40-50) penetration graded of asphalt cement were utilized from
daurah refinery, and its properties were shown in table 3.
Three storage times (0, 3 and 20 hours) were used at the target temperature throughout
the study. Storage time refers to the additional time a mixture was allowed to sit at room
temperature (approximately 25o C) after the mixing is finished. The zero (0) storage time
means that no cooling time was allowed between sampling and heating to compaction
temperature. The three hour samples represent samples that are transported to another
laboratory testing. The twenty hour samples might represent verification samples that may
tested after several days of storage.
In addition, the effect of compaction temperature was studied by compacting identical
samples at three different compaction temperatures at (0) storage time. The temperatures
used in this phase of the study were the standard compaction temperature for the specific
asphalt grade being tested and the standard compaction temperature ± 14o C. These
temperatures were 135, 149 and 163o C to stimulate compaction temperatures that are too
high and too low. All mixtures were compacted with the Marshall compactor with the
consistent compactive effort of 50 blows/each face.
Table 1: Percent Passing (by weight of total aggregate) of Selected Dense
Gradations for 19.0 mm Nominal Maximum Size.[6]
0.07
0.15

0.30

0.60

1.18

2.36

4.75

12.5

19.0

25.0
9.5

SieveOpening (mm)
5

5 7 20 28 34 40 50 75 85 95 100 % passing ARZ

5 7 8.5 11 16.5 27 50 75 85 95 100 % passing BRZ

Table 2: The Properties of Coarse Aggregate from the Two Different Sources. [7]

Daquq
properties ASTM SORB Nibaey
Soo
Bulk Specific Gravity C 127 2.57 2.617
Effective Specific Gravity 2.576 2.631
% Asphalt Absorption D 2041 0.093 0.195
% Gypsum < =1% 3.00 0.2
% Soundness C 88 <=12 2.26 1.76
% Coated Area with Asphalt
D 1664 > 95 91 95
After Immersion in Water
% Wear ( L.A. Abrasion) C 131 <=35 26.1 20.4
% Clay Lump & Friable
C 142 <=3 1.35 0.76
Particles
% Mineral Compound
% Calcite 12.7 33.6
% Quartz 87.3 66.4
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 Yaqob: Impacts Of Re-Heating And Compaction Temperatures On Hot Mix Asphalt
Table 3: Physical properties of asphalt cement [7]

Results
Test Unit ASTM
D(40-50)
Penetration 250 C, 100 gm, 5 sec. 1/10 mm D5 42
0
Absolute Viscosity at 60 C Poise D 2171 3068
Kinematic Viscosity at 135 0 C C St. D 2170 373
Ductility ( 25 0 C, 5 cm/min.) Cm D 113 > 100
0
Softening point (Ring & Ball) C D 36 51.0
Specific gravity at 250 C ……. D 70 1.04
Flash point ( Cleveland Open Cup) C0 D 92 332
After Thin- Film Oven Test
Penetration of Residue 1/10 mm D5 39
Ductility of Residue Cm D 113 82
Loss on Heat at 1350C, 50 gm, 5 hrs % D 1754 0.82

Data presentation
In order to delineate the different mixtures used in this paper a coding system was
developed, which is used for the graphical presentations throughout this paper, and shown as
follows:
ARZ= Above Restricted Zone Gradation
BRZ= Below Restricted Zone Gradation
DA= Daquq Soo source of aggregate
NA= Nebaey Source of Aggregate, and
SORB= Iraqi Standard Specification for Roads and Bridges

Results and Discussion

The conventional Marshall Method test was conducted to find the optimum asphalt
content for the ARZ-DA and BRZ-DA mixture type. Other types of mixture already have the
optimum asphalt content [6]. The optimum asphalt content with regard to mixture type is
shown in table 4.
Table 4: The optimum asphalt content with regard to mixture type

Mixture type ARZ-DA ARZ-NA BRZ-DA BRZ-NA

%Optimum Asphalt Content 5.0 5.1 4.5 4.7

In the re-heating phase of the study, samples of each of the four mixture combination
were compacted with the Marshall Compacter apparatus after being subjected to different
storage times. Each sample was compacted at the same temperature using the same
compactive effort. The storage times evaluated were 0, 3, and 20 hours. The temperature used
in this phase was the target temperature (149 o C) for the specific grade of asphalt cement
being used.
Figures 3, 4, and 5 show the average percentage of air voids (VTM), voids in mineral
aggregate (VMA), and voids filled with asphalt (VFA) respectively for storage time utilized
for each mixture type evaluated.
Figure 3 indicates that the 0 storage time values for the VTM differ from the 3 and 20
hours storage time. Storage a mixture for 3 hours will decrease the VTM about 7.5% as the
average value of the four types of mixtures used compared with the 0 storage time value.
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Al-Rafidain Engineering Vol.17 No.2 April 2009

Increasing the storage time to 20 hours didn’t show significant difference from the 3 hours
storage time.
Average VMA percentages are given in figure 4 for each storage time. It indicates that
storage the mixture to 3 hours will decrease the VMA values by the average of 3.25% as
compared with 0 hours storage time, with remaining the 20 hours storage time have no
significant difference from the 3 hours.
Lastly, the average percentages of VFA values for each mixture combination are given
in figure 5. Since VFA is calculated using both VTM and VMA, it can be expected that any
effect seen in values of VTM and/or VMA will also show differences in VFA. However, 3
hours storage time shows increase in VFA by the 2% as the average value than the 0 storage
time.
In the compaction temperature evaluation, samples of each of the four mixture types
were compacted with the same compactive effort but at three different temperatures and 0
hour storage time. The temperature used in this phase was the target temperature for the
specific grade of asphalt cement used in the research as well as the target temperature ±14oC.
Figures 6, 7, and 8 show the average percentages of VTM, VMA, and VFA respectively
for compacted temperature utilized for each mixture type evaluated.
Figure 6 shows that decreasing the compacted temperature 140 C from the target
compacted temperature will increase the air voids by the average of 7%. Increasing the
compacted temperature will decrease the VTM to the average of 5.5%. This may be attributed
to the fact with the decreasing of the compacted temperature the viscosity of the asphalt
cement will increase and that may need greater effort to sustain the VTM.
Figure 7 shows that decreasing the compacted temperature by 140 C from the target
compacted temperature will increase the VMA by the average value of 2%. Increasing the
compacted temperature 140 C will decrease the VMA by the average value of 3%.
Figure 8 shows the void filled with asphalt (VFA) with the various compacted
temperatures. It indicates that decreasing the compacted temperature by 140 C from the target
temperature will decrease the VFA values by the average of 2%. Increasing the compacted
temperature will increase the VFA value by the average of 1%.

4
% VTM

0
ARZ-NE BRZ-NE ARZ-DA BRZ-DA
Mixture Type
0 hr storage 3 hr storage 20 hr storage

Figure 3: Effect of Storage Time on Voids in Total Mix of

Asphalt Concrete Mixture
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Yaqob: Impacts Of Re-Heating And Compaction Temperatures On Hot Mix Asphalt
17

16
% VMA

15

14
ARZ-NE BRZ-NE ARZ-DA BRZ-DA
Mixture Type
0 hr storage 3 hr storage 20 hr storage

Figure 4: Effect of Storage Time on Voids in Mineral

Aggregate of Asphalt Concrete Mixture
74

72

70

68
% VFA

66

64

62

60
ARZ-NE BRZ-NE ARZ-DA BRZ-DA
Mixture Type
0 hr storage 3 hr storage 20 hr storage

Figure 5: Effect of Storage Time on Voids Filled

With Asphalt of Asphalt Concrete Mixture
18

17
% VMA

16

15

14
ARZ-NE BRZ-NE ARZ-DA BRZ-DA
Mixture Type
Target temp -14 Target temp. Target temp+14

Figure 6: Effect of Compacted Temperature on VTM of Asphalt concrete Mixture

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Al-Rafidain Engineering Vol.17 No.2 April 2009
7

4
% VTM

0
ARZ-NE BRZ-NE ARZ-DA BRZ-DA
Mixture Type
Target temp -14 Target temp. Target temp+14

Figure 7: Effect of Compacted Temperature on VMA of Asphalt Concrete Mixture

76

74

72

70

68
% VFA

66

64

62

60

58

56
ARZ-NE BRZ-NE ARZ-DA BRZ-DA
Mixture Type
Target temp -14 Target temp. Target temp+14

Figure 8: Effect of Compacted Temperature on VFA of Asphalt Concrete Mixture

Conclusion
Within the limitations of materials and test used in this study the following conclusions
are drawn:
1- Storage the mixture to 3 hours have the following effects on volumetric properties
I-Reduce the VTM by (7.5 %) with respect to the VTM produced from the 0 hour
storage time
II- Reduce the VMA by (3.25%) with respect to the VMA produced from the 0 hour
storage time
III- Increase the VFA value by (2%) with respect to the VFA produced from the 0 hour
storage time
2- Storage the mixture to 20 hours didn’t show significant difference from the 3 hours
storage time
3- Decreasing the compacted temperature by 140 C from the target temperature shows an
increase of the VTM by 7 % , increasing the VMA by 2 %, and decreasing the VFA by 2
%
4- Increasing the compacted temperature by 140 C from the target temperature shows a
reduce of the VTM by 5.5 % , reducing the VMA by 3 %, and increasing the VFA by 1 %

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 Yaqob: Impacts Of Re-Heating And Compaction Temperatures On Hot Mix Asphalt
References
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Manual". North Carolina Department of Transportation, Raleigh, North Carolina.
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Construction", NAPA Education Foundation, Lanham, Maryland, Second Edition.
3- Yetkin Y, Mansour S., and Kennedy TH. W. (2000), "Mixing and Compaction
Temperatures For Hot Mix Asphalt Concrete", Research Project 0-1250, South Center
Superpave Center, Conducted for the Texas Department of Transportation, Research
Report Number 1250-5.
4- Bahia, H.U. and Hanson D.I. (2000), "A Project NCHRP 9-10 Superpave Protocols for
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Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transportation Research Board, National
Research Council.
5- Parker, Frazier and Shabbir , (1999)," Collection and Analysis of QC/QA Data for
Superpave Mixes", National Center for Asphalt Technology.
6- Romel, N.Y. (2004), "Influence of Avoiding the Superpave Restricted Zone on Asphalt
Concrete Performance", M.Sc., Thesis, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, pp (44 and 28)
7- Sheelan. A.W. (2002),"Influence of Coarse Aggregate Properties on Performance of
Paving Materials", M.Sc. , Thesis, University of Baghdad, Baghdad, pp 29.
8- Buchnan, M. SH., and Cooley L. A.(2003), "Investigation of the Tender Zone in the
Compaction of coarse-Graded superpave Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) Mixes", Paper
presented at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington.

The work was carried out at the college of Engg. University of Mosul

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