ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The characterization of asphalt concrete materials continues being a crucial area of work in the field of pavement engineering. As part of the efforts to improve the current knowledge of this complex material, a novel laboratory equipment has been recently designed and constructed at Universidad de Los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia). This device, named “Hollow Cylinder Tester for Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) materials” (HCT-HMA), is a multipurpose apparatus equipped with an environmental conditioning chamber and a versatile loading system able to apply axial and/or torsional loads. The main feature of this equipment is the geometry of the specimen, which consists of a 12.7 cm in height hollow cylinder with 2.54 cm wall thickness. This paper describes the components of the HCT-HMA and some of the possibilities of this device to characterize asphalt concrete materials. It is expected that this machine will provide new and valuable information regarding the complex response of asphalt mixtures.
