ForeignTechnology and PerformanceEvaluation of Warm Mixture Asphalt

Yang LI

School of Civil Engineering, ChongqingJiaotong University, Chongqing, 400074, CHINA

Abstract: At the present, the asphalt pavement in road constructionmostly adopts the traditional material HMA (Hot Mixture Asphalt). However theusage of HMA causes negative effects, including environment damage, excessiveconsumption of energy and so on. For these reasons, a new energy-saving andenvironment-protecting product WMA (Warm Mix Asphalt) is developed to fetch upthe shortage of HMA.WMA is a kind of mix asphalt technology which can forceasphalt to be mixed and compacted in comparatively low temperature by means ofreducing its viscosity with the help of certain techniques. Meanwhile, it couldmaintain its performance which does not below that of HMA. In order to developthe warm mix asphalt and prompt the sustainable development of pavement, the existingcharacteristics of the warm asphalt mix are summed up, the principle ofexisting technologies and the state quo are analyzed. And it gives emphasis toa review on problems of warm mix asphalt in application. This paper introducesthe technology and performance evaluation of WMA used in Europe by comparingwith HMA, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of WMA and the problemsto be solved.

Keywords: Roadengineering; Asphaltpavement; Warmmixture asphalt; Technicalperformance; Evaluation