Asphalt Layer Density and Air Voids Content: GPR and Laboratory Testing Data Reliance

2020
Juris Smirnovs, Andrius Baltrušaitis, Audrius Vaitkus

The assurance of asphalt pavement layer compaction, expressed by ratio between field and laboratory bulk density and air voids content, is one of the main criteria of the durability of asphalt road pavement. Destructive measures should be applied and cores should be taken from the asphalt pavement seeking to determine the representative compaction level of the constructed asphalt layers. New methods are constantly being sought for fast, non-destructive and accurate asphalt layer density and air void determination on road. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) can allow determining the qualitative characteristics of asphalt pavement across the entire length of the road without causing damage to the road structure. Relative dielectric permittivity, usually called dielectric value or constant, is the leading property used in GPR applications on road pavement surveys. This article presents GPR measurement results from asphalt base and binder layers of four test sections. GPR measurements were conducted immediately after the end of asphalt layer compaction process. Test points on each layer were selected and density, air void content were determined by drilling cores and testing them in the laboratory. To estimate asphalt layer density and air void content, GPR data were analysed using different existing mathematical models. To justify the reliability of the data measured by GPR, results were checked by comparing them with the results measured directly on cores taken from the asphalt pavement layers.

Atslēgas vārdi
air void content; asphalt pavement; bulk density; compaction; dielectric value; ground penetrating radar (GPR); non-destructive testing (NDT)
DOI
10.7250/bjrbe.2020-15.486
Hipersaite
https://bjrbe-journals.rtu.lv/article/view/bjrbe.2020-15.486

Smirnovs, J., Baltrušaitis, A., Vaitkus, A. Asphalt Layer Density and Air Voids Content: GPR and Laboratory Testing Data Reliance. The Baltic Journal of Road and Bridge Engineering, 2020, Vol. 15, No. 3, 93.-110. lpp. ISSN 1822-427X. e-ISSN 1822-4288. Pieejams: doi:10.7250/bjrbe.2020-15.486

Publikācijas valoda
English (en)