Accelerated Laboratory Polishing Device for Hot Mix Asphalt

This paper presents a newly developed accelerated polishing device used in the laboratory as a screening tool for selecting high polishing-resistant and high-friction aggregates and for optimizing the mix design to ensure satisfactory field performance in terms of preventing premature loss of friction due to vehicle tire- pavement surface polishing and wearing actions. The accelerated polishing equipment can test two types of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) specimen sizes: one is the 15.24 cm diameter gyratory compacted specimen, and the other one is the 45.72 cm by 45.72 cm by 5.08 cm slab specimen made by a roller compactor. The repeatability of the test results was confirmed through a series of testing and statistical analysis. Also, the polishing and friction performance of HMA specimens made by different aggregates and compaction methods (gyratory vs. roller compaction) was compared.