Variabilidade granulométrica de misturas asfálticas densas: estudo de caso em uma rodovia cearense

Abstract

Brazil is a country of vast territorial extension and requires an adequate transportation infrastructure for the transportation of people and goods. Unfortunately, Brazilian highways have a concerning quality due to a lack of quality control and negligence. In this context, this study aims to describe the variability of the particle size distribution of the Hot Mix Asphalt Layer in a real road construction project. To achieve this, the passing percentage of granulometric sieves was analyzed. Using descriptive statistics, the levels of variability and dispersion of these parameters were identified in the entire project and in different temporal windows. The results indicated that the averages of the analyzed sieves are all within the permitted limits for the wearing course, according to the DNIT 031/2006 - ES standard. Additionally, it was observed that analyzing the project in different stages - initial, intermediate, and final - can lead to considerable divergences in the results. Particularly, the intermediate stage obtained the lowest values of coefficient of variation and sample variance. Furthermore, for the project as a whole, the sieves with smaller apertures, numbers 40, 80, and 200, showed the highest variability indicators. Therefore, it is concluded that there is no pre-defined standard for controlling the passing percentage through the sieves, as the smaller apertures posed the greatest difficulty in control.