Development of a Performance-Volumetric Relationship for Asphalt Mixtures

Abstract

This paper aims to establish the relationship between the volumetric performance of asphalt mixtures and their performance in relation to pavement fatigue cracking and rutting. A good performance-volumetric relationship (PVR) can dramatically improve the working efficiency of mixtures and can be used in future performance-engineered mixture design and performance-related specifications. For this study, three asphalt mixtures were first designed to incorporate systematic changes in volumetric conditions, then fatigue cracking and rutting performance tests were conducted at each condition. Statistical analyses of the results suggest that a first-order (linear) model and power model would be an appropriate form of the PVR function. The number of volumetric conditions required to calibrate the PVR function is also investigated. Finally, a rule of thumb for selecting the volumetric conditions for the model calibrations is provided. The verification results show that the proposed PVR function is able to capture the response of mixture performance to changes in volumetric conditions.