Journal of the Korean Asphalt Institute ISSN:2234-0785(Print) 2635-9553(Online) 한국아스팔트학회지

Asphalt grading is to provide necessary information in selecting an appropriate asphalt binder for construction of asphalt pavements having desirable performance properties. For the purpose, the PG grading developed in USA (the existing PG) is widely used everywhere including domestic application. However, recent publication reports that the existing PG produces serious error for grading modified asphalt binders, and, as an alternative, a new PG is proposed to correct the error. Both the existing and the newly developed PG evaluate grades of binders in the term of pavement temperature. Arrhenius temperature equation is the basis of the temperature grading. It works well within the applicable range, but can produce serious error beyond the range. The problem of temperature grading is that the applicable temperature range and the maximum temperature are not known in advance. To overcome such an obstacle, rutting-based performance grading is suggested first time here instead of temperature-based grading. This newly suggested grading can be called a true performance grading because it grades each binder by predicting its rut depth. This paper will discuss binder properties necessary, their measuring techniques, and a grading method of a binder. This rutting-based PG seems to be promising due to excellence in effectiveness and accuracy compared to other grading methods.