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Moisture Damage and Fatigue Cracking of Foamed Warm Mix Asphalt Using a
Simple Laboratory Setup
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Shu Wei Goh1 and Zhanping You 2

1
Research Assistant, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological
University, Houghton, Michigan 49931, USA. Tel: (906)487-2528, Fax: (906)487-1620, Email:
sgoh@mtu.edu
2
Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological
University, Houghton, Michigan 49931, USA. Tel: (906)487-1059, Fax: (906)487-1620, Email:
zyou@mtu.edu

ABSTRACT
Warm mix asphalt (WMA) appears to allow a reduction in the temperature at
which asphalt mixes are produced. This technology is rapidly gaining prominence due
to its uniqueness compared with hot mix asphalt (HMA). In this study, the WMA was
produced using the foaming method under a simple laboratory setting, and evaluated
by the indirect tensile strength and four-point beam fatigue testing. A control mixture,
WMA with 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% water based of asphalt binder weight were used in
the test. These WMAs were produced at production temperatures of 100°C, 115°C
and 130°C. The details of the method used to produce the foamed WMA were
discussed in this study. Tensile strength and four-point beam fatigue tests were
carried out to evaluate the moisture damage and fatigue characteristics of WMA.
Generally, when lower production temperature was used, the WMA had higher
fatigue potential based on four-point beam fatigue testing. The findings from this
study were summarized in the paper.

Keywords: Warm Mix Asphalt, Foaming, Tensile Strength, Moisture Damage,

Asphalt Mixes, Four Point Beam Fatigue Cracking

INTRODUCTION
Traditionally, asphalt mixtures were produced at high temperatures, between
150°C to 180°C, and thus often referred to as Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA). Recently, a
new technology named Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) was developed in Europe that
allows HMA to be produced at a lower temperature. The goals for Warm Mix Asphalt
(WMA) was to allow the use of existing HMA plants, standards and specifications;
noting that it has similar qualities to that of HMA (Newcomb 2006). Over years of
research efforts, quite a few technologies were used to produce WMA including the
foaming method using Aspha-min®, Advera®, and WAM-FOAM®; organic

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additives such as Sasobit® and Asphaltan B; chemical packages such as Evotherm®;

and surfactants such as Cecabase RT® (FHWA 2007; Von Devivere et al. 2003).
Some benefits were found when lower temperatures are used to produce
asphalt mixtures, especially when it comes to environmental and energy savings. Past
research indicates that both emissions and energy usage (fuel) were reduced
significantly when the WMA concept was used (Button et al. 2007; Gaudefroy et al.
2009; Goh and You 2009; Hassan 2009; Kristjansdottir 2006; Ventura et al. 2009).
Some other potential benefits included cold weather paving, reduced thermal
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segregation of materials, extended paving window, improved workability, earlier

traffic opening after construction, reduced worker exposure to asphalt fumes, and
slowed binder aging potential (Gaudefroy et al. 2009; Hassan 2009; Ventura et al.
2009).
Even though WMA has shown promising results in energy savings and
emission reduction, however, only limited studies and laboratory tests have been
conducted to date. Recently, WMA using the foaming technique has slowly gained
the interest of the researcher because it involves lower cost (no additional additive) to
produce the WMA mixtures. This paper presents the foamed WMA that has been
produced under laboratory setting, and its performance evaluated under the tensile
strength and four-point beam fatigue tests.

LITERATURE REVIEW
This literature review part collects information from laboratory experiences
and previous research done on WMA using the foaming method. In this section, the
methods for creating the foaming effect and laboratory test results of WMA using
foaming method were reviewed.
The production of WMA using the foaming method has been gaining
popularity recently due to its relatively lower cost. Additionally, it was the first
technique used to produce WMA in 1956 by Professor Csanyi at Iowa State
University (Button et al. 2007). The history of WMA could be traced back to 1956
when Dr. Csanyi found that foamed asphalt could potentially be used as soil binder.
This invention was then modified by adding cold water instead of steam in asphalt,
and it was patented by Mobil Oil Australia in 1968 (Button et al. 2007). This
invention was later licensed to Conoco Inc. to promote foamed asphalt in United
States and to further develop the product as a base stabilizer for both laboratory and
field evaluation (Kristjansdottir 2006; Little et al. 1983). Since the 1970s, researchers
have been trying to investigate a new method to reduce asphalt’s mixture production
temperature (Zettler 2006). This method was later termed as Warm Mix Asphalt
(WMA).
Currently, several kinds of WMA technologies have been developed and are
in use in European countries and the USA. They are mainly categorized as foaming
techniques, organic additives and chemical packages. In this study, different kinds of
foaming techniques and laboratory test results of WMA using this technique will be
discussed.
There were a few methods used in this foaming technique, including the use
of the foaming nozzle to introduce small amount of water into asphalt binder; using a

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hydrophilic material (i.e. Aspha-min® or Advera®); and using wet aggregate to

create a foaming effect during the mixing process (D’Angelo et al. 2008; You and
Goh 2008). The concept behind this foaming technique was that the water would
create a volume expansion of the asphalt binder that results in asphalt foam, and
allows increased workability and aggregate coating at lower temperatures (Von
Devivere et al. 2003; You and Goh 2008).
Laboratory studies and field experiences have been conducted in the past few
years on foamed WMA. Their result mainly indicated that a foamed WMA would aid
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compaction, increase moisture damage, and provide comparable or higher rutting

potential compared to the Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) mixture (Goh and You 2008;
Hurley et al. 2006; Wasiuddin et al. 2007; Wasiuddin et al. 2008). Recently, it was
found that foamed WMA could be used for asphalt mixture containing high recycled
asphalt pavement (RAP) content. Since RAP mixtures usually required a higher
production temperature, using the WMA technique would aid the production of RAP
mixtures and this is becoming an interesting development in the asphalt industry;
however, there were no solid conclusions drawn for each test section on the
performance of foamed WMA (Losa et al. 2009; Reyes et al. 2009; Robjent and Dosh
2009).
Although it shows a significant promise in energy saving and expanded
construction season, the use of WMA is relatively new to the asphalt industry. The
performance of the WMA is still not well understood. Therefore, many transportation
agencies and contractors are not confident about the application of WMA.

OBJECTIVE
The objectives of this study are: 1) to produce WMA using foaming method
under a simple laboratory setting and; 2) to compare its performance with HMA
mixture based on the tensile strength and four-point beam fatigue testing.

SAMPLE PREPARATION
In this study, HMA mixtures (control) and WMA mixtures, that were
produced using the foaming method, were evaluated and compared. All the mixtures
gradations were designed based on specifications for a local asphalt mixture used in
Michigan, USA. The nominal maximum aggregate size is 9.5mm and the designed
traffic level is less than 3 million equivalent single axles loads (ESALs) based on the
current SuperpaveTM asphalt mixture design procedure. A performance grade of PG
58-34 asphalt binder was used in this study. Tap water at the rate of 1%, 1.5% and 2%
(based on binder weight) was injected into the asphalt binder using a syringe. It
should be noted that a certain pressure should be applied to the syringe to allow water
injected into the asphalt a short period of time (less than a second). Additionally, it
was noteworthy that the asphalt binder was heated up to mixing and compacting
temperature, which were 100°C, 115°C and 130°C, before the water was introduced.
When the water came into contact with the asphalt, the molecules of the water
became very volatile due to the high temperature of asphalt which was close to or
above its boiling point. The water then vaporized and turned into steam. Immediately
after water was injected to the bottom part of the asphalt binder, a spatula was used to

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rapidly mix the asphalt and the water in order to allow the steam to disperse
completely in the asphalt binder. Figure 1 shows the procedure for producing the
foamed asphalt binder.

Water
(1~2% based on binder wt.)
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Inject the water into Mix the asphalt Final Stage: The
the asphalt binder at with water to create foaming asphalt
the bottom foaming effect binder

Figure 1. Procedure to produce foamed asphalt binder

When foam formed throughout the asphalt binder, the asphalt binder was then
immediately mixed with the aggregate at the same temperature (100°C, 115°C, and
130°C, respectively). The foamed asphalt mixtures, also referred to as foamed WMA,
were compacted at the temperature similar to its mixing temperature (100°C, 115°C,
and 130°C, respectively). A gyration number of 86 was applied during the
compaction process using the SuperpaveTM gyratory compactor. Figure 2 shows the
procedure of mixing and compaction of foamed WMA in this study; and Figure 3
shows the final product of WMA using this foaming method. The control mixtures
were mixed at 165°C and compacted at 153°C. A similar gyration number of 86 was
used for the control HMA mixture, and the SuperpaveTM specification was followed
in the mix preparation. The volumetric properties of samples were evaluated as well
after the compaction. It was found that the average air void level for control samples
are 6.1%; and for WMA samples are ranged from 5.5% to 7.9%.

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86
gyrations

Pour the foamed Mix the foamed Compact the Compacted

asphalt on the asphalt binder with mixture using the WMA
aggregate aggregate Superpave Gyratory specimen
(Immediately after Compactor
foaming)
Figure 2. Mixing and compacting the foam asphalt with aggregate

Figure 3. Warm asphalt mixture produced using the water foaming method

ASPHALT MIXTURE PERFORMANCE TESTING

In this study, two performance tests were conducted – the indirect tensile
strength and the four-point beam fatigue tests. For the indirect tensile strength tests,
the control samples of foamed WMA mixtures containing 1%, 1.5% and 2% water
were produced at temperatures of 100°C, 115°C and 130°C using the SuperpaveTM
gyratory compactor. For the four-point beam fatigue testing, only control mixtures
and foamed WMAs using 1% water produced at 115°C and 130°C using the linear

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kneading compactor were used due to limited material available. Three replicated
samples were used for each tensile strength and four-point beam fatigue testing. It is
noteworthy that the descriptions used in the graphs for each asphalt mixture are shown in
Table 1.

TABLE 1 Description Asphalt Mixture used in the Graphs

Descriptor Description
CTRL Control HMA Mixture
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1% Water 100C WMA using 1% water compacted at 100°C

1% Water 115C WMA using 1% water compacted at 115°C
1% Water 130C WMA using 1% water compacted at 130°C
1.5% Water 100C WMA using 1.5% water compacted at 100°C
1.5% Water 115C WMA using 1.5% water compacted at 115°C
1.5% Water 130C WMA using 1.5% water compacted at 130°C
2.0% Water 100C WMA using 2.0% water compacted at 100°C
2.0% Water 115C WMA using 2.0% water compacted at 115°C
2.0% Water 130C WMA using 2.0% water compacted at 130°C

Tensile strength Testing

The purpose of the tensile strength ratio testing is to evaluate the asphalt
mixture’s fatigue potential and moisture susceptibility. Previous research has
indicated that the tensile strength of hot-mix asphalt is related to its fatigue cracking
(Chapuis and Gatien 1995). A higher tensile strength indicated that the asphalt
pavement can tolerate higher strains before failing (i.e. cracking). Additionally, the
moisture susceptibility of the asphalt mixture can be evaluated by comparing the
tensile strength of asphalt mixtures exposed to wet and dry conditions. In this study,
all samples were tested based on AASHTO T283 (AASHTO:T283-03 2003). A
loading rate of 0.83 mm/s and a testing temperature of 25°C were used during the
testing. As mentioned previously, control mixtures and foamed WMA mixtures using
the 1%, 1.5% and 2% water produced at 100°C, 115°C and 130°C were evaluated.
Figure 4 shows the results for the tensile strength testing. Based on the results,
it is observed that the foamed WMA have lower tensile strength in general compared
to the control mixtures. One interesting finding is that during testing, the tensile
strength for all the foamed WMA at production temperatures at around 115°C was the
highest among all the foamed WMA mixtures tested. Additionally, the production
temperature at around 115°C could be the effective temperature for WMA because it
shows the highest tensile strength compared to WMA produced at 100°C and 130°C.
The main reason behind this was likely due to the effect of binder aging and
aggregate coating. Aged binder from higher production temperature (stiffer binder)
could result in lower tensile strength value. On the other hand, using lower mixing
temperature could result in another problem that the aggregate may not be fully
coated.
In this study, the tensile strength ratio (TSR), the tensile strength between dry
and conditioned (mixtures went through one freeze-thaw cycle) were compared and
the results are shown in Figure 4 as well. Typically, the final result for TSR testing

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would have a value of less than 1.00 because it is expected that the conditioned
samples would suffer moisture damage and exhibit lower tensile strength; this
phenomenon was observed in the control sample. However, it was found that some of
the foamed WMA mixtures exhibited TSR values greater than 1.00. This indicated
that the sample after conditioning has higher tensile strength. The best mixture in this
case was the foamed WMA mixture using 1% water compacted at 130°C.
Additionally, it was observed that when the WMA production temperature increased,
the TSR increased this held true in all cases.
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700
0.87 Dry
600 Condition
1.03 0.94
Tensile Strength (kPa)

500 1.28 0.93 0.90

0.97 0.98 1.05
400 1.11

300

200

100

0
CTRL 1% 1% 1% 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 2.0% 2.0% 2.0%
Water Water Water Water Water Water Water Water Water
100C 115C 130C 100C 115C 130C 100C 115C 130C
Sample
Figure 4. Comparison of Indirect Tensile Strength and TSR for the Control
Mixture, and WMA using 1%, 1.5% and 2% Water at 100°C, 115°C and 130°C

Four-point beam fatigue testing

The results from the four-point beam fatigue tests are presented in this section.
The purpose of this test is to determine the fatigue life of the asphalt mixture
subjected to the repeated bending until failure where the fatigue failure was defined
as 50% reduction of initial stiffness (AASHTO:T321-07 2007). In this test, a
frequency of 10 Hz and 400 micro-strain (constant strain) were used for all the
samples tested. As mentioned previously, only control mixtures and foamed WMAs
using 1% water produced at 115°C and 130°C were tested due to the limited material
available. The results of the four-point beam fatigue testing are presented in Figure 5.
From Figure 5, it can be found that all the foamed WMA fatigue life was
higher than the control HMA. It is also noticed that when the foamed WMA’s
production temperature increased, the fatigue life increased as well. There are several
factors that would affect the fatigue life associated with production temperatures and
WMA additives when comparing HMA and WMA, including: 1) absorption – lower
mixing temperature (WMA) may result in less binder absorption into the aggregate,

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which will reduce the adhesion and thus affect the asphalt mixture fatigue life (Button
et al. 2007) and; 2) aging of the asphalt binder – lower mixing temperature of WMA
will reduce binder’s aging and thus improve workability of asphalt mixture;
The evaluation of factors described above is underway and more tests on other
types of WMA were ongoing to evaluate the fatigue life of WMA.

80000
1% Water 130°C
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Fatigue Life (Cycle to Failure)

70000 1% Water 115°C

60000
50000
Control
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
Control Control Control 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1%
1 2 3 Water Water Water Water Water Water
115-1 115-2 115-3 130-1 130-2 130-3
Sample ID

Figure 5. Comparing the Fatigue Life of HMA (control mix) and WMA

SUMMARY
In this paper, WMAs using the foaming method under laboratory settings
were produced. The average air void level for control samples (HMA) are 6.1%, and
for WMA samples are ranged from 5.5% to 7.9%. The performance was compared
based on the indirect tensile strength and four point beam fatigue test results. Tensile
strength using the AASHTO T283 specifications and the four-point beam fatigue tests
using AASHTO T321 specifications were performed on both the control and foamed
WMA mixtures. For tensile strength testing, it was found that the foamed WMA
generally have lower tensile strength when compared to the control mixture. The
tensile strength for all the foamed WMA at a production temperature of around 115°C
was the highest among all the foamed WMA mixtures tested, and it was suspected
that this could be an effective temperature for WMA because it shows the highest
tensile strength compared to WMAs produced at 100°C and 130°C.
The TSR for foamed WMA were higher than the control mixture. In addition,
it was found that some of the foamed WMA mixtures exhibited TSR values greater
than 1.00 and TSR increases when the production temperature of WMA increases.

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For the four-point beam fatigue tests, all the foamed WMA’s fatigue life was
higher than the control HMA. Factors such as absorption and aging could be the main
factors that affect WMA performances and the evaluations of these factors are
currently under underway.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors wish to express their gratitude to James Vivian, Moua Lee, David
Porter and Travis Aho at Michigan Technological University for their help in running
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some preliminary tests. The research work was partially sponsored by the Federal
Highway Administration through Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT).
The authors also appreciate the guidance and involvement of John Barak of MDOT as
the Project Manager.

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