Calculation of the influence of various compaction on the wear resistance of asphalt concrete using material loss calculation approach

Rutting is the most common and most dangerous defect of asphalt pavements. One of the problems of northern countries such as the Russian Federation is abrasive rut due to studded tire loading. Precise prediction of the asphalt concrete abrasion and wear resistance allows improving the durability and reliability of asphalt pavements. Several laboratory tests are used for the prediction of asphalt concrete abrasion resistance. An abrasive wear model of asphalt concrete is needed to predict wear resistance changes under different conditions. The aim of this article is to evaluate compaction quality effect and air voids value on the abrasion resistance of asphalt concrete. To estimate the influence of the percentage of connected voids on abrasive wear of asphalt concrete, an asphalt wear model was presented. This model is based on G.Y. Lee’s approach. This approach divides the abrasive processes into normal abrasion and particle loss. Air voids lead to the aggregate loss and affect the abrasion resistance of the asphalt pavements. Calculation of these effects is possible using G.Y. Lee’s approach. Calculations of the lost particles include the empirical coefficient  (1/mm) characterizing the influence of the pores on the lack of adhesion to the aggregate particle surface and the influence of the lack of adhesion on the fraction of lost particles. The Prall test was used for the abrasion resistance estimation. The saturation degree method was used for the estimation of compaction quality and air voids content. For the coefficient estimation, 63 samples of different mixes were tested. The mixes were used for the construction of the Republic of Tatarstan road network. The used asphalt concretes correspond to requirements of Russian standards GOST 9128-2013 and GOST 31015-2002. The experiments show good reliability of the presented model. This model predicts abrasion resistance of asphalt concretes under uncompaction and provides insight into the abrasive wear processes in the asphalt concretes. Furthermore, the study results allow us to improve the laboratory tests precision by 2.3 % by excluding the uncompaction effect during the comparison of the results.