Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 26272634

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Grey relational-regression analysis for hot mix asphalt design

Jia-chong Du a,, Ming-Feng Kuo b,1
a b

Department of Construction Technology, Tungnan University, No. 152, Sec. 3, PeiShen Rd., ShenKeng, Taipei County 22202, Taiwan Department of Safety Health and Environment Engineering, Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taichung 406, Taiwan

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Before pavement construction, the optimum asphalt content (OAC) of the hot mix asphalt (HMA) must be determined by a mix design. OAC is determined by analyzing six gures developed from the mix design data. However, test data, which depend on materials and equipment, are complex that may cause unsmooth curves of the six gures and, thus, trend line of regression is needed for correction. Pavement engineers tend to agree that OAC determined is not easy and time-consuming to computerize. In this study, an algorithm of the grey relational-regression analysis (GRRA) for HMA is discussed. The concept of GRRA based on grey system theory and polynomial regression is introduced and the equation is derived as well. To identify the analysis algorithm, examples of the asphalt mixture are tested for comparison. The results show that this algorithm is very effective. The algorithm of GRRA can be considered as an alternative to HMA design analysis. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 16 April 2009 Received in revised form 28 November 2010 Accepted 7 December 2010 Available online 7 January 2011 Keywords: Grey system theory Polynomial regression analysis Hot mix asphalt

1. Introduction Pavement engineers rely on HMA mix design to determine the appropriate asphalt content to begin eld construction. Since 1940s, most asphalt concrete produced were designed by using the Marshall mix design method [1]. Although the Superpave (Superior Performing Asphalt Pavement) mix design method for asphalt concrete is new and popular, some countries like Taiwan still use the Marshall mix design method. No matter what design methods are used, the OAC must meet the mixture specication requirements for mixture properties such as values of stability, ow, and voids. The traditional analysis method that uses six gures of the asphalt contents versus the test results of unit weight, stability, ow, air void (VTM), void in mineral aggregate (VMA), and void lled with asphalt (VFA) to determinate OAC is time-consuming and inefcient. VMA which means that the volume of intergranular void space between the aggregate particles of a compacted paving mixture, and VFA which means the percent of the volume of the VMA that is lled with asphalt cement. Even though test materials are from the same quarry, the materials may have slightly different properties that cause error in the test data. Hence, the curves of the six gures following the test data may not be smooth and trend line of regression analysis may be used for correction. In addition, some data or properties relating to the environment and structure may not be clear, and so the materials are grey in nature. Thus, OAC
Corresponding author. Tel.: +886 930 080 595; fax: +886 2 26629583.
E-mail addresses: cctu@mail.tnu.edu.tw (J.-c. Du), mfkuo@chtai.ctc.edu.tw (M.-F. Kuo). 1 Tel.: +886 4 22391647 8350; fax: +886 4 2239 9934. 0950-0618/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2010.12.011

is not easy to be determined and the process of this method is difcult to computerize. Based on above statements, the development of an analysis tool for OAC determination is needed. In this study, grey system theory is a technique adapted to determine the OAC. The grey system theory focuses on uncertain systems with the characteristics of partially known information [24]. Since the grey system theory was proposed in 1982, it has been widely utilized in many elds to deal with uncertain systems through use of the technologies of grey relational analysis (GRA) and grey modeling prediction which are two of major parts of the grey system theory. Application examples of the grey modeling prediction are grain yields [5], epidemic diseases [6], pavement performance forecasting [7], earthquake-caused vegetation recovery [8], pavement permanent deformation prediction model [9], cold inplace recycling pavement rutting prediction model [10], pavement smoothness prediction [11], and grey system for estimating the pavement international roughness index [12]. Examples that explicitly address the application of GRA in the eld of pavement are HMA with reclaimed building materials [13], gap-graded aggregate mixtures design [14], pavement materials selection by grey relational grade [15], and case study on evaluation of exible pavement [16]. All the papers using the GRA are concerned about the optimum selection or best choice of material and pavement properties. The GRA is able to determine the best value at the existing discrete data, but it cannot determine the continue function whose optimum value may occur nearby the discrete data. Generally, using GRA with second order polynomial regression analysis is one of the methods for the continue function to determine the optimum value. Thus, the objective of this study is to develop a HMA analysis method by grey relational-regression method (GRRA), based on

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grey theory and polynomial regression. The concept of the GRRA is introduced and the equation is derived as well. Examples of mixture design analysis by the GRRA and traditional method are presented for comparison.
2. Methodology of GRRA 2.1. Grey relational analysis A system which contains insufcient and sufcient information called black and white, respectively, is a grey system [17]. Grey theory deals with a system containing insufcient information or incomplete information. The GRA is essentially believed to capture the relationship between the main factor and other factors in a system, as regardless whether this system is known or not. In other words, the GRA is to analyze the relation with incomplete information The GRA is dened by quantication all inuences of various factors and their relation, which is called the whitening of factor relation [17]. Therefore, GRA is a method to describe the relative variance of factors during system development. A GRA model is a kind of impact measurement model taking the measurements of relations that change in two systems or between two elements within the system in time, which is called the grade of the relation. During the processes of system development, wherein the trend of changes between two elements should be consistent, a higher grade of synchronized change can be considered to have a greater ranking; otherwise, the grade of relation would be smaller. Thus, the analysis method, which takes the ranking of the relation into account, is established upon the degree of similarity or difference of the developmental trends among the elements to measure the degree of relation. Generally, GRA is interpreted by the measure of absolute value of the data difference between sequences. The GRA also stands for the approximation measurement by distance between sequences in accordance with the shape of geometric curves. Therefore, the GRA could be used for measured approximation relationship between sequences. 2.2. Grey relational generating A reference sequence and comparative sequences can be represented as 0 and xi k, respectively, where i 1; 2; . . . ; m and k 1; 2; . . . ; n. For convenient computation in GRA, a data is set for transferal from an original sequence to a comparable sequence through data preprocessing. The original data series can be then described by the following equation:
0 x0 k

Dmin min min D0i k

i k

Then, a grey relational coefcient, c0i(k), is dened as

c0i k

Dmin nDmax D0i k nDmax

where n 2 [0, 1] is called distinguishing coefcient, generally, set as 0.5 and D0i(k) is the dominant of c0i(k) based on Eq. (7). 2.4. Grey relational grade A grey relational grade is obtained from a weighting-sum of grey relational coefcient as described the following equation:

C 0i
n X k1

n X k 1

bk c0i k 8

bk 1

The grey relational grade of C0i indicates the magnitude of correlation measurement between the reference sequence and comparative sequences. In general, the weighting is set the same due to equally important of each factor. 2.5. Polynomial regression analysis The distribution of C0i in each sequence, xi k, is a polynomial function by regression analysis represented as the equation below.
0 0 C0i A x B x m n m n C
0 xm n 0

where A, B and C are constant by regression and is a specic item of the com0 parative sequences. The xm n is represented by the percents of the asphalt contents in this study. Then, optimum specic item (OSI) of the comparative sequences can be obtained by mathematical differential as following:

dC 0 i dxm n
Then
0

10

x0 k x0 1 6 0 7 6 0 6 x1 k 7 6 x 6 7 6 1 1 6 0 7 6 0 X 0 k 6 x2 k 7 6 x2 1 6 7 6 6 . 6 . . 7 . 4 . 5 4 . 0 0 xm k xm 1

x0 2 . . . x0 n

7 0 0 x1 2 . . . x1 n 7 7 0 0 x2 2 . . . x2 n 7 7 7 . . 7 . . . ... . 5 xm 2 . . . xm n
0 0

0 OSI x m n

B 2A

11

As data which are set in Eq. (1) may have different scales and, therefore, are not directly comparable. A normalization process is applied to transform the data into a uniform scale called data preprocessing or grey relational generating (GRG). GRG 1 represented as xi k (where i 1; 2; . . . ; m; k 1; 2; . . . ; n) has many ways for generating. The purpose of the generating the each data value of the sequence between 0 and 1 is to reduce the effect of relational grade in sequences due to the great difference values between maximum and minimum. Two types of data preprocessing are available for this study: (1) normalized by maximum value as

3. HMA mixture design 3.1. Aggregate and binder Crushed river stone used as aggregate was obtained from a local quarry and hydrated lime as mineral ller was from a commercial source. The properties of crushed river stone aggregate are shown in Table 1. As can be seen, all of the values fall within the range of specication. The aggregate gradation used throughout the study was developed to be at exactly the mid band of the specication which satised the IIId coarse-graded HMA and IVb dense-graded HMA gradation specication by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications [18], as shown in Table 2. Asphalt cement of AC-10
Table 1 The properties of crushed river stone aggregate. Properties Bulk specic gravity, coarse Bulk specic gravity, ne Absorption (%) Unit weight (kg/cm3) L.A. abrasion (%) Sodium soundness (5 cycles) (%) Elongated (%) Flat (%) Rounded index Shape factor (%) Specication <40 <12 >0.67 >0.67 Crushed river stone 2.655 2.516 0.6 2012 20.2 9.22 0.69 0.68 0.52 0.53

xi k

xi k h i 0 max xi k

(2) normalized by special value as

1 xi k
0

h i 0 min xi k; SV h i 0 max xi k; SV
1

where xi k is the ith row and kth value of original sequence; xi k is the ith row and kth value of the original sequence after GRG, and SV is chosen by special value of 0 xi k. 2.3. Grey relational coefcient Through the GRG, the modied sequence becomes a comparable sequence. The difference values between the reference sequence and comparative sequences transferred by data preprocessing are represented as
1 1 D0i k jx 0 k xi kj

Their maximum and minimum values are in the following manner:

Dmax max max D0i k

i k

J.-c. Du, M.-F. Kuo / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 26272634 Table 2 IIId and IVb aggregate gradation. Sieve size (mm) 25.4 19.0 12.5 9.5 4.75 2.36 0.60 0.30 0.15 0.075 IIId specication percent passing (%) 100 75100 4570 3050 2035 520 312 28 04 As processed (%) 100 87.5 57.5 40 27.5 12.5 7.5 5 2 IVb specication percent passing (%) 100 100 80100 7090 5070 3550 1829 1223 816 410 As processed (%) 100 100 90 80 60 42.5 23.5 17.5 12 7

2629

(3) (4) (5) (6)

asphalt asphalt asphalt asphalt

content content content content

versus versus versus versus

Marshall ow; VTM; VMA; and VFA.

Table 3 Test results of asphalt cement properties. Asphalt cement properties AC-10 Specication Penetration (1/100 cm) Specic gravity (25 C) Softening point (C) Ductility (25 C) Viscosity (60 C, poise) Viscosity (135 C, poise) Flash point (C) Solubility (%) Loss on heating (%) Penetration of residue (%) 85100 4060 Min. 100 1000 200 Min. 2.58 Min. 219 Min. 99.0 Max 1.0 Min. 70 Testing 93 1.03 42 112 1120 3.58 309 99.60 0.08 81

was obtained from a commercial petroleum company. The properties of these materials are shown in Table 3. 3.2. Mix design and analysis Following the ASTM D1559 HMA design procedure with 75 blows on each side of the cylindrical samples, three samples with each asphalt content were tested and the OAC of HMA mixture were determined by six gures as described below: (1) asphalt content versus density (or unit weight); (2) asphalt content versus Marshall stability;

Then, from the six graphical illustrations, two traditional analysis methods are commonly to use. Method 1 (National Asphalt Pavement Association, NAPA method): the OAC is determined by rst nding the asphalt content which corresponds to the VTM of 4%. That asphalt content is then used to determine the values for Marshall stability, VMA, ow and VFA from each of the above plots. Each value is compared against the specication value for that property and if all values are within the specication range, the asphalt content at 4% VTM is the optimum [19]. Method 2 (Asphalt Institute, AI method): the asphalt contents are selected by the maximum stability, maximum unit weight, and 4% VTM. The three asphalt contents selected are averaged to determine the OAC. The properties of the mixture at average value must be evaluated to ensure that specication requirements are met [20]. The test results and six graphical illustrations are shown in Table 4 and Fig. 1, respectively. Following the procedure of the method 1, the asphalt content at 4% VTM is 4.3% for IIId coarse-graded HMA and 5.2% for IVb dense-graded HMA. As shown in Fig. 1, the values of the stability, ow, VFA and VMA at the asphalt contents of 4.3% and 5.2% are all within the specication range. Thus, the OACs at 4.3% and 5.2% for IIId coarse-graded and IVb dense-graded HMA, respectively, are conrmed. Following the procedure of the method 2, the asphalt contents at 4.6% and 5.4% determined by the average values of the asphalt contents at the peak of stability curve, unit weight curve and 4% VTM curve for IIId coarse-graded and IVb dense-graded HMA, respectively, are the optimum. 4. GRRA method to determinate OAC 4.1. Basic hypothesis The overall procedure for mixture design always begins with acceptance tests performed on the aggregate and asphalt cement considered for the design. If the acceptance tests on the aggregates and asphalt cement pass, the procedure included in the ASTM D1559 can be performed on the mixture. The major steps involved

Table 4 OAC determined by NAPA, AI MS-2 and GRRM method. Asphalt content IIId coarse aggregate gradation 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 Specication Optimum asphalt content Unit weight (kg/m3) 2350 2355 2370 2351 2360 NAPA methoda 4.3% AC IVb dense aggregate gradation 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 Specication Optimum asphalt content Unit weight (kg/m3) 2301 2309 2322 2315 2305 NAPA methoda 5.2%
a b

VTM (%) 5.5 4.9 3.1 3.2 2.1 35

VMA (%) 13.6 13.1 12.9 13.5 14.3 Min. 13 AI MS-2 methodb 4.6%

VFA (%) 59.6 62.6 76.0 76.3 85.3 7080

Stability (N) 7749.90 10065.06 10840.05 10251.45 9417.60 Min. 8000 GRRM method 4.6%

Flow (1/100 cm) 24 31 35 37 41 2040

VTM (%) 5.2 4.3 3.8 3.2 2.1 35

VMA (%) 17.2 17.1 16.8 17 17.25 Min. 14 AI MS-2 methodb 5.4%

VFA (%) 69.8 74.9 77.4 81.2 87.8 7080

Stability (N) 12066.30 12556.80 12998.25 13537.80 11281.50 Min. 8000 GRRM method 5.5%

Flow (1/100 cm) 21 23.8 25.7 27 29 2040

Reference (NAPA [19]). Reference (AI [20]).

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in performing a mixture design analysis begin with (a) source acceptance tests in aggregate and asphalt cement evaluation, (b) Marshall specimen preparation and theoretical maximum specic gravity test, (c) density and void analysis, (d) stability and ow test, and (e) OAC determination. 4.2. Reference data selection and analysis From the test, the variable of each element for reference sequence is set by the maximum density, 4% air voids (VTM), maximum void in mineral aggregate (VMA), median void lled with asphalt (VFA) of the specication, maximum stability, and median Marshall ow of the specication. Thus, the reference sequence, 0 x0 k, is partially chosen from comparative sequences and special 0 value represented by x0 k = {maximum unit weight, 4% VTM, maximum VMA, median VFA of the specication, maximum stability, and median Marshall ow of the specication} and the compar0 ative sequences xi k, where i = 15 is represented by the values of unit weight, VTM, VMA, VFA, stability, and Marshall ow, respectively, at testing ve different asphalt contents. The algorithm of GRRA is shown in Fig. 2, and the data of the IIId coarsegraded HMA presented in Table 4 are selected for demonstration as following steps: 1. The reference sequence, x0 k, and comparative sequences, 0 xi k, are determined.
0

3 0 2 x0 k 2370 6 0 7 6 x1 k 7 6 2350 6 0 7 6 6 x2 k 7 6 2355 7 6 X 0 k 6 6 x0 k 7 6 2370 7 6 6 3 6 0 7 4 2351 4 x4 k 5 2360 0 x5 k 2

4:0 5:5 4:9 3:1 3:2 2:1

14:3 13:6 13:1 12:9 13:5 14:3

75:0 59:6 62:6 76:0 76:3 85:3

10840:05 7749:90 10065:06 10840:05 10251:45 9417:60

3 30 24 7 7 31 7 7 35 7 7 37 5 41 12

2. Data are pre-proceed by Eqs. (2) and (3) for the maximum and special value, respectively.

3 1 x0 k 6 1 7 6 x1 k 7 6 1 7 6 x2 k 7 1 7 X k 6 6 x 1 k 7 7 6 3 6 1 7 4 x4 k 5 1 x k 2 5 1:0000 1:0000 6 0:9916 0:7273 6 6 0:9937 0:8163 6 6 1:0000 0:7750 6 4 0:9920 0:8000 0:9958 0:5250 2

1:0000 0:9510 0:9161 0:9021 0:9441 1:0000

1:0000 0:7941 0:8346 0:9872 0:9830 0:8791

1:0000 0:7149 0:9285 1:0000 0:9457 0:8688

3 1:0000 0:8000 7 7 0:9677 7 7 0:8571 7 7 0:8108 5 0:7317

3. The sequences are modied by Eq. (4).

Fig. 1. Graphical illustrations of IIId coarse-graded and IVb dense-graded HMA design data by Marshall method.

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2631

D01 k D02 k 7  6  7 6   1 1 7 D0i k x0 k xi k 6 6 D03 k 7 4 D04 k 5 D05 k 2 0:0084 0:2727 0:0490 0:2059 6 0:0063 0:1837 0:0839 0:1654 6 6 6 0:0000 0:2250 0:0979 0:0128 4 0:0080 0:2000 0:0559 0:0170 0:0042 0:4750 0:0000 0:1209

0:2851 0:0715 0:0000 0:0543 0:1312

3 0:2000 0:0323 7 7 0:1429 7 7 0:1892 5 0:2683 14

4. Each element of grey relational coefcient, c0i(k), is created by Eq. (7).

Dmax max max D0i k 0:4750

i k

15 16

Dmin min min D0i k 0:0000

i k

c01 k 6 c02 k 7 7 Dmin nDmax 6 c0i k 6 c03 k 7 7 D0i k nDmax 6 4 c k 5 04 c05 k

0:9657 6 0:9740 6 6 6 1:0000 4 0:9673 0:9825 2 0:4655 0:5639 0:5135 0:5429 0:3333 0:8291 0:7389 0:7081 0:8094 1:0000 0:5357 0:5895 0:9490 0:9332 0:6627 0:4545 0:7686 1:0000 0:8139 0:6441

3 0:5429 0:8804 7 7 0:6244 7 7 0:5566 5 0:4696 17

5. Grey relational grade is produced by Eq. (8).

3 6 P c01 k 7 6 7 6 k 1 7 6 6 7 2 6P 3 7 6 0:6322 c k 02 7 6 7 7 6 6 k 1 7 6 0:7526 7 6 6 n X 7 7 6 P 16 6 0:7991 7 C0 i bk c0i k 6 c03 k 7 7 6 7 6 6 6 k 1 7 7 6 k 1 7 4 0:7706 5 6 6 7 6P 6 c04 k 7 0:6820 7 6 7 6 k 1 7 6 6 5 4P c05 k 2
k 1

18

6. OAC found by polynomial function of the regression of equation 0 from Eqs. (9)(11). The xm n are represented as the asphalt contents.

C0i 0:1408%AC2 1:2912%AC 2:1604

Fig. 2. Algorithm of GRRA for OAC computation.

19

Table 5 Reference and comparative sequence set up for IVb dense-graded HMA. Sequence
0 x0 k

Unit weight (kg/m3) k=1 2322

VTM (%) k=2 4 5.2 4.3 3.8 3.2 2.1

VMA (%) k=3 17.25 17.2 17.1 16.8 17 17.25

VFA (%) k=4 75 69.8 74.9 77.4 81.2 87.8

Stability (N) k=5 13537.80 12066.30 12556.80 12998.25 13537.80 11281.50

Flow (1/100 cm) k=6 30 21 23.8 25.7 27 29

xi k

i=1 i=2 i=3 i=4 i=5

AC = 4.5% AC = 5.0% AC = 5.5% AC = 6.0% AC = 6.5%

2301 2309 2322 2315 2305

x0 k = reference sequence. xi k = comparative sequences. AC = asphalt content.

0

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Table 6 GRG (normalized by maximum value and special value) and grey relational grade for IVb dense-graded HMA. Item
1 x0 k

Unit weight (kg/m3) k=1 1.0000

VTM (%) k=2 1.0000 0.7692 0.9302 0.9500 0.8000 0.5250

VMA (%) k=3 1.0000 0.9971 0.9913 0.9739 0.9855 1.0000

VFA (%) k=4 1.0000 0.9302 0.9981 0.9692 0.9239 0.8540

Stability (N) k=5 1.0000 0.8913 0.9275 0.9601 1.0000 0.8333

Flow (1/100 cm) k=6 1.0000 0.7000 0.7933 0.8567 0.9000 0.9667

1 xi k

i=1 i=2 i=3 i=4 i=5

0.9910 0.9944 1.0000 0.9970 0.9927

D0i k jx0 k xi kj D01 D02 D03 D04 D05

i k

0.0090 0.0056 0.0000 0.0030 0.0073

i k

0.2308 0.0698 0.0500 0.2000 0.4750

0.0029 0.0087 0.0261 0.0145 0.0000

0.0698 0.0019 0.0308 0.0761 0.1460

0.1087 0.0725 0.0399 0.0000 0.1667

0.3000 0.2067 0.1433 0.1000 0.0333

Dmin min min D0i k 0:0000, Dmax max max D0i k 0:4750

c01 k c02 k c03 k c04 k c05 k

C0i

0.9633 0.9770 1.0000 0.9875 0.9701 AC = 4.5% P6 k1 c01 k 0.7265

0.5072 0.7729 0.8261 0.5429 0.3333 AC = 5.0% P6 k1 c02 k 0.8346

0.9879 0.9647 0.9010 0.9425 1.0000 AC = 5.5% P6 k1 c03 k 0.8487

0.7729 0.9919 0.8853 0.7574 0.6192 AC = 6.0% P6 k1 c04 k 0.8223

0.6860 0.7662 0.8563 1.0000 0.5876 AC = 6.5% P6 k1 c05 k 0.7312

0.4419 0.5347 0.6236 0.7037 0.8769 AC = 4.5% P6 k1 c01 k 0.7265

dC0i 20:1408%AC 1:2912 0 ) OAC d%AC %AC 4:6% 20

Fig. 3. Regression of grey relational grade with asphalt contents.

To better understanding, the IVb dense-graded HMA was analyzed by the GRRA method in table rather than matrixes. The reference and comparative sequence are set up as following Fig. 2. The OAC determined by the GRRA is presented in Table 5. As can be seen, the data used for reference sequence are selected from the comparative sequence at the maximum values of unit weight, VMA and stability, and the median values of the specication of the VTM, VFA and ow. The GRRA analysis procedure and results, shown in Table 6, indicate that the data preprocessing sequences as following Eq. (2) for k = 1, 3 and 5, and Eq. (3) for k = 2 and 4 1 1 are represented by x0 k for reference sequence and xi k for comparative sequences. The maximum and minimum of the D0i(k) are represented by Dmin and Dmax, respectively. In Table 6, P c0i k the grey relational grade, C0i 6 k1 6 , shows that the maximum values of grey relational grade occurred in between 5.0% and 6.0% of asphalt contents. Thus, the OAC may locate between 5.0% and 6.0% of asphalt contents. In Fig. 3, the polynomial function of the regression is calculated and the OAC located at 5.5% is determined at the maximum value of grey relational grade.

Table 7 HMA mixture design data. Asphalt content 5% 5.5% 6% 6.5% 7% 7.5% Specication Optimum asphalt content Unit weight (kg/m3) 2249.46 2259.07 2281.48 2287.89 2289.49 2281.48 VTM (%) 8.2 7.5 5.8 4.7 3.7 3.1 35 NAPA methoda 6.9%
a b

VMA (%) 18.3 18.4 18.1 18.3 18.6 19.4 Min. 15

VFA (%) 55.2 59.2 68.0 74.3 80.1 84.0 7080 AI MS-2 methodb 6.7%

Stability (N) 11253.44 11653.76 12320.96 12498.88 12365.44 11297.92 Min. 8000

Flow (1/100 cm) 28 30 33 33 36 38 2040 GRRM method 6.6%

Reference (NAPA [19]). Reference (AI [20]).

J.-c. Du, M.-F. Kuo / Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 26272634 Table 8 GRRM method for 9.5 mm dense-graded HMA mixture design data. Sequence
0 x0 k

2633

Unit weight (kg/m3) k=1 2289.49

VTM (%) k=2 4 8.2 7.5 5.8 4.7 3.7 3.1 1.0000 0.4878 0.5333 0.6897 0.8511 0.9250 0.7750 0.5122 0.4667 0.3103 0.1489 0.0750 0.2250

VMA (%) k=3 19.4 18.3 18.4 18.1 18.3 18.6 19.4 1.0000 0.9433 0.9485 0.9330 0.9433 0.9588 1.0000 0.0567 0.0515 0.0670 0.0567 0.0412 0.0000

VFA (%) k=4 75 55.2 59.2 68.0 74.3 80.1 84.0 1.0000 0.7360 0.7893 0.9067 0.9907 0.9363 0.8929 0.2640 0.2107 0.0933 0.0093 0.0637 0.1071

Stability (N) k=5 12498.88 11253.44 11653.76 12320.96 12498.88 12365.44 11297.92 1.0000 0.9004 0.9324 0.9858 1.0000 0.9893 0.9039 0.0996 0.0676 0.0142 0.0000 0.0107 0.0961

Flow (1/100 cm) k=6 30 28 30 33 33 36 38 1.0000 0.9313 0.9843 0.9085 0.9085 0.8436 0.7874 0.0687 0.0157 0.0915 0.0915 0.1564 0.2126

0 xi k

i=1 i=2 i=3 i=4 i=5 i=6

AC = 5% AC = 5.5% AC = 6% AC = 6.5% AC = 7% AC = 7.5%

2249.46 2259.07 2281.48 2287.89 2289.49 2281.48 1.0000

x0 k
1 xi k

i=1 i=2 i=3 i=4 i=5 i=6

AC = 5% AC = 5.5% AC = 6% AC = 6.5% AC = 7% AC = 7.5%

0.9825 0.9867 0.9965 0.9993 1.0000 0.9965 0.0175 0.0133 0.0035 0.0007 0.0000 0.0035
i k

D0i k

D01 k D02 k D03 k D04 k D05 k D06 k

i k

Dmin min min D0i k 0:0000, Dmax max max D0i k 0:5122

c0i k

c01 k c02 k c03 k c04 k c05 k c06 k

C0i

0.9361 0.9507 0.9865 0.9973 1.0000 0.9865 AC = 5% 0.6815

0.3333 0.3543 0.4521 0.6323 0.7735 0.5323 AC = 5.5% 0.7366

0.8187 0.8324 0.7926 0.8187 0.8613 1.0000 AC = 6% 0.7747

0.4924 0.5487 0.7329 0.9648 0.8009 0.7050 AC = 6.5% 0.8583

0.7199 0.7911 0.9473 1.0000 0.9600 0.7272 AC = 7% 0.8361

0.7886 0.9421 0.7368 0.7368 0.6209 0.5464 AC = 7.5% 0.7496

5. Evaluation and discussion The results, shown in Table 4, indicate that the OAC of 4.6% for IIId coarse-graded HMA by using the GRRA is the same as the method of AI MS-2. Thus, it is no doubt about the OAC satised by the specication requirements. The 5.5% OAC for IVb densegraded HMA is slightly higher than both of the values using the NAPA and AI MS-2 methods. The HMA with 5.5% asphalt content has a 3.8% VTM, 16.8% VMA, 77.4% VFA, 12998.25(N) stability and 25.7 (1/100 cm) ow which are within the range of the specication requirements of the values of the VTM, VMA, VFA, stability, and ow, as shown in Table 4. It was desired to check the suitability of the GRRA to analyze other HMA mixture design such as different aggregate and asphalt cement type. Therefore, to evaluate and conrm validity of the method, one HMA mixture design data, called 9.5 mm dense-grade HMA in this study, is selected from the laboratory test in the text book [21]. The test results are shown in Table 7 and the OACs of 6.7% and 6.9% are determined by the method of the NAPA and AI MS-2, respectively. The GRRA method for analysis is shown in Table 8. As can be seen, the C0i calculated by the Eq. (8) lie in between 0.6815 and 0.8583. The regression analysis plotted in Fig. 3 shows that the OAC is 6.6% which are slightly less than the values using the NAPA and AI MS-2 methods, but all of them within the range of the specication as shown in Table 7. 6. Conclusions An analysis algorithm dened by GRRA method based on grey system theory is conducted to determine OAC. To validate and evaluate the method, three different mixture design example data were tested and selected for application. The results show that all

of the OACs are within the range of the specication requirements. Compared with the NAPA and AI MS-2 methods, the OACs calculated by GRRA are slightly different. However, it can be determined more easily and effectively than the others. The six graphics like Fig. 1 are not necessary, if the GRRA is used. Moreover, through the process of the calculation it can be programming and computerized. Thus, the algorithm of GRRA method can be considered as an alternative to OAC determination. However, before using the GRRA, there are some points for attention: (1) Materials such as aggregate and asphalt cement must pass acceptance test. (2) The data about the characteristics of specimen such as density, air void, Marshall ow, and Marshall stability must be obtained. (3) Reference sequence, which will inuence the results, selected is the most important matter. Before using the GRRA, the reference sequence must be set in the maximum unit weight, 4% VTM, maximum VMA, median VFA of the specication, maximum stability, and median Marshall ow of the specication.

References
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