Standard Practice for

Materials Selection and Mixture

Design of Permeable Friction
Courses (PFCs)

AASHTO Designation: PP 77-14 (2018)1

Technical Section: 2d, Bituminous Materials
Release: Group 3 (August)

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials

444 North Capitol Street N.W., Suite 249
Washington, D.C. 20001

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Standard Practice for

Materials Selection and Mixture Design

of Permeable Friction Courses (PFCs)

AASHTO Designation: PP 77-14 (2018) 1

Technical Section: 2d, Bituminous Materials
Release: Group 3 (August)

1. SCOPE
1.1. This standard covers the materials requirements and mix design of permeable friction course
(PFC) asphalt mixtures.

1.2. This standard may involve hazardous materials, operations and equipment. This standard does
not purport to address all of the safety problems associated with its use. It is the responsibility of
the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the
applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

2. REFERENCED DOCUMENTS
2.1. AASHTO Standards:
 M 320, Performance-Graded Asphalt Binder
 R 30, Mixture Conditioning of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA)
 T 19M/T 19, Bulk Density (“Unit Weight”) and Voids in AggregateT 96, Resistance to
Degradation of Small-Size Coarse Aggregate by Abrasion and Impact in the Los Angeles
Machine
 T 104, Soundness of Aggregate by Use of Sodium Sulfate or Magnesium Sulfate
 T 176, Plastic Fines in Graded Aggregates and Soils by Use of the Sand Equivalent Test
 T 209, Theoretical Maximum Specific Gravity (Gmm) and Density of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA)
 T 245, Resistance to Plastic Flow of Asphalt Mixtures Using Marshall Apparatus
 T 283, Resistance of Compacted Asphalt Mixtures to Moisture-Induced Damage
 T 304, Uncompacted Void Content of Fine Aggregate
 T 305, Determination of Draindown Characteristics in Uncompacted Asphalt Mixtures
 T 312, Preparing and Determining the Density of Asphalt Mixture Specimens by Means of the
Superpave Gyratory Compactor
 T 326, Uncompacted Void Content of Coarse Aggregate (As Influenced by Particle Shape,
Surface Texture, and Grading)
 T 331, Bulk Specific Gravity (Gmb) and Density of Compacted Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA)
Using Automatic Vacuum Sealing Method
 TP 108, Abrasion Loss of Asphalt Mixture Specimens

2.2. ASTM Standards:

TS-2d PP 77-1 AASHTO

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  D3549/D3549, Standard Test Method for Thickness or Height of Compacted Bituminous
Paving Mixture Specimens
 D4791, Standard Test Method for Flat Particles, Elongated Particles, or Flat and Elongated
Particles in Coarse Aggregate

3. TERMINOLOGY
3.1. Definitions:

3.1.1. asphalt binder—an asphalt-based cement that is produced from petroleum residue either with or
without the addition of modifiers.

3.1.2. abrasion loss—the loss of mass from an asphalt mixture specimen under the effect of abrasion.

3.1.3. air voids—the total volume of the small pockets of air between the coated aggregate particles
throughout a compacted paving mixture, expressed as a percent of the total volume of the
compacted specimen.

3.1.4. breakpoint sieve—the finest sieve to retain at least 10 percent of the aggregate fraction.

3.1.5. draindown—separation of asphalt binder from the coarse aggregate structure, generally during
storage or transportation.

3.1.6. permeable friction course (PFC)—a special type of porous asphalt mixture with air voids of at
least 18 percent used for reducing hydroplaning and potential for loss of friction resistance, where
the function of the mixture is to provide a free-draining layer that permits surface water to migrate
laterally through the mixture to the edge of the pavement.

3.1.7. stabilizing additive—materials used to minimize draindown of asphalt during transport and
placement of PFC, which may include fibers, polymers, crumb rubber, or a combination of these
additives.

3.1.8. voids in the coarse aggregate (VCA)—the volume of voids between the coarse aggregate particles,
where this volume includes filler, fine aggregate, air voids, asphalt binder, and stabilizing
additives, if used.

4. SUMMARY OF PRACTICE
4.1. Aggregates, asphalt binder, and stabilizing additives are selected that meet specification values.
Trial aggregate blend gradations are selected and tested to determine the design aggregate
gradation. The blends are compacted using a trial binder content in order to evaluate the trial
mixes and select the design gradation to ensure stone-on-stone contact. Once a trial gradation is
selected, the asphalt binder content is altered and the optimum asphalt binder content is selected
based on meeting minimum binder content and air void requirements and ensuring stone-on-stone
contact in the mixture. Stone-on-stone content is verified by ensuring the volume of voids in the
mixture is less than or equal to the volume of voids in the dry-rodded coarse aggregate fraction of
the design gradation. The mix design is further verified by determining the abrasion loss, which is
used as an indicator of the durability of the mixture. The designed mixture is then evaluated for
resistance to moisture susceptibility.

TS-2d PP 77-2 AASHTO

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5. SIGNIFICANCE AND USE
5.1. The procedure described in this practice is used to select materials and design permeable friction
course mixtures that will provide good performance in terms of permeability and durability when
subjected to high volumes of traffic.

6. MATERIALS SELECTION
6.1. Select coarse aggregates, fine aggregates, asphalt binder, and stabilizing additives as follows.

6.1.1. Coarse Aggregates—Select coarse aggregate(s) meeting the requirements in Table 1.

Table 1—Coarse Aggregate Quality Requirements for PFC Mixtures

Test Method Spec. Minimum Spec. Maximum
Los Angeles Abrasion, % lossa T 96 — 30
Flat or elongated, %, 5 to 1 ASTM D4791 — 10
Soundness (5 Cycles), % loss T 104
Sodium sulfate — 10
Magnesium sulfate — 15
Uncompacted voids, % T 326, Method A 45 —
a
Aggregates with LA Abrasion loss values up to 52 percent have been used successfully to produce PFC mixtures, however, when the LA Abrasion
value exceeds approximately 30 percent, excessive breakdown may occur in the laboratory compaction process or during in-place compaction.

6.1.2. Fine Aggregates—Select fine aggregate(s) to meet the requirements in Table 2.

Table 2—Fine Aggregate Quality Requirements for PFC Mixtures

Test Method Spec. Minimum Spec. Maximum
Soundness (5 cycles), % loss T 104
Sodium sulfate — 10
Magnesium sulfate — 15
Uncompacted voids, % T 304, Method A 45 —
Sand equivalency, % T 176 50 —

6.1.3. Asphalt Binders—Performance-graded asphalt binders meeting the requirements of M 320 are
selected based on the climate and traffic. Because of the relatively high binder contents and open
grading of the aggregate, a stiff asphalt binder is needed to ensure durability. Therefore, for high-
volume roadways or pavements with slow to standing traffic, select the asphalt binder high-
temperature grade two grades higher than the asphalt binder grade required for the climate. (See
Note 1.) Select the high-temperature binder grade one grade higher than the climatic grade for all
other roadways.
Note 1—Some southern states successfully use a PG 76 asphalt binder for high-volume
roadways, which is only one grade higher.

6.1.4. Stabilizing Additives—Stabilizing additives are needed to prevent draindown of asphalt binder
from the coarse aggregate skeleton during transportation and placement. Stabilizing additives such
as cellulose fiber, mineral fiber, crumb rubber, and polymers have been used to minimize
draindown potential.

6.1.5. Design Gradation—In order to provide the high level of permeability desirable with permeable
friction courses, an aggregate gradation having a very open gradation is needed. Table 3 includes
the specific gradation ranges.

TS-2d PP 77-3 AASHTO

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Table 3—PFC Gradation Specification Bands
Nominal Maximum Aggregate Size—% Passing
9.5 mm (3/8 in.) PFC 12.5 mm (1/2 in.) PFC 19.0 mm (3/4 in.) PFC
Sieve Size Min Max Min Max Min Max
25 mm (1 in.) 100
19 mm (3/4 in.) 100 85 100
12.5 mm (1/2 in.) 100 80 100 55 70
9.5 mm (3/8 in.) 85 100 35 60 — —
4.75 mm (No. 4) 20 30 10 25 10 25
2.36 mm (No. 8) 5 15 5 10 5 10
0.075 mm (No. 200) 0 4 0 4 0 4

7. MIX DESIGN PROCEDURE

7.1. The mixture design procedure requires determining the voids in the coarse aggregate (VCA)
fraction of each trial gradation, selecting a trial asphalt binder content, mixing and compacting
samples of each trial, and analyzing the trials to select the design gradation. Once the design
gradation is selected, the binder content is optimized.

7.2. Preparing Trial Blends:

7.2.1. Selection of Trial Gradations—Select at least three initial trial gradations to fall within one of the
master specification ranges shown in Table 3. The trial gradations should typically fall along the
coarse and fine limits of the gradation range, with another falling in the middle of the range. These
trial gradations are obtained by adjusting the amount of fine and coarse aggregates in each blend.

7.2.2. Determination of VCA in the Coarse Aggregate Fraction—Determine the void content of the
coarse aggregate fraction in the dry-rodded condition according to T 19M/T 19. Designate this as
VCADRC. At the same time, determine and record the bulk density of the coarse aggregate in the
dry rodded condition, M. Divide M by the density of water at 25°C (77°F) to obtain the bulk
specific gravity of the coarse aggregate fraction, Gca.

7.2.3. Selection of Trial Asphalt Content—The minimum desired asphalt binder content (by mass of the
mixture) to provide a sufficient volume of asphalt binder for permeable friction courses is shown
in Table 4. For PFCs with aggregates having a combined bulk specific gravity less than or equal to
2.75, a trial asphalt binder content of between 6 and 6.5 percent is recommended. If the combined
aggregate bulk specific gravity exceeds 2.75, the trial binder content may be reduced slightly.

TS-2d PP 77-4 AASHTO

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Table 4—Minimum Asphalt Content Requirements for PFC Mixtures
with Varying Bulk Specific Gravities
Combined Aggregate Bulk
Specific Gravity Minimum Asphalt Content, %
2.40 6.8
2.45 6.7
2.50 6.6
2.55 6.5
2.60 6.3
2.65 6.2
2.70 6.1
2.75 6.0
2.80 5.9
2.85 5.8
2.90 5.7
2.95 5.6
3.00 5.5

7.3. Preparation of Trial Blend Specimens:

7.3.1. Prepare Aggregates—Dry the aggregates to be used in the mixture to a constant mass and separate
by dry-sieving into individual size fractions. The following size fractions are recommended:
 19.0 to 12.5 mm (3/4 to 1/2 in.)
 12.5 to 9.5 mm (1/2 to 3/8 in.)
 9.5 to 4.75 mm (3/8 in to No. 4)
 4.75 to 2.36 mm (No. 4 to No. 8)
 Passing 2.36 mm (No. 8), if 2.36 mm is breakpoint sieve
 2.36 to 1.18 mm (No. 8 to No. 16), if 1.18 mm is breakpoint sieve
 Passing 1.18 mm (No. 16), if 1.18 mm is breakpoint sieve

7.3.2. Number of Samples per Trial Blend—Prepare a total of four samples of each trial blend mixture;
three samples for determining the air void content of compacted specimens and one sample for
determining the theoretical maximum specific gravity according to T 209.

7.3.3. Determine the mixing and compaction temperatures in accordance with T 245, Section 3.3.1. The
mixing temperature shall be the temperature needed to produce an asphalt binder viscosity of
170 ± 20 cSt. The compaction temperature shall be the temperature required to provide an asphalt
binder viscosity of 280 ± 30 cSt. The selected temperatures may need to be changed for modified
asphalt binders; in such a case, follow the binder supplier’s guidelines for mixing and compaction
temperatures.

7.3.4. For each test specimen, weigh into a pan the appropriate amount of each size fraction to produce
the required sample size. Mix the aggregates in each pan and place in an oven set to a temperature
no more than 28°C (50°F) above the mixing temperature determined in Section 7.3.3.

7.3.5. Heat the asphalt binder to the mixing temperature determined in Section 7.3.3.

7.3.6. When preparing PFC in the laboratory, use a mechanical mixing apparatus. Place the heated
aggregate batch into the mechanical mixing container. Add the required amounts of asphalt binder
and any stabilizing additive into the container. Mix the aggregate, asphalt binder, and stabilizing
additives rapidly until thoroughly coated. Mixing times for PFC should be slightly longer than for
conventional mixtures to ensure that the stabilizing additives are thoroughly dispersed within the
mixture. After mixing, short-term age the PFC mixture in accordance with R 30.

TS-2d PP 77-5 AASHTO

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 Note 2—Dry-mixing fibers, if used, into the aggregate before adding the asphalt binder has been
found to help disperse the fibers uniformly throughout the mixture.

7.3.7. Sample Compaction—Compact three individual specimens of each trial blend at the established
compaction temperature using 50 revolutions of the Superpave gyratory compactor in accordance
with T 312.
Note 3—More than 50 revolutions should not be used; PFC is relatively easy to compact in the
laboratory and exceeding this compactive effort can cause excessive aggregate breakdown.

7.3.8. After the samples have been compacted and are stable enough to prevent damage, extrude them
from the molds and allow them to cool. Determine the bulk specific gravity of each specimen
using T 331 or by dimensional analysis. To use dimensional analysis, determine and record the dry
mass of each specimen in grams. Determine and record the height of each specimen in centimeters
in accordance with ASTM E3549/D3549M using calibrated calipers. Determine the diameter of
each specimen in centimeters as the average of four equally spaced measurements using the
calibrated calipers. Calculate the area of the specimen using the average diameter, A = πd2/4.
Calculate the volume of the specimen by multiplying the specimen area by its average height.
Calculate the bulk density of the specimen by dividing the dry mass of the specimen by the
calculated volume. Convert the bulk density into the bulk specific gravity, Gmb, by dividing by
0.99707 g/cm3, the density of water at 25°C (77°F).

7.3.9. Determine the theoretical maximum specific gravity, Gmm, of the uncompacted samples according
to T 209. Calculate the percent air voids (VTM) and VCAmix as shown below:
 1 − Gmb 
VTM = 100   (1)
 Gmm 
Gmb × Pca
= 100 −
VCAmix (2)
Gca
where:
Pca = percent of coarse aggregate in the mixture, based on the trial blend gradation;
Gmb = combined bulk specific gravity of the total aggregate; and
Gca = bulk specific gravity of the coarse aggregate, determined in Section 7.2.2.

7.3.10. Compare the VCADRC, determined in Section 7.2.2, to the VCAmix, determined in Section 7.3.9.
When the VCAmix is equal to or less than the VCADRC, stone-on-stone contact exists.

7.3.11. Compare each trial blend mixture to the minimum asphalt binder content, air voids, and VCAmix
requirements in Table 5. Of the three trial blends, the trial blend with the highest air void content
that meets the 18 percent minimum and exhibits stone-on-stone contact is considered the design
gradation. If none of the trail blends satisfies the requirements, repeat the process with different
trial blends or different aggregates.

Table 5—PFC Mixture Specification Requirements

Property Requirement
Minimum asphalt binder, % Table 4
Air voids, % 18 to 22
VCAmix, % Less than VCADRC
Abrasion loss, % 15 max (see Note 4)
Tensile strength ratio (TSR) 0.70 min
Draindown at production temperature, % 0.30 max

TS-2d PP 77-6 AASHTO

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7.4. Optimize Asphalt Content and Verify Design:

7.4.1. Selection of Optimum Asphalt Binder Content—After selecting the design gradation, it is
necessary to evaluate different asphalt binder contents in order to select an optimum binder
content. Prepare additional samples of mixture using the design gradation and at least three
different asphalt binder contents. Typically the binder contents are at 0.5 percent increments. A
total of 18 samples shall be produced: three compacted samples for Gmb and abrasion loss testing
and three uncompacted samples (one for determination of Gmm and two for draindown testing) at
each of the three asphalt binder contents.

7.4.2. Prepare and analyze the mixture samples as described in Sections 7.3.3 through 7.3.10.

7.4.3. Abrasion Loss—Test three compacted specimens of the design gradation at each asphalt binder
content in accordance with TP 108.
Note 4—Some states have reported successful PFC mixtures with up to 20 percent abrasion loss.

7.4.4. Draindown Sensitivity—Determine the draindown sensitivity of two uncompacted samples of the
design gradation at each asphalt binder content in accordance with T 305, except use a 2.36 mm
wire basket. Conduct the draindown testing at a temperature of 15°C (27°F) higher than the
anticipated production temperature.

7.4.5. Permeability (optional)—If required, conduct laboratory permeability testing. Laboratory

permeability values greater than 100 m/day (300 ft/day) are recommended.

7.4.6. Compare the test results for the mixtures with different asphalt binder contents to all of the
requirements in Table 5. Select the binder content of the mixture that meets all of the requirements
in Table 5 as the optimum (design) binder content.

7.4.7. Evaluation of Moisture Sensitivity—Determine the moisture susceptibility of the designed mixture
according to T 283 with one freeze–thaw cycle. Modify the T 283 method as follows:

7.4.7.1. Compact PFC specimens with 50 gyrations of the Superpave Gyratory Compactor at the optimum
asphalt binder content;

7.4.7.2. Air void content in accordance with Table 5;

7.4.7.3. Apply a vacuum of 87.8 kPa (26 in.Hg) for 10 min to saturate the compacted specimens; however,
no specific saturation level is required; and

7.4.7.4. Keep the specimens submerged in water during the freeze–thaw cycle.

7.4.7.5. If the mixture does not meet the minimum TSR requirement in Table 5, either redesign the
mixture using different materials or use an antistrip additive to increase the TSR.

8. REPORT
8.1. Report the following information and test results:

8.1.1. Identification of the project and project number;

8.1.2. Aggregate source(s); asphalt source, grade type, and amount of stabilizing additive; and material
quality characteristics;

8.1.3. Results of the grading optimization;

TS-2d PP 77-7 AASHTO

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8.1.4. Selected optimum aggregate gradation and optimum asphalt binder content;

8.1.5. Volumetric properties, abrasion loss, and draindown for each trial blend from Section 7.4 and at
the optimum asphalt binder content;

8.1.6. Results of moisture susceptibility testing and antistrip additive, if needed; and

8.1.7. Recommended job-mix formula.

9. KEYWORDS
9.1. Abrasion loss; aggregates; air voids; asphalt; asphalt binder; breakpoint sieve; draindown;
gradations; PFC mixtures; stabilizing additive; VCA; voids in the coarse aggregate.

10. REFERENCES
10.1. AASHTO. M 156, Requirements for Mixing Plants for Hot-Mixed, Hot-Laid Bituminous Paving
Mixtures

10.2. AASHTO. M 231, Weighing Devices Used in the Testing of Materials

10.3. AASHTO. T 85, Specific Gravity and Absorption of Coarse Aggregate

1
This provisional standard was first published in 2014.

TS-2d PP 77-8 AASHTO

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