Static Creep and Repeated Load as Rutting Performance Tests for Airport HMA Mix Design

Abstract

A performance test, rather than an empirical test, to evaluate rutting susceptibility is needed to accompany current volumetric property requirements of airport hot mix asphalt (HMA) designed using a superpave gyratory compactor. The new performance test will provide a level of confidence that pavement constructed using a selected HMA mixture will function according to its design. This paper presents results from a laboratory study to identify a performance test for accepting hot asphalt mixtures for constructing airport pavements designed for high tire pressure traffic. Performance tests intended to indicate rutting susceptibility were performed on 34 HMA mixtures. Twenty-nine of these mixtures met all aggregate and volumetric property requirements for airport pavement construction; the remaining five mixtures were designed with excessive percentage of natural sand (30%) as rut-susceptible mixtures. Results from asphalt pavement analyzer (APA), triaxial static creep, and triaxial repeated load tests are presented. Statistical analyses performed on the results indicate that the rate of increase in permanent strain and the flow time value determined from triaxial static creep testing provide the strongest correlation to APA simulated traffic rutting.