Balanced Mix Design in Kansas

AASHTO PP 105-20 defines Balanced Mix Design (BMD) as “an asphalt mix design using performance tests on appropriately conditioned specimens that address multiple modes of distress considering mix aging, traffic, climate, and location within the pavement structure.” The traditional Superpave mix design process only considered volumetric properties and mainly focused on rutting resistance. However, the effect of recycled materials, such as Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP), Reclaimed Asphalt Shingles (RAS), etc., are not considered, and the performance properties of these mixtures cannot be captured in the Superpave system. BMD could provide a performance-optimization process for asphalt mixtures. This new approach involves performance testing, including cracking and rutting tests. Despite promotion from various entities, Kansas is cautiously approaching this new development of HMA mixture design. In this study, the cracking test, IDEAL-CT, was conducted on several Kansas HMA mixtures containing recycled materials, and the results were generated to assess the applications of BMD in Kansas. This paper describes this assessment.