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Effect of warm mix asphalt additive on the workability of asphalt mixture:

From particle perspective

Article in Construction and Building Materials · October 2022

DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.129548

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 Construction and Building Materials 360 (2022) 129548

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Effect of warm mix asphalt additive on the workability of asphalt mixture:

From particle perspective
Shuai Yu a, Shihui Shen b, *, Richard Steger c, Xue Wang d, e
a
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
b
Department of Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, Altoona, PA 16601, USA
c
Asphalt Technology, Ingevity, Tulsa, OK 74116, USA
d
Highway School, Chang’an University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710064, China
e
Xi’an Key Laboratory of Digital Construction and Management for Transportation Infrastructure, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710064, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Warm mix asphalt (WMA) technologies, in recent decades, have gained much popularity given their proven
Asphalt mixture benefits of improved workability, reduced energy consumption, and improved sustainability. However, how to
Warm mix asphalt technology select a WMA technology and determine its effectiveness at a required condition is still a question. Most current
Wireless sensor
works focus on the binder’s rheological properties. Very few have investigated the particles’ behaviors during
Particle rotation
compaction, which should have a direct correlation with the mixture’s workability. With the development of a
Compaction
particle-size Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) sensor, SmartRock, this paper aims to analyze the particle’s
kinematic behavior during compaction and explore its relationship with the mixture’s workability. With this
motivation, 5 asphalt mixtures varying in the production temperature and the dose rate of the chemical additive
are prepared and compacted in this study. To focus on the methodology, only one chemical additive with several
dosage levels is utilized. It is found that particle rotation is a crucial property for compaction and can be used to
evaluate the workability of asphalt mixtures. Relative rotation capacity (RRC) and average residual rotation
(ARR) are then proposed and used to evaluate the mixture’s workability. It is verified that the higher production
temperature and dosage rate of chemical additives can both improve the particle rotation and the mixture’s
workability. The effect of temperature and WMA additive on workability improvement is different for the base
conditions (i.e., base production temperature and usage of the WMA additive). Overall, the method proposed in
this study is promising for evaluating the workability of asphalt mixtures in compaction.

1. Introduction The three most acceptable and common WMA technologies are: (a)
organic additives, such as Sasobit. It can decrease the asphalt binder’s
Hot mix asphalt (HMA) mixture is widely used in asphalt pavement viscosity above its melting point so that the reduced temperature can
construction. During its production, both aggregates and asphalt binder satisfy the mixture’s workability for production and construction [5].
are typically produced at 150℃ to ensure their proper coating and (b) chemical additives, such as Evotherm [6]. This type of WMA additive
sufficient workability. This high-temperature results in high emissions of can improve the ability of asphalt binders to coat the aggregate particles
greenhouse gases and consumption of energy costs [1,2]. Warm Mix at lower temperatures. It will regulate and reduce the slip forces at the
Asphalt (WMA) technologies are then developed for reducing environ­ interface between binder and aggregates, which makes the mixture
mental pollution and energy consumption. They can either lower the particles rotate and move more easily under compaction loads [7,8]; and
viscosity of the asphalt binder or improve the workability of the mixture (c) foaming techniques, such as water foaming. The foaming technique
[3]. Generally, WMA technology can reduce the production and allows water to steam during production to generate small bubbles and
compaction temperature from 20 ◦ C to 60 ◦ C compared to conventional foam in the asphalt binder. The expansion of foamed asphalt reduces the
HMA. The chemical WMA technologies can provide a reduction of 24 viscosity and facilitates the aggregate coating at lower temperatures
%-30 % in air pollution and 18 % less fossil fuel consumption [4]. [9,10]. Many benefits have been introduced to the asphalt industry

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (S. Shen).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.129548
Received 21 June 2022; Received in revised form 21 August 2022; Accepted 20 October 2022
Available online 5 November 2022
0950-0618/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Yu et al. Construction and Building Materials 360 (2022) 129548

because of the WMA technologies. The lower mixing and compaction develop particle kinematic parameters to quantify the mixtures’ work­
temperature of the WMA technology reduces the aging of the asphalt ability; and (3) propose a methodology to evaluate the workability of the
binder, which can improve the resistance to fatigue and thermal HMA and WMA from the particle scale. It should be noted that work­
cracking at an early stage [11]. WMA mixtures do not require high- ability in this paper is referred to the free rotation capability of the
temperature storage, transportation, and construction environment; asphalt mixture particle under the compaction loading and is used to
hence a wider field construction window can be achieved. The extended describe the easiness of the asphalt mixture being compacted under the
paving time/season offers a significant convenience for paving con­ SGC compactor.
tractors [5]. Additionally, WMA mixtures are reported with fewer
compaction efforts and reasonable workability even for up to 90 % 2. Materials and experiment
Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) content for their improved work­
ability and reduced compaction temperature [12]. 2.1. Mixture design
Currently, three main methods are commonly used to evaluate the
workability of the asphalt mixture: (a) test the viscosity of the asphalt A PG64-22 asphalt mixture with 5.9 % optimal binder content and
binder [13]. This method applies to conventional asphalt binder and Ndesign of 75 is used as the base mixture. Its nominal maximum aggregate
viscosity-based technologies [14]. However, some WMA technologies size (NMAS) is 12.5 mm and its aggregate gradation is provided in Fig. 1.
(e.g., foaming and chemical additives) have less influence on the vis­ Five mixtures are developed and tested using the base mixture (Table 1),
cosity of asphalt binder. Such improvement in workability cannot be which varied in the dosage rate of the WMA additives (Evotherm M1), as
effectively described by this method, which would result in an unreal­ well as mixing and compaction temperature. Evotherm M1 is a chemical
istic high mixing and compaction temperature [11]. (b) use a special additive that can improve the coating of aggregates by reducing the
device to measure the torque and resistance during mixing, such as a surface energy of the aggregate/binder interface and the inner friction
workability meter [13]. The device can measure the resistance of the [7,8]. The temperature and dosage of the additives are determined
mixture to mixing and is sensitive to asphalt binder stiffness, asphalt based on the recommendation from the WMA additive producer using
binder content, and aggregate composition. This method may not as the performance grade of the asphalt binder as a reference. To prepare
effective to evaluate the coating effects between the aggregates and for the WMA mixture in the laboratory, an appropriate dosage of the
asphalt binder for chemical additives. Moreover, the measured work­ WMA additive is firstly added to the PG64-22 asphalt binder and hand-
ability during mixing can hardly describe the easiness of the asphalt mixed at the desired temperature until fully mixed, following the rec­
mixture being placed and compacted. (c) evaluation of the mechanical ommendations from WMA additive manufacturers. Such modified
responses under the Superpave Gyratory Compactor (SGC) [15,16]. The asphalt binder is then mixed at a target mixing temperature with ag­
SGC compactor can monitor the volumetric property under certain gregates to produce loose mixtures.
compaction energies or measure the shearing resistance during
compaction, which can be used for the workability evaluation. However,
researchers have found that the gyratory compactor is insensitive to the 2.2. Compaction experiment with SmartRock
compaction temperature and the lower content of the WMA organic
additives [17]. Therefore, an evaluation approach that can measure the SmartRock sensor is used in this project to capture the real-time
workability of the asphalt mixture during the compaction stage and particle characteristics under the SGC compactor. SmartRock is origi­
potentially capture different mechanisms for workability change could nally developed and utilized in railway tracks to quantify ballast particle
be beneficial to the selection of WMA technologies and other additives. acceleration and deformation (Fig. 2a) [24]. It has been modified to a
With the development of sensing technology, the kinematic behav­ smaller version (Fig. 2b) and introduced to the pavement industry to
iors of the mixture particles have been demonstrated to have a strong monitor the compaction process and evaluate the traffic speed and
effect on asphalt compaction[18–23]. Wang et al. [18] applied a pavement conditions [18].
Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) device, SmartRock, to explore SmartRock used in this project is a 27 mm cube, as shown in Fig. 2b.
the particle responses at laboratory and field compactions. The study Its thermoplastic polymer external shell can sustain high temperatures
confirmed that particle rotation and the change of density followed a up to 150℃. Previous works [18–20,25,26] affirmed its reliability in the
very consistent trend during the SGC compaction [18]. By comparing high-temperature compaction of asphalt mixtures. The internal Smar­
the kinematic behaviors (i.e., rotation and acceleration) of SmartRock tRock consists of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, stress
between the field and laboratory compaction, it is found that the SGC cells, and a temperature unit, which can collect the real-time accelera­
and the rolling wheel compaction can simulate the kneading effect of the tion, rotation, contact stress, and temperature during compaction. The
field pneumatic-tire roller, and the Marshall hammer compaction can collected data are wirelessly transmitted via Bluetooth low-energy
generate the vibrating effects on the asphalt material as the field technology to a computer by the portable data receiver (Fig. 2c). The
vibratory roller [19,20]. Dan et. al. [21] continued the laboratory sleeping mode of the SmartRock enables the sensor to be inactive when
compaction research using the SmartRock sensor. It is found that the data collection is not needed to extend its battery life. The sampling
particle’s contact stress can reflect the compaction condition, and the frequency ranges from 5 to 200 Hz for selection, and 17 Hz is chosen for
stress changing rate can characterize the workability of the asphalt data collection in this project for its reliability.
mixture. Experimental and numerical methods are also combined to
analyze the compaction of asphalt mixtures. Relevant results indicate
that the particle contact stress correlated with the mixture’s locking
point and can be used to evaluate its compactability [22,23]. These
findings verified the significant effect of the particle kinematic and
mechanical properties on the compactability and workability of asphalt
mixtures. It is meaningful to investigate the particle characteristics
during compaction and its relationship with the mixture’s workability,
which will provide insight into the design and selection of WMA tech­
nologies with different workability characteristics.
With such considerations, this paper aims to: (1) evaluate the kine­
matic characteristics of the mixture particles during compaction and
investigate their relationship with the mixture’s workability; (2) Fig. 1. Gradation curve of the base asphalt mixture.

2
S. Yu et al. Construction and Building Materials 360 (2022) 129548

Table 1 3. Evaluation methods

Design information of 5 types of asphalt mixture.
Parameter Mixture Mixture Mixture Mixture Mixture 3.1. Compaction curves
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5

Mixture type HMA- HMA- WMA- WMA- WMA- The SmartRock sensor is regarded as a coarse aggregate during
12.5 12.5 12.5 12.5 12.5 compaction whose kinematic responses are assumed to be representa­
Additive 0% 0% 0.35 % 0.7 % 0.7 % tive of the coarse aggregate responses. The size of the SmartRock is 27
dosage mm, which is less than 1/5 of the diameter of the SGC mold. Although it
Asphalt PG 64–22 PG 64–22 PG 64–22 PG 64–22 PG 64–22
binder
is still larger than the coarse aggregate of the mixture, the good cohesion
Mixing temp 118℃ 157℃ 135℃ 118℃ 157℃ ability allows it to collectively move with the nearby asphalt particles.
(245◦ F) (315◦ F) (275◦ F) (245◦ F) (315◦ F) Thereby, it is believed that the compaction characteristics of particulate
Compaction 110℃ 143℃ 127℃ 110℃ 143℃ mixtures can be reasonably monitored by the SmartRock sensor.
temp (230◦ F) (290◦ F) (260◦ F) (230◦ F) (290◦ F)
Fig. 3 depicts the change of the Euler angle during compaction. As
seen, SmartRock rotates cyclically every 2 s, which is consistent with the
In this study, two types of specimens are prepared for each mixture. period of the SGC compactor. In other words, the dominant motional
One reference specimen without SmartRock is compacted to measure behavior of SmartRock follows the SGC trend. The amplitude of the
the volumetric properties. Three test specimens with SmartRock are Euler angle is reduced as the compaction proceeds and materials become
then compacted to investigate the particle characteristics during denser and stiffer. Based on this phenomenon, the Relative Rotation
compaction. Since water and other liquid may cause potential damage (RR) is defined as the difference between the peak and valley value of
or inaccuracy for the SmartRock sensor, the reference specimen is the Euler angle in a single cycle [18].
needed for the verification of volumetrics, such as the bulk specific Fig. 4 shows the relative rotation changes as a function of gyration
gravity (Gmb). numbers. It reveals the particle rotation properties at different
During compaction, the SmartRock is placed at the center of the compaction stages. At the beginning of the compaction, the particle
specimen because the particle rotation at the middle layer presented the rotates dramatically because of the mixture’s loose property. The par­
highest degree of compaction and the most consistent repeatability [18]. ticle rotation decreases considerably when the coarse aggregates contact
To make sure the sensor is at the desirable location, half of the mixture is each other and form a skeleton. The particle continues rotating and
firstly placed in the mold. The SmartRock sensor is then placed on top of rearranging to a stable structure. At the end of the compaction, the
the mixture and the remaining mixture is added. 50 g of mixtures (i.e., a particle stabilizes and only rotates with the gyratory compactor at a
SmartRock’s weight) is deducted from the Gmb mass for each sample constant value. The change of specimen height during compaction is
containing the sensor. The compaction experiment with the SmartRock also presented in Fig. 4 using the secondary axis. The similarity between
sensor consists of the following steps, these two curves indicates the close correlation between the particle
rotation and the mixture’s height, which is also related to the mixture’s
(1) Check the connectivity of the SmartRock with the computer. density. The correlation makes the relative rotation curve a suitable
Collect the initial data on a horizontal platform before the approach to evaluate the compactibility and workability of the asphalt
experiment for the coordinate transformation. mixtures.
(2) Short-term age loose mixtures for 2 h at desired compaction
temperature topped with aluminum foil before compaction.
(3) Compact the short-term aged mixtures and collect the particle 3.2. Kinematic parameters
characteristics during the whole compaction process. Meanwhile,
the SGC compactor would collect the loadings, torque, and height To quantify the particle kinematic behavior during compaction and
of the compacted specimens. hence characterize the workability of the asphalt mixture, two param­
(4) Remove the SmartRock from the specimen after compaction and eters related to the particle rotation are proposed and defined in this
allow the sensor to cool down for the next series of tests. section, which is the Relative Rotation Capacity (RRC) and Average
Residual Rotation (ARR), respectively. Their definition and the physical
meaning are presented below.

3.2.1. Relative rotation capacity

Relative rotation capacity (RRC) is the area under the relative rota

Fig. 2. (a) Initial version of SmartRock, (b) Smaller version of SmartRock, and (c) Portable data receiver.

3
S. Yu et al. Construction and Building Materials 360 (2022) 129548

Fig. 3. Illustration of the relative rotation.

Fig. 4. Comparison of the relative rotation curve and height curve.

tion curve, as shown in Fig. 5(a) and Equation (1). Since the workability relative rotation between two asphalt mixtures, which can be used to
of the compaction stage is the target of the evaluation, the particle compare the particle rotation of two asphalt mixtures at different
rotation from Ni to Nd is taken into consideration. The large value of the compaction stages. The average residual rotation (ARR) is then calcu­
RRC means active particle rotation during compaction, hence better lated as the average value of the residual rotation from Ni number of
mixture workability. gyrations to Nd number of gyrations, as shown in Fig. 5(b). The
∑Nd (RRi+1 + RRi ) × l parameter ARR can be calculated by Equation (2) and is useful when
RRC = (1) comparing the workability of a new mixture relative to a control
i=Ni 2
mixture. Particularly, the positive value of the ARR means the active
where, RRi is the relative rotation of the compacted asphalt mixture at ith particle rotation of the test mix (Mix B in Fig. 5b) compared to the
gyration; Ni means the initial number of gyrations of the compacted control mix (Mix A in Fig. 5b), hence better workability. In addition, the
asphalt mixture; Nd is the design number of gyration of the compacted ARR can also be used to investigate the effects of various compaction
asphalt mixture; l is 1 compaction gyration. conditions (e.g., compaction temperature) or mixture designs (e.g., ad­
ditives or binder modifiers) on the workability of the asphalt mixture.
3.2.2. Average residual rotation Additionally, since the ARR is calculated from the differences in relative
The residual rotation curve is plotted based on the differences in the rotation between two asphalt mixtures, the average relative rotation for

Fig. 5. (a) Relative rotation curves for two mixtures and (b) the difference curve.

4
S. Yu et al. Construction and Building Materials 360 (2022) 129548

each mixture type (3 replicates) shall be obtained before calculating the compactor torque. V is the volume of the specimen.
residual rotation. In that case, no errors for the ARR will be presented in
the following analysis. 4. Results and analysis
∑Nd (RRt,i − RRc,i )
ARR = ×A (2) 4.1. Overall comparison
i=Ni Nd − Ni

where, RRc, i is the relative rotation of the control mix at ith gyration; RRt, To inspect the capability of the kinematic parameters (RRC and ARR)
th in evaluating the mixture’s workability, an overall comparison among
i is the relative rotation of the test mix at i gyration; A is an amplifi­
cation factor for adjusting the sensitivity of the parameter, use 10 as the five mixtures is conducted in this section. Table 2 and Figs. 7-8 show the
default. three groups of parameters. To clarify, the same mass of the asphalt
mixture is compacted for all scenarios. The parameters and errors are
calculated from three replicated specimens. The air void is from the sole
3.3. Volumetric and mechanical parameters reference specimen of each mixture, and the RRC is calculated based on
the average residual rotation, so no errors in these two parameters are
Another method based on the volumetric property and shearing presented. It could be noted that consistent workability is presented for
resistance during gyratory compaction is also used to evaluate the the five mixtures based on all parameters, which is Mix #1 < Mix #2 <
workability of these five asphalt mixtures. Volumetric parameters Mix #3 ≈ Mix #4 < Mix #5. This rank is reasonable according to the
include the gyration at 92 %Gmm, air voids at Ndeisgn, and locking point. mixture design and production temperature as shown in Table 1.
Specifically, the %Gmm and the air void at any gyration of a specimen can However, the sensitivity of each parameter to the mixture’s workability
be determined by equation (3). The concept of locking point is based on is different. The mechanical parameters are more sensitive than the
a simple height-base pattern, which is the second instance of two volumetric parameters. The relative rotation capacity (RRC) of five
consecutive gyrations resulting in the same sample height [27]. Me­ mixtures is close since the particle rotation during the compaction var­
chanical parameters used are the compaction densification index (CDI), ied within a limited range. The average residual rotation (ARR), on the
compaction force index (CFI), and normalized shear index (NSI) [16]. other hand, presents a higher sensitivity to workability. Conclusively,
Specifically, CDI is the area under the densification curve from 8th gy­ the kinematic parameters show good effectiveness in evaluating the
rations to the number of gyrations to achieve 92 %Gmm. It evaluates the mixture’s workability. It should also be noted that the findings are
energy required to compact the mixture to the desired density (Fig. 6 derived based on the limited mixtures and more asphalt mixtures are
left). CFI indicates how much resistive effort is needed to compact the needed to investigate the efficacy of the newly developed parameters.
mixtures from Ni to the 92 %Gmm (Fig. 6 right). The resistive effort W for The quantitative parameters, including volumetric, mechanical, and
the CFI can be calculated by equation (4) [15,28]. NSI is the summation kinematic parameters are determined based on the compaction efforts or
of the normalized internal shear frictional resistance from N = 2 to the particle rotation during compaction. They evaluate the workability of
gyration at 92 %Gmm. In determining the internal shear frictional the asphalt mixture by a single value. Comparably, the compaction
resistance during the mixture’s compaction, it is assumed the sample is curve can provide the development of particle rotation and workability
fully constrained at any gyration, and the energy due to surface traction at different compaction stages. This will offer more insights into
is negligible. The shear resistance τ at any gyration cycle can be written improving the mixture’s design through the compaction process. In the
by equation (5) based on the law of energy conservation. Generally, the next sections, the effect of temperature, WMA additives, and their
larger value of the mechanical parameters means more resistance is combined effect on the workability of the asphalt mixture will be
needed to overcome while compacting the materials, hence the worse investigated using the particle rotation curves.
workability [16].
hend Gmb 4.2. Temperature effect
%Gmm,i = × (3)
hi Gmm
Fig. 9 shows the residual rotation curve of Mix #1-#2 and Mix #4-
4ePθ #5. To clarify, the denotation in #1-#2 stands for the subtraction of the
W= (4)
V relative rotation of these two mixtures. Mix #1 and #2 are the same

M + PVθ
τ= (5) Table 2
V
Workability evaluation parameters for all mixtures.
where, %Gmm,i means the %Gmm of the specimen at ith gyration. hend Parameters Mix #1 Mix #2 Mix #3 Mix #4 Mix
means the height of the specimen when compaction ended. hi is the #5
specimen height at ith gyration. Gmb is the bulk specific gravity of the Mixture type HMA HMA WMA WMA WMA
specimen when compaction ended. Gmm is the maximum specific gravity Additive dosage 0% 0% 0.35 % 0.7 % 0.7 %
of the asphalt mixture. e is the eccentricity of the resultant force. P is the Compaction 110℃ 143℃ 127℃ 110℃ 143℃
temperature
magnitude of the resultant force. θ is the tilting angle. M is the
Volumetric Ni @92 25 ± 0 22 ± 0 20 ± 0 20 ± 0 18 ± 0
%Gmm

Va 3.77 % 3.28 % 2.83 % 2.76 % 2.56 %

@Ndesign
locking 52 ± 1 53 ± 1 53 ± 1 51 ± 2 51 ± 4
point
Mechanical CDI 1623.5 1355.2 1177.2 1176.7 995.6
± 0.5 ± 0.4 ± 0.1 ± 0.6 ± 0.1
CFI 897.4 724.7 677.8 695.0 596.3
± 22.4 ± 0.2 ± 16.6 ± 23.5 ± 3.4
NSI 23.3 ± 19.9 ± 18.4 ± 18.2 ± 16.2
0.2 0.4 0.0 0.1 ± 0.0
Kinematic RRC 54.45 60.12 62.43 61.73 65.69
± 7.70 ± 4.20 ± 1.71 ± 4.77 ± 6.95
ARR 0 0.83 1.17 1.24 1.65
Fig. 6. Illustration of CDI and CFI.

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S. Yu et al. Construction and Building Materials 360 (2022) 129548

Fig. 7. Workability evaluation by (a) volumetric and (b) mechanical parameters.

temperature becomes less significant because of the already improved

workability of the WMA additives. However, such a hypothesis is based
on limited experimental observations, and more verification study is
needed in the future.

4.3. WMA additive as a compaction aid

Fig. 10 shows the residual rotation curve of Mix #4-#1 and Mix #5-
#2, respectively. Mix #1 and #4 are the HMA and WMA (0.7 % addi­
tive) compacted at low temperatures. Mix #2 and #5 are the HMA and
WMA (0.7 % additive) compacted at high temperatures. The compari­
sons can investigate the effect of the chemical additive on the mixture’s
workability at both temperature scenarios. The positive curves indicated
that the chemical additive could increase the particle rotation during
compaction and improve workability. For the same dosage of the
Fig. 8. Workability evaluation by kinematic parameters. chemical additives, its effect on the particle rotation at a lower tem­
perature is more effective than at a high temperature. This study verified
HMA but compacted at low and high temperatures. Mix #4 and #5 are that the WMA additives can serve as a compaction aid to improve the
the 0.7 % additive WMA but compacted at low and high temperatures. workability of the WMA compared to HMA, and also suggests that WMA
The comparisons could investigate the effect of temperature on the additives are more effective at reduced temperatures.
mixture’s workability. For the HMA scenario, the negative residual
rotation shows the less active particle rotation of Mix #1 than Mix #2, 4.4. WMA technology application
indicating the reduced temperature resulted in worse workability, which
is consistent with the common engineering knowledge. Similar effects of Fig. 11 shows the residual rotation curve of Mix #4-#3, Mix #3-#2,
temperature occur in the WMA scenario. However, the effectiveness of and Mix #4-#2, respectively. The same gap, which is 0.35 % more ad­
the temperature on workability for WMA is less significant than for HMA ditives but 17 ◦ C (30◦ F) lower compaction temperature is designed be­
under the same temperature difference. This could be attributed to the tween Mix #3-#2, and Mix #4-#3. Mix #4-#2 doubled the gap, which is
combined effect of WMA additives and temperature. The net effect from 0.7 % more additives but 33 ◦ C (60◦ F) lower compaction temperature.
As shown, the relative rotation difference curves are either near or

Fig. 9. Residual rotation curve for temperature investigation.

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S. Yu et al. Construction and Building Materials 360 (2022) 129548

Fig. 10. Residual rotation curve for additive investigation.

Fig. 11. Residual rotation curve for the engineering application.

slightly above the zero-horizontal line during most of the compaction (1) Particle rotation during compaction, with a strong correlation
stages, suggesting each of the comparison pairs (Mix #4-#3, Mix #3-#2, with the change of density, can be used to evaluate the work­
and Mix #4-#2) has similar workability in general. In particular, the ability of asphalt mixtures. The particle rotation curve, (i.e., the
0.35 % dosage rate of the chemical additive is slightly more effective residual rotation) and the kinematic parameters, including rela­
than the 17 ◦ C (30◦ F) higher compaction temperature (the orange curve tive rotation capacity (RRC) and average residual rotation (ARR)
in Fig. 11), and the 0.7 % additive is slightly more effective than the are appropriate to evaluate the mixture’s workability during the
33 ◦ C (60◦ F) higher compaction temperature (the blue curve in Fig. 11) compaction.
for improving the mixture’s workability; the workability of Mix #4 and (2) The chemical additive and higher temperature can both increase
#3 (the grey curve) is almost equivalent. the particle rotation and improve the mixture’s workability. The
Therefore, it is concluded that the WMA mixture produced under the workability improvement of chemical additives is more effective
following strategy can achieve similar or better workability than the for HMA, and the effect of temperature on workability is more
original HMA: effective in reduced temperatures scenarios. In general, WMA
Scenario (a): adding 0.35 % additives but reducing 17 ◦ C (30◦ F) additives can be used as a compaction aid at regular HMA
compaction temperature. compaction temperatures.
Scenario (b): adding 0.7 % additives but reducing 33 ◦ C (60◦ F) (3) Good workability can be achieved for asphalt mixtures consid­
compaction temperature. ering the following WMA application methods: (a) adding 0.35 %
additive but reducing 17 ◦ C (30◦ F) compaction temperature; (b)
5. Conclusion and recommendations adding 0.7 % additive but reducing 33 ◦ C (60◦ F) compaction
temperature.
This paper presents a methodology to evaluate the mixture’s work­ (4) The evaluation methodology of the mixture’s workability is
ability with the aid of the SmartRock sensor. Various HMA and chemical proposed based on 5 types of HMA and WMA. More types of
modified WMA mixtures have been compacted and the kinematic be­ asphalt mixtures (i.e., various asphalt binders, gradations, NMAS,
haviors, as a representation of the mixture’s particle movement during additives, etc.) and compaction conditions (i.e., temperature,
the compaction, have been collected. The particle relative rotation compaction pressure, etc.) are needed for verification in the
curves during compaction and the quantification parameters are utilized future.
to establish a relationship with the mixture’s workability. The following
findings can be concluded and recommendations for future work are CRediT authorship contribution statement
also proposed.
Shuai Yu: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data curation, Writing –

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S. Yu et al. Construction and Building Materials 360 (2022) 129548

original draft, Writing – review & editing. Shihui Shen: Conceptuali­ [9] Z. LengandI, L. Al-Qadi, R. Cao, Life-cycle economic and environmental assessment
of warm stone mastic asphalt, Transportmetrica A: Transport Science 14 (7) (2018)
zation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & edit­
562–575, https://doi.org/10.1080/23249935.2017.1390707.
ing. Richard Steger: Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – [10] J. Massonand, L. Pelletier, P. Collins, Rapid FTIR method for quantification of
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