Construction and Building Materials 35 (2012) 125130

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Construction and Building Materials

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Laboratory evaluation of moisture susceptibility of foamed warm mix asphalt

containing high percentages of RAP
Xiang Shu a, Baoshan Huang a,, Emily D. Shrum b,1, Xiaoyang Jia c
a
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
b
AMEC Environment & Infrastructure, Knoxville, TN 37932, USA
c
Key Laboratory of Road and Trafc Engineering of the Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, PR China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the moisture susceptibility of plant-produced foamed
Received 2 November 2011 warm mix asphalt (WMA) containing high percentages of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) in Tennessee.
Received in revised form 20 January 2012 WMA loose mixtures were collected and compacted at asphalt plant and were compared to hot-mix
Accepted 25 February 2012
asphalt (HMA) samples through laboratory performance tests. In addition to widely-used AASHTO
Available online 12 April 2012
T283 freeze and thaw (FT) and tensile strength ratio (TSR) tests, Superpave indirect tension (IDT) tests,
dynamic modulus test, and Asphalt Pavement Analyzer (APA) Hamburg wheel tracking test were also uti-
Keywords:
lized to evaluate asphalt mixtures subjected to freezethaw (FT) and moisture-induced stress tester
Warm mix asphalt
Moisture susceptibility
(MIST) moisture conditioning. The results indicated that the Superpave IDT tests and the dynamic mod-
Foaming ulus test had potential to accurately characterize moisture susceptibility. With incorporation of RAP,
Recycled asphalt pavement foamed WMA is expected to perform as well as HMA in terms of moisture susceptibility.
Laboratory testing Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction
Over 500 million tons of asphalt are produced each year in the
United States. With concerns about global warming and energy
consumption, the asphalt industry is always looking for ways to
lower its carbon footprint. Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) is a step in
that direction. WMA allows the producers of asphalt pavement
material to lower the temperatures at which the material is mixed
and placed on the road. WMA is mixed and compacted at 50
100 F lower than traditional hot mix asphalt (HMA) which are
mixed above 300 F [1]. This reduction in temperature means less
fuel required for heating which will in turn lower energy costs in
production. The decrease in fuel consumption will also lower
fumes and greenhouse gas emissions produced by the asphalt
industry, making it more environmentally friendly.
WMA may be produced by the addition of additives while mix-
ing. The additives decrease the viscosity of the binder or reduce the
internal friction between aggregate particles without change of
binder viscosity [2], resulting in good workability and proper
aggregate binder coating at a reduced mixing temperature. An-
other way of producing WMA is to introduce water to produce
foamed warm mix asphalt that is odorless and smokeless. The
injection of water along with the liquid asphalt cement during as-
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 865 974 7713; fax: +1 865 974 2669.
E-mail address: bhuang@utk.edu (B. Huang).
1
Formerly, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of
Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
phalt plant mixing process causes the liquid asphalt to foam and
expand in volume. The foaming action helps the liquid coat the
aggregate [3].
Since the plant foaming of WMA introduces water to the asphalt
mixture, one potential concern is that such kind of WMA may in-
crease the potential for moisture damage. The lower temperatures
can result in inadequate drying of the aggregate, trapping water in
the coated aggregate giving it the capability to produce moisture
damage. Adequate moisture damage tests need to be performed
to make sure WMA will perform as well as HMA.
AASHTO T283 (Standard Method of Test for Resistance of Com-
pacted Asphalt Mixtures to Moisture-Induced Damage) is predom-
inately used to determine HMA moisture damage susceptibility.
T283 evaluates the tensile strength ratio (TSR) of conditioned spec-
imen to control specimens. However, several studies have shown
that T283 may not be an accurate test. The water susceptibility
of known mixtures may not satisfactorily match the observed
behavior of the mixtures for a number of data groups. A substantial
variation was also observed in the TSR results from T283 due to a
wide range of the specied allowable saturation levels [4,5]. There
has been ongoing research to develop an alternative to T283. Two
alternatives being evaluated are Hamburg wheel tracking devices
and a simple performance test (SPT) (now called asphalt mixture
performance test, AMPT). Hamburg wheel tracking devices have
been used in studies to validate TSR results [6,7].
During the last several years there has been signicant research
effort toward the development of an SPT to complement the Super-
pave volumetric mix design method. In phase I of the NCHRP 9-34

0950-0618/$ - see front matter Published by Elsevier Ltd.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2012.02.095
126 X. Shu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 35 (2012) 125130

study ASTM D4867 (Standard Test Method for Effect of Moisture on
Asphalt Concrete Paving Mixtures) was compared to Hamburg
Wheel Track Device and dynamic modulus test (E) with environ-
mental conditioning system. It was found that dynamic modulus
test with environmental conditioning was able to identify the
mix quality in terms of moisture damage [8]. Moisture induced
150 mm and a diameter of 150 mm. The Superpave IDT samples were cut into
two slices with a height of 75 mm and then trimmed to a height of 50 mm. The
Hamburg wheel tracking samples were cut in half. The AMPT samples were com-
pacted to a height of 170 mm and a diameter of 150 mm and then cored from the
center to obtain a 101.6 mm diameter. Then two ends of the AMPT samples were
nally trimmed to obtain a height of 150 mm. The target air voids for all mixture
samples were controlled at 7 0.5%.

stress test (MIST) is another alternative to condition the sample.

The MIST was developed to quickly simulate stripping due to re-
peated pore pressure generation in a saturated pavement under
trafc load. MIST conditionings were found to effectively charac-
terize laboratory-measured moisture susceptibility of HMA mix-
tures [9,10].
2. Research objective and scope
The objective of the laboratory study is to evaluate the moisture
susceptibility of plant-produced foamed WMA containing high
percentages of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) using multiple
moisture conditioning procedures and laboratory performance
tests. WMA was produced with a commonly-used foaming proce-
dure in the US. WMA and HMA from a base mixture of a pavement
project in the state of Tennessee were evaluated in the study. Two
moisture conditioning procedures were included and they were
the AASHTO T283 freezethaw procedure and the moisture-in-
duced stress tester (MIST) procedure. The moisture-conditioned
and unconditioned specimens were tested using the Superpave
indirect tension (IDT) tests, the Hamburg wheel tracking test, and
the dynamic modulus test. The Asphalt Pavement Analyzer (APA)
Hamburg test was run for 10,000 cycle or until the maximum rut
depth of 12 mm was reached. MIST conditioning was run for
1000 cycle.
3. Laboratory experiments
3.1. Materials
The moisture susceptibility of WMA and HMA of a base mixture (called BM-2
mixture in the state of Tennessee) for a pavement project in Tennessee was evalu-
ated and compared (Table 1). The coarse aggregate in the base mixture consisted of
limestone rock, No. 7 stone, No. 10 screenings and natural sand with a nominal
maximum aggregate size (NMAS) of 19 mm.
Asphalt binder PG 64-22 was used in the mixture and the asphalt content was
4.2%. A commonly-used foaming process was used to produce the WMA mixtures. A
combination of minus in. (12.7 mm) and minus 5/16 in. (8 mm) fractionated RAP
was incorporated in the mixtures (all mixture gradations were kept possibly close
to each other with the addition of RAP). The RAP content in the mixtures ranged
from 0% to 50% (the total asphalt content was kept constant for the mixture).
3.2. Sample preparation
All the loose WMA and HMA mixtures were collected at the asphalt plant dur-
ing production. The WMA samples were compacted on site using the Superpave
gyratory compactor (SGC) to avoid re-heating and further moisture loss. HMA sam-
ples were compacted in the laboratory after re-heated. For the Superpave IDT and
Hamburg wheel tracking tests, cylindrical samples were compacted to a height of
3.3. Moisture conditioning
Two moisture conditioning procedures, the AASHTO T283 procedure and the
moisture-induced stress tester (MIST) procedure, were conducted in the study.
The AASHTO T283 moisture conditioning was performed by pre-soaking the speci-
mens to the desired degree of water saturation and then nishing one cycle of
freezethaw. The MIST was developed to simulate the pore pressure generated in
a saturated pavement under moving trafc loads. MIST uses compressed air sup-
plied through a regulator to force water into and out of an asphalt concrete sample
while it is kept in water maintained at a constant temperature. In this study, the
water temperature was controlled at 40 C and the air pressure was 276 kPa
(40 psi). The MIST moisture conditioning was run for 1000 cycle.
3.4. Superpave IDT tests
The Superpave IDT tests consist of resilient modulus (MR), creep compliance,
and indirect tensile strength tests [11]. For these tests, strain gages were used to ob-
tain vertical and horizontal strain readings. Four strain gages were placed on the
sample with the aid of the brass gage points which were glued onto the sample
prior to testing. In this study, the resilient modulus and the indirect tensile strength
tests were employed and conducted at 25 C. Fig. 1 shows the setup of the Super-
pave IDT tests.
3.4.1. Resilient modulus test
Resilient Modulus test was conducted by applying a repeated peak-load result-
ing in horizontal deformations within the range of 200300 microstrain [11]. Each
load cycle consists of 0.1 s load application followed by a 0.9 s rest period. The load
and deformation were continuously recorded and resilient modulus was calculated
as follows:
P  GL
MR 1
DH  t  D  C cmpl
where MR = resilient modulus; P = maximum load; GL = gage length; DH = horizontal
deformation; t = thickness of specimen; D = diameter of specimen; Ccmpl = nondi-
mensional creep compliance factor, C cmpl 0:6354X=Y1  0:332; and (X/Y) = ratio
of horizontal to vertical deformation.
3.4.2. IDT strength test
The same sample used to conduct resilient modulus was used for IDT strength
test. The IDT strength test was used to determine tensile strength and strain of the
mixture samples. Samples were monotonically loaded to failure along the vertical
diametric axis at the constant rate of 3 in./min [11]. During testing the load and
deformation were continuously recorded. Maximum load carried by the sample
was determined and used to compute indirect tensile stress at failure with the fol-
lowing equation:
2  Pult
rx 2
pDt
where rx = horizontal tensile stress at center of sample; Pult = peak load; D and t are
the same as described above.
With the stressstrain response from the IDT strength test, the dissipated creep
strain energy limit (DCSEf) was determined as follows:
DCSEf FE  EE 3

Table 1
Test factorial.

Mixtures Laboratory performance tests

Asphalt content RAP content Dynamic modulus test Superpave IDT APA hamburg test
MIST Unconditioned MIST FT Unconditioned
Base mixture (BM-2) HMA 4.2% 0      
30%      
WMA 0     
30%     
40%     
50%     
 X. Shu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 35 (2012) 125130 127

inection point was determined from the graph of rut depths versus number of cy-
cles. This denes the number of passes at which moisture damage starts adversely
affecting the mixture. The higher the stripping inection point the less the asphalt
mixture is likely to strip or be damaged by moisture [12].

3.6. Dynamic modulus test

Fig. 1. Setup of Superpave IDT tests.
The testing procedure for dynamic modulus test is derived from NCHRP 9-29
simple performance tester (SPT) (now called asphalt mixture performance tester,
or AMPT, see Fig. 4) for Superpave mix design. Test specimens are placed in an
environmental chamber that has been set to the appropriate testing temperature
0.5 C. A continuous uniaxial sinusoidal (haversine) compressive stress is applied
to the unconned specimen at a specied test frequency. Three linear variable dis-
placement transducers (LVDT) are used at 120 angles to capture deformation of the
specimen during test. The applied stress and the resulting recoverable axial strain
response of the specimen is measured and used to calculate the dynamic modulus
and phase angle. The stressstrain relationship for a linear viscoelastic HMA spec-
imen is dened by a complex number called the complex modulus (E). The abso-
lute value of the complex modulus, |E|, is dened as the dynamic modulus [13].
|E| is calculated as follows:
r0
jE j 6
e0
where r0 = stress magnitude and e0 = strain magnitude.

4. Results and discussion

St 4.1. Superpave IDT tests

The results from the Superpave IDT tests and the associated ra-
tios of the properties of conditioned samples to those of uncondi-
tioned samples are shown in Figs. 510. It can be seen that both
MR
the FT and MIST-conditioned samples had lower tensile strengths,
DCSE f EE resilient modulus, and DCSEf values than the unconditioned sam-
ples. The MIST-conditioned samples showed higher tensile
0 f strength, but lower resilient modulus and DCSEf than the samples
subjected to the FT moisture conditioning, which indicates that
Fig. 2. Determination of creep strain energy [10].
the two different moisture conditioning methods had different
mechanisms to induce moisture damage. FT conditioning caused
where FE = fracture energy, it is the area under the stress strain curve to the failure more damage to IDT strength whereas MIST conditioning did more
strain ef, and EE = elastic energy (Fig. 2). harm to resilient modulus and DCSEf.
Z ef With the increase in RAP content, the IDT strength and resilient
FE Sede 4 modulus of asphalt mixtures generally increased, but the DCSEf de-
0
creased. The increase in IDT strength and resilient modulus can be
1 attributed to the stiffening effect of aged asphalt in RAP. However,
EE St ef  e0 5
2 the stiffening of asphalt mixtures caused by aged RAP also leads to
the increase in brittleness, which compromised the fatigue proper-
3.5. APA Hamburg wheel tracking test ties of the mixtures and resulted in the reduction in DCSEf.
It can be seen from Figs. 6, 8 and 10 that the increase in RAP
The latest asphalt pavement analyzer (APA) is capable of running Hamburg content in the mixtures generally led to the increase in the ratios
wheel tracking test on asphalt samples (Fig. 3). The test produces damage by rolling
a steel wheel across the surface of a sample that is submerged in water at 50 C. The
of the properties (IDT strength, resilient modulus, and DCSEf) of
samples were loaded until either the maximum rut depth value (12 mm) was conditioned samples to those of unconditioned samples, which
reached, or the maximum number of cycle (10,000) was reached. The stripping indicates that use of RAP is benecial for moisture resistance of

Fig. 3. APA Hamburg wheel tracking test.

128 X. Shu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 35 (2012) 125130

Fig. 4. Asphalt mixture performance tester (AMPT).

2.5 WMA, unconditioned WMA, MIST HMA, F-T

WMA, unconditioned
WMA, F-T HMA, unconditioned HMA, MIST
WMA, F-T 12000
2
IDT strength (MPa)

WMA, MIST
Resilient Modulus (MPa)
HMA, unconditioned
1.5 9000
HMA, F-T
HMA, MIST
1
6000

0.5
3000
0
0% RAP 30% RAP 40% RAP 50% RAP

Fig. 5. IDT strength results. 0

0% RAP 30% RAP 40% RAP 50% RAP

Fig. 7. Resilient modulus results.

WMA, F-T WMA, MIST HMA, F-T HMA, MIST
1
WMA, F-T WMA, MIST HMA, F-T HMA, MIST
Tensile Strength Ratio (TSR)

0.8 1
Resilient Modulus Ratio

0.6 0.8

0.6
0.4

0.4
0.2

0.2
0
0% RAP 30% RAP 40% RAP 50% RAP

Fig. 6. TSR results. 0

0% RAP 30% RAP 40% RAP 50% RAP

Fig. 8. Resilient modulus ratios.

asphalt mixtures. The reason for this is that the aged asphalt and
aggregate particles had a stronger bonding than virgin asphalt-
aggregate system and was less susceptible to moisture damage.
Huang et al. [14] showed through staged extraction method that
only a small amount of aged asphalt in RAP can be blended with
virgin asphalt and most of aged asphalt forms a stiffer layer coating
RAP aggregate particles, which results in a layered structure for
RAP-containing asphalt mixtures. The resultant layered structure
could improve the performance of asphalt mixtures [15]. There-
fore, the mixtures containing RAP showed a higher resistance to
moisture damage.
Compared to HMA, WMA showed varying moisture susceptibil-
ity, depending on moisture conditioning procedure, RAP content,
and the property used for the evaluation. Table 2 summarizes the
comparison of moisture resistance between WMA and HMA.
Overall, WMA without RAP showed slightly higher moisture sus-
ceptibility than that of HMA without RAP. However, with the
benecial effect from RAP, foamed WMA with 30% RAP was ex-
pected to perform slightly better than or as well as HMA with
30% RAP in terms of moisture damage.
 X. Shu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 35 (2012) 125130 129

WMA, unconditioned WMA, MIST HMA, F-T 20000

Dynamic Modulus (MPa)

WMA, F-T HMA, unconditioned HMA, MIST
4
15000
3.5

3 10000
DCSEf (kJ/m )
3

HMA 0%RAP, uncond'ed

2.5
5000 WMA 0%RAP, uncond'ed
2 HMA 0%RAP, MIST-cond'ed
WMA 0%RAP, MIST cond'ed
1.5 0
0.1 1 10 100
1
Frequency (HZ)
0.5
Fig. 12. Dynamic modulus results at 10 C.
0
0% RAP 30% RAP 40% RAP 50% RAP
HMA 0% RAP WMA 0% RAP
Fig. 9. DCSEf results. 1

Dynamic Modulus Ratio

0.8
WMA, F-T WMA, MIST HMA, F-T HMA, MIST
1 0.6

0.8 0.4
DCSE f Ratio

0.2
0.6

0
25 20 10 5 2 1 0.5 0.2 0.1
0.4
Frequency (Hz)

0.2 (a) 10C

0
HMA 0% RAP WMA 0% RAP
1
0% RAP 30% RAP 40% RAP 50% RAP
Dynamic Modulus Ratio

Fig. 10. DCSEf ratios. 0.8

0.6

Table 2 0.4
Comparison of moisture performance of WMA and HMA.

Property IDT Strength Resilient modulus DCSEf 0.2

RAP content (%) 0 30% 0 30% 0 30%
FT conditioning   = +  = 0
MIST conditioning + =  + + = 25 20 10 5 2 1 0.5 0.2 0.1
Frequency (Hz)
Note: The signs of +, = and  indicate that the moisture resistance perfor-
mance of WMA are higher, equal to and lower than that of HMA, respectively. (b) 25C

HMA 0% RAP WMA 0% RAP

1
Dynamic Modulus Ratio

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
25 20 10 5 2 1 0.5 0.2 0.1
Frequency (Hz)
(c) 54C
Fig. 11. Results from APA Hamburg wheel tracking test. Fig. 13. Dynamic modulus ratios.
130 X. Shu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 35 (2012) 125130
4.2. APA Hamburg wheel tracking test
The results from APA wheel tracking test are shown in Fig. 11.
The WMA mixture containing no RAP showed a distinct inection
point at 666 cycle and reached its maximum rut depth at 950 cycle.
The other WMA and HMA mixtures did not show any inection
points. With incorporation of RAP, the rut depth of the samples sig-
nicantly decreased with the increasing RAP content, which indi-
cates that the WMA mixtures containing RAP would perform
well in terms of moisture susceptibility.
4.3. Dynamic modulus test
Fig. 12 shows the results from the dynamic modulus test at
10 C for the WMA and HMA mixtures containing no RAP. Fig. 13
shows the ratios of dynamic modulus at three temperatures (10,
25, and 54 C) of conditioned sample to that of unconditioned sam-
ple. Decrease in dynamic modulus was observed in all conditioned
samples. HMA showed higher dynamic modulus. It can be seen
that at 10 C, HMA and WMA on average retained 8387% of their
dynamic modulus after subjected to moisture conditioning. At
25 C, WMA retained 82% of its dynamic modulus on average while
HMA obtained 71% on average. At 54 C, HMA and WMA retained
more than 90% of its dynamic modulus at frequencies above 1. At
frequencies lower than 1 HMA dropped to an average of 80% reten-
tion and WMA dropped to an average of 56% retention.
5. Conclusions and summary
Based on the results of this laboratory study the following sum-
mary and conclusions were drawn:
(1) RAP was benecial to the moisture resistance of both WMA
and HMA mixtures. Moisture resistance of asphalt mixtures
increased with the increase in RAP content.
(2) FT and MIST moisture conditioning methods had different
effects on the properties of asphalt mixtures due to their dif-
ferent mechanisms to induce moisture damage. FT seemed
to cause more damage to IDT strength while MIST would
cause more harm to resilient modulus and DCSEf.
(3) The plant-produced foamed WMA showed approximately
similar moisture susceptibility to that of HMA. With com-
bined benecial effect from RAP, foamed WMA was expected
to perform as well as HMA in terms of moisture damage.
(4) The results from the three laboratory performance tests
were generally consistent in the characterization of the
moisture susceptibility of WMA and HMA mixtures. The
dynamic modulus and the Superpave IDT tests were capable
of characterizing moisture resistance of asphalt mixtures.
(5) The above-mentioned ndings were drawn from the results
of the laboratory tests. A long term eld performance of the
moisture damage of the WMA test sections will be evaluated
in the future.
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the Tennessee Department of
Transportation (TDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration.
The authors are thankful to TDOT engineers and LoJac Enterprises,
Inc. for coordinating the eld operation so that the research team
may successfully prepare WMA samples at asphalt plant. Thanks
are also due to Mr. Kris Leatherman, who helped conducting as-
phalt mixture testing in the laboratory.
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