ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: This study presents data which supports that the Superpave Gyratory Compactor (SGC) can be used as a suitable means of compacting unbound material. The SGC was utilized to test unbound material used by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the base and subbase layer for airport pavements at the National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF). Three different materials were tested using the SGC, namely the P-154, P-209 and DGA. This paper focuses solely on P-154 and P-209. The P-154 and DGA have been used as subbase layers and P-209 for the base layer at the NAPTF for various construction cycles. The results from the SGC have been compared to field compaction and trafficking data obtained from the NAPTF. It is evident that the SGC can be used as a suitable predictor of field performance due to construction compaction and possibly trafficking. The SGC better simulates field compaction due to the contribution of both shear and vertical work. Energy measurements have also been used to determine the dependence of material type on the compactive effort required. The micro-mechanics behind compaction has been examined and has been found to be due to attrition and abrasion of the aggregate.
