Standard Method of Test for

Percent Air Voids in Compacted Dense and

Open Asphalt Mixtures

AASHTO Designation: T 269-11 1

ASTM Designation: D 3203-05

1. SCOPE
1.1. This method covers the determination of the percent air voids in compacted dense and open
asphalt mixtures.

1.2. This standard may involve hazardous materials, operations, and equipment. This standard does
not purport to address all of the safety concerns associated with its use. It is the responsibility of
the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the
applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

2. REFERENCED DOCUMENTS
2.1. AASHTO Standards:
 T 166, Bulk Specific Gravity (Gmb) of Compacted Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) Using Saturated
Surface-Dry Specimens
 T 209, Theoretical Maximum Specific Gravity (Gmm) and Density of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA)
 T 275, Bulk Specific Gravity (Gmb) of Compacted Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) Using Paraffin-
Coated Specimens
 T 331, Bulk Specific Gravity (Gmb) and Density of Compacted Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA)
Using Automatic Vacuum Sealing Method

2.2. ASTM Standards:

 D 3203, Standard Test Method for Percent Air Voids in Compacted Dense and Open
Bituminous Paving Mixtures
 D 3549/D 3549M, Standard Test Method for Thickness or Height of Compacted Bituminous
Paving Mixture Specimens
 D 4460, Standard Practice for Calculating Precision Limits Where Values are Calculated from
Other Test Methods
 E 1547, Standard Terminology Relating to Industrial and Specialty Chemicals

3. TERMINOLOGY
3.1. The terms specific gravity and density used in this test method are in accordance with ASTM
E 1547.

3.2. Definitions:

TS-2c T 269-1
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AASHTO
© 2013 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Copyright American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
Provided by IHS under license with AASHTO
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 3.2.1. air voids—the pockets of air between the asphalt-coated aggregate particles in a compacted
asphalt mixture.

3.2.2. dense asphalt mixture—asphalt mixtures in which the air voids are less than 10 percent when
compacted.

3.2.3. open asphalt mixture—asphalt mixtures in which the air voids are 10 percent or more when
compacted.

3.2.3.1. For borderline cases, an asphalt mixture shall be designated as an open asphalt mixture if the
calculated percent air voids, based on either Section 6.1 or 6.2, are 10 percent or more.

4. SIGNIFICANCE AND USE

4.1. The percent air voids in an asphalt mixture is used as one of the criteria in the design methods and
for evaluation of the compaction achieved on asphalt paving projects.

5. SAMPLING
5.1. Samples for testing shall consist of specimens from laboratory-molded mixtures or cores from
field-compacted mixtures.

6. PROCEDURE
6.1. For dense asphalt mixtures, determine the bulk specific gravity of the compacted mixture by either
T 166, T 275, or T 331. Determine the theoretical maximum specific gravity in accordance with
T 209 on a comparable asphalt mixture to avoid the influence of differences in gradation, asphalt
content, etc.

6.2. For open asphalt mixtures, use either of the following methods:

6.2.1. Automatic Vacuum Sealing Method—Determine the bulk specific gravity of the compacted
mixture by T 331. Determine the theoretical maximum specific gravity in accordance with
T 209 on a comparable asphalt mixture to avoid the influence of differences in gradation, asphalt
content, etc.

6.2.2. Volume Method—Determine the density of a regularly shaped specimen of compacted mixture
from its dry mass (in grams) and its volume (in cubic centimeters). Obtain the height of the
specimen by ASTM D 3549/D 3549M. Measure the diameter of the specimen at four locations,
and average the measurements. Calculate the volume of the specimen based on the average height
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and diameter measurement. Convert the density to bulk specific gravity by dividing by 0.99707
g/cm3 or 997 kg/m3, the density of water at 25°C (77°F). Determine the theoretical maximum
specific gravity in accordance with T 209 on a comparable asphalt mixture to avoid the influence
of differences in gradation, asphalt content, etc.
For reference purposes, determine both the bulk specific gravity and the theoretical maximum
specific gravity on portions of the same sample of compacted asphalt mixture.

7. CALCULATIONS
7.1. Calculate the percent air voids in a compacted asphalt mixture as follows:
= 100(1 − A / B )
Percent Air Voids (1)

TS-2c T 269-2 AASHTO

Copyright American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials © 2013 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Provided by IHS under license with AASHTO
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All rights reserved. Duplication Licensee=University
is a violation of applicable law.
of Texas Revised Sub Account/5620001114
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 where:
A = the bulk specific gravity; and
B = the theoretical maximum specific gravity.

7.2. Report the percent air voids to one decimal place.

8. PRECISION AND BIAS

8.1. The precision of this test method depends on the precision of test methods for bulk specific
gravity and theoretical maximum specific gravity. It is computed by a procedure described in
ASTM D 4460. Because the computation for percent air voids in Section 7.1 involves the quotient
of bulk specific gravity divided by the theoretical maximum specific gravity, the quotient formula
is used:
y 2 σ 2x + x 2 σ 2y
σx y = (2)
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y4
where:
σx/y = the standard deviation for determining the precision limits of test results for a standard
based on the quotient of two test results from two other standards;
x = the mean (average) value of the x standard (bulk specific gravity) test results;
y = the mean (average) value of the y standard (theoretical maximum specific gravity) test
results;
σx = the standard deviation from the precision statement of the x standard; and
σy = the standard deviation from the precision statement of the y standard.

Note 1—The x standard (T 166, T 275, or T 331) is used to compute bulk specific gravity, and
the y standard (T 209) is used to compute theoretical maximum specific gravity.

8.2. Criteria for judging the acceptability of percent air voids test results that are obtained by using x
standard and y standard for nonporous aggregates are:
Standard Acceptable Range of
Deviation Two Results
x Standard and y Standard Test and Type Index (1s%) (d2s%)
T 166 and T 209 (Method A) Single-operator precision 0.21 0.59
T 166 and T 209 (Method A) Multilaboratory precision 0.40 1.13
T 166 and T 209 (Method B) Single-operator precision 0.26 0.74
T 166 and T 209 (Method B) Multilaboratory precision 0.46 1.30
T 275 and T 209 (Method A) Single-operator precision 0.34 0.96
T 275 and T 209 (Method A) Multilaboratory precision — —
T 275 and T 209 (Method B) Single-operator precision 0.37 1.05
T 275 and T 209 (Method B) Multilaboratory precision — —
T 331 and T 209 (Method A) Single-operator precision 0.53 1.50
T 331 and T 209 (Method A) Multilaboratory precision 0.62 1.75
T 331 and T 209 (Method B) Single-operator precision 0.55 1.56
T 331 and T 209 (Method B) Multilaboratory precision 0.66 1.87

TS-2c T 269-3 AASHTO

Copyright American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials © 2013 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Provided by IHS under license with AASHTO
No reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS
All rights reserved. Duplication Licensee=University
is a violation of applicable law.
of Texas Revised Sub Account/5620001114
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 APPENDIX
(Nonmandatory Information)

X1. EXAMPLE CALCULATION OF PRECISION

X1.1. Assume the following precision data:

Bulk Specific Gravity, x

When the average of x = 2.423 and the standard deviation of x = 0.007.

Theoretical Maximum Specific Gravity, y

When the average of y = 2.523 and the standard deviation of y = 0.004.

Then using Equation 2:

2 2 2 2
2.523 0.007  2.423 0.004
x y  4
 0.00316 (X1.1)
2.523

This value is in terms of air voids; therefore, the value should be multiplied by 100 to convert it
into a percentage. Therefore:
 x y  0.0032 100  0.32% (X1.2)

1
Similar, but not technically identical to ASTM D 3203-05.

TS-2c T 269-4
--``,``,,,```,,,,,,`````,```,,,`-`-`,,`,,`,`,,`--- AASHTO
© 2013 by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Copyright American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
Provided by IHS under license with AASHTO
No reproduction or networking permitted without license from IHS
All rights reserved. Duplication Licensee=University
is a violation of applicable law.
of Texas Revised Sub Account/5620001114
Not for Resale, 05/27/2014 10:03:50 MDT