Evaluation of Anti-Abrasion Performance for High-Performance Micro Surfacing Mixture

Abstract

Methods to evaluate the anti-abrasion performance of a high-performance micro surfacing (HMS), including the wet-track abrasion test (WTAT) and initial curing abrasion test (ICAT), were studied, and the long-term and initial anti-abrasion performances of the HMS were evaluated. The ICAT is a new method, and the test results were used to evaluate the initial compaction properties of the HMS mixture. Specifically, this method simulates the contact state between the tire and road surface at the initial period when the road was opened for traffic after the micro surfacing treatment via the friction between a rubber tube and the mixture. Four typical modified emulsified asphalts were selected for the WTAT and ICAT. Based on the test results, two modified emulsified asphalts were selected to explore the effects of different amounts of added styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) modifiers on the wet-track abrasion loss and the effects of different abrasion times on the initial curing abrasion loss. Based on the results of the WTAT, it is recommended that the wet-track abrasion loss values of the HMS mixtures soaked in water for 1 h and 6 d are not higher than 360 and 480 g/m2, respectively. The initial curing abrasion loss (ICAL) indicates that it is feasible to use the ICAT to evaluate the initial compaction properties of the micro surfacing and can be used to guide the HMS design. The results of the WTAT and ICAT showed that the HMS had a better initial compaction capability and durability than the conventional micro surfacing.