Development of framework of the predictive performance-engineered mix design procedure for asphalt mixtures

This paper presents a new asphalt mixture design framework for predictive performance-engineered mix design (PEMD) and the theory and procedures that underlie the proposed design method. This method allows pavement engineers to determine an optimized mix design based on the predicted pavement/mixture performance for all possible combinations of a given set of component materials (i.e. aggregate and binder) in the design space. The proposed PEMD process is based on the 'performance-volumetrics relationship' (PVR) concept. The calibration of the PVR is based on the mixture performance predicted from FlexPAVE(TM), a three-dimensional finite element program that performs viscoelastic analysis under moving loads, using the material properties of the asphalt mixture in question at widely spaced volumetric conditions. Three mixtures of different nominal maximum aggregate sizes and binder types are used to demonstrate the proposed PEMD process. Finally, the predicted performance results obtained from different design approaches are compared.