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August 16, 2018
 
 

Performance-Based Mix Design of Porous Friction Courses (Webinar September 10)

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TRB will conduct a webinar on Monday, September 10, 2018, from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM ET that features research from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP)’s Research Report 877: Performance-Based Mix Design for Porous Friction Courses. 

This webinar will provide guidelines for a performance-based mix design procedure for porous friction courses (PFC) that includes laboratory testing. A project survey of PFC found that raveling and cracking were the primary distresses of PFC pavements, but tests to evaluate resistance to raveling and cracking were not typically included in agencies’ PFC mix design procedures. This webinar will present research results that evaluated the effect of asphalt modifiers and increased mineral filler for enhancing PFC performance. Presenters will also describe a PFC mix design procedure that addresses rutting. 



TRB's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Research Report 877: Performance-Based Mix Design for Porous Friction Courses presents a proposed mix design method for porous asphalt friction course (PFCs). 


PFCs have been used in the United States for many years. Their open aggregate gradations and resultant high air void contents provide PFCs with the ability to quickly remove water from the surface of a roadway, thus reducing the potential for vehicles to hydroplane and improving skid resistance. Splash, spray, and glare are also reduced, improving pavement marking visibility in wet weather. PFCs can also provide additional environmental benefits by reducing the pollutant load of storm water runoff as well as traffic noise.

Despite their many benefits, the use of PFCs has been limited in part because of cost, lack of a standard mixture design method, premature failure by raveling or stripping, and loss of functionality by clogging with debris. In addition to the need to develop improved maintenance methods to address clogging, the performance of PFC mixtures will benefit from the development of a standardized mixture design method that balances durability in terms of resistance to premature failure with functionality in terms of permeability and noise reduction.

The goal of this project was to achieve the required balance in the mix design between PFC durability and functionality. 
 
 

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