The production of hot mix asphalt (HMA) involves drying and heating aggregates and mixing and coating the aggregates with liquid asphalt bitumen. This process presents many simulation challenges. As an equipment manufacturer Astec uses simulation to improve equipment design and performance, but the changing characteristics of the HMA mixture during the production process has meant the development of a range of custom DEM models to account for different stages of the process. In this presentation, Astec's head of simulation and modeling reviews successes and where there are gaps in the process of simulating HMA production from rock to road.
Presented as part of the virtual ATCx Discrete Element Method in November 2020.
Speaker: Andrew Hobbs, Head of Simulation and Modeling, Astec Industries
Duration: 18 minutes