Cool Mix Asphalt—Redefining Warm Mix Asphalt with Implementations in Korea, Italy and Vietnam

During the past decades, to minimize Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and asphalt fumes during the asphalt mix production and construction process, various warm mix asphalt (WMA) additives have been developed and successfully applied. Currently, as production of WMA reaches close to that of Hot Mix As...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hosin (David) Lee, Lan Ngoc Nguyen, Elena Sturlini, Young-ik Kim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Infrastructures
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/10/1/24
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832588323179200512
author Hosin (David) Lee
Lan Ngoc Nguyen
Elena Sturlini
Young-ik Kim
author_facet Hosin (David) Lee
Lan Ngoc Nguyen
Elena Sturlini
Young-ik Kim
author_sort Hosin (David) Lee
collection DOAJ
description During the past decades, to minimize Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and asphalt fumes during the asphalt mix production and construction process, various warm mix asphalt (WMA) additives have been developed and successfully applied. Currently, as production of WMA reaches close to that of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) in the US, the varied definition of WMA is questioned in this paper. Not only are the temperature reduction ranges from HMA defined by various studies too wide, but also the minimum threshold to be classified as WMA is often too small. In this paper, a new category of “Cool Mix Asphalt (CMA)” is proposed to distinguish it from the newly defined WMA based not on the reduction amount from HMA temperature but its actual production temperature. It is proposed that HMA should be defined as asphalt mixtures produced at temperatures between 140 and 160 °C (between 284 and 320 °F), WMA as production temperatures between 120 and 140 °C (between 248 and 284 °F), and CMA as production temperatures between 100 and 120 °C (212 to 248 °F). By defining their actual production temperatures rather than reduction temperatures from HMA, WMA and CMA will be clearly defined. This paper then presents a new Polymer Cool Mix Asphalt (PCMA) additive called “Zero-M”, which was developed to lower the mixing temperature to around 110 °C (203 °F). Recently, test sections using Zero-M were successfully constructed in Korea, Italy and Vietnam, and their laboratory test results of field cores and production and construction experiences are described in this paper. The chemistry and compositions of Zero-M are discussed along with its mechanism to significantly lower the production temperature of PCMA. All test sections constructed in three countries met the in-place compaction density requirements of their respective countries, which were close to or higher than those of the control HMA test sections.
format Article
id doaj-art-0c061544d7684b93b1f3d613a8472e30
institution Kabale University
issn 2412-3811
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Infrastructures
spelling doaj-art-0c061544d7684b93b1f3d613a8472e302025-01-24T13:35:26ZengMDPI AGInfrastructures2412-38112025-01-011012410.3390/infrastructures10010024Cool Mix Asphalt—Redefining Warm Mix Asphalt with Implementations in Korea, Italy and VietnamHosin (David) Lee0Lan Ngoc Nguyen1Elena Sturlini2Young-ik Kim3Civil and Environmental Engineering, Iowa Technology Institute, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52027, USADepartment of Construction Materials, University of Transport and Communications, No. 03 Cau Giay, Hanoi 100000, VietnamBindi S.P.A, Via Ponte alle Forche, 52027 San Giovanni Valdarno, ItalyHansoo Natech Co., Ltd., 6-20 Yuseong-daero 1205beon-gil, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34104, Republic of KoreaDuring the past decades, to minimize Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and asphalt fumes during the asphalt mix production and construction process, various warm mix asphalt (WMA) additives have been developed and successfully applied. Currently, as production of WMA reaches close to that of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) in the US, the varied definition of WMA is questioned in this paper. Not only are the temperature reduction ranges from HMA defined by various studies too wide, but also the minimum threshold to be classified as WMA is often too small. In this paper, a new category of “Cool Mix Asphalt (CMA)” is proposed to distinguish it from the newly defined WMA based not on the reduction amount from HMA temperature but its actual production temperature. It is proposed that HMA should be defined as asphalt mixtures produced at temperatures between 140 and 160 °C (between 284 and 320 °F), WMA as production temperatures between 120 and 140 °C (between 248 and 284 °F), and CMA as production temperatures between 100 and 120 °C (212 to 248 °F). By defining their actual production temperatures rather than reduction temperatures from HMA, WMA and CMA will be clearly defined. This paper then presents a new Polymer Cool Mix Asphalt (PCMA) additive called “Zero-M”, which was developed to lower the mixing temperature to around 110 °C (203 °F). Recently, test sections using Zero-M were successfully constructed in Korea, Italy and Vietnam, and their laboratory test results of field cores and production and construction experiences are described in this paper. The chemistry and compositions of Zero-M are discussed along with its mechanism to significantly lower the production temperature of PCMA. All test sections constructed in three countries met the in-place compaction density requirements of their respective countries, which were close to or higher than those of the control HMA test sections.https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/10/1/24Cool Mix AsphaltWarm Mix AsphaltHot Mix AsphaltPolymer Cool Mix AsphaltField DensityImplementations in Korea Italy Vietnam
spellingShingle Hosin (David) Lee
Lan Ngoc Nguyen
Elena Sturlini
Young-ik Kim
Cool Mix Asphalt—Redefining Warm Mix Asphalt with Implementations in Korea, Italy and Vietnam
Infrastructures
Cool Mix Asphalt
Warm Mix Asphalt
Hot Mix Asphalt
Polymer Cool Mix Asphalt
Field Density
Implementations in Korea Italy Vietnam
title Cool Mix Asphalt—Redefining Warm Mix Asphalt with Implementations in Korea, Italy and Vietnam
title_full Cool Mix Asphalt—Redefining Warm Mix Asphalt with Implementations in Korea, Italy and Vietnam
title_fullStr Cool Mix Asphalt—Redefining Warm Mix Asphalt with Implementations in Korea, Italy and Vietnam
title_full_unstemmed Cool Mix Asphalt—Redefining Warm Mix Asphalt with Implementations in Korea, Italy and Vietnam
title_short Cool Mix Asphalt—Redefining Warm Mix Asphalt with Implementations in Korea, Italy and Vietnam
title_sort cool mix asphalt redefining warm mix asphalt with implementations in korea italy and vietnam
topic Cool Mix Asphalt
Warm Mix Asphalt
Hot Mix Asphalt
Polymer Cool Mix Asphalt
Field Density
Implementations in Korea Italy Vietnam
url https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/10/1/24
work_keys_str_mv AT hosindavidlee coolmixasphaltredefiningwarmmixasphaltwithimplementationsinkoreaitalyandvietnam
AT lanngocnguyen coolmixasphaltredefiningwarmmixasphaltwithimplementationsinkoreaitalyandvietnam
AT elenasturlini coolmixasphaltredefiningwarmmixasphaltwithimplementationsinkoreaitalyandvietnam
AT youngikkim coolmixasphaltredefiningwarmmixasphaltwithimplementationsinkoreaitalyandvietnam