Estimating the hotmix asphalt air voids from ground penetrating radar

Traditionally, in-place air voids are obtained based on field cores. Coring is a destructive and time-consuming process. This study presents a high speed Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) technique with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to characterize the in-place air voids. A total of 92 cores were retrieved from three field projects to establish relationship between the air voids and the measured dielectric by GPR. A statistical model was developed to express the air void value as a function of dielectric and other variables. Contour air void maps could also be produced for the entire pavement sections. The results from the underlying studies have been used as the basis for the repair strategy selections.