What is ARMI™?
ACE XP Polymer Fiber™ is used in a special Asphalt Mix Design to create this Reflective Crack Relief Interlayer product called ARMI™
ACE XP Polymer Fiber™ when added to typical base and surface asphalt pavements has shown to improve crack resistance from 25% to 60%. The Aramid Reinforced Membrane Interlayer (ARMI™) takes asphalt pavement crack resistance to the next level, providing a permanent plant produced and paver laid 1” thick asphalt interlayer.
The standard ARMI product will drastically reduce both bottom up and top down crack penetration through the 1” thick interlayer providing unparalleled crack resistance.
ARMI+ is further modified to achieve the crack resistance specific to the owner’s performance needs and expectations.
Both ARMI and ARMI+ are engineered with a special asphalt mix design and liquid binder which is hot-mixed and hot-laid to stay in place even though the surface course above is replaced 2 or 3 times during the life of the interlayer. Adding a special designed ACE XP reinforced surface course will provide the most crack resistant system on the market today reducing costly maintenance over the life of the pavement.
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Technology behind ARMI™
Early 2019 testing performed by the University of California-Berkley Pavement Research Center (UCPRC) on ACE XP Polymer Fiber reinforced asphalt mixes found that typical asphalt mixes reinforced with ACE XP Polymer Fiber can improve the mixture fatigue life by over 90 percent at 600 microstrains and 200 percent at 900 microstrains. Further development by Surface Tech has led to ARMI™ – a new reflective crack relief interlayer (RCRI) product reinforced with aramid polymer fibers that can provide fatigue life improvement of more than 700 percent at 2000 microstrains.
ARMI BENEFITS
Slow Reflective Cracking
Slow Thermal Cracking
Reduce Surface Crack Water Penetration
Longer Pavement Performance
Reduced maintenance cost over the life of pavement
TYPE OF USE
Asphalt overlays over concrete pavements
Asphalt overlays over moderate to severe cracking asphalt pavements
Engineered for Performance
How does ACE XP Polymer Fiber make asphalt more durable?
Aramid Fibers are used extensively in many industries and applications including ballistic protection, heat & cut protection, automotive, ropes & cables, conveyor belts, etc. However, it takes a special fiber to withstand the extreme production temperatures of asphalt concrete without changes occurring to the reinforcement properties of the fiber. That is why ACE XP Polymer Fiber™ uses aramid fibers exclusively. Aramid is a unique man-made, high-strength polymer fiber boasting high tensile strengths over 400,000 psi (5 x steel), a superior stress/strain relationship, and decomposition temperatures of 932oF (well above asphalt mixing temperatures of 350oF). 1.5” long fiber lengths are STANDARD for superior long-term performance.
Material Properties
MATERIAL
Para-Aramid Fiber (50-52% by weight)
FORM
Filament Yarn
TENSILE STRENGTH
> 2.758 (GPa)
ELONGATION AT BREAK
< 4.4 (%)
MODULUS
> 95 (GPa)
SPECIFIC GRAVITY
1.44-1.45 (g/cm3)
MELTING TEMPERATURE
> 170 (˚F)
HANDLING
Free Flowing Coated Fiber Bundles (visual)
Ease of Production & Installation
ACE XP Polymer Fiber™ or ARMI™ Aramid are easily added by a simple-to-operate Line-Vac® Compressed Air Delivery System or the Automated Micro Doser MD3+.
The use of either product at 4.2 to 8.4 ounces per ton of asphalt does not change the asphalt volumes or require any change to the job mix formula (JMF).
Surface Tech partners with the producer on every project to provide a robust QA/QC program. Asphalt producers choose the option best fits the job to achieve consistent and compliant blending at their plants.
Bottom Up Performance
CRACKING
RUTTING
LIFE EXPECTANCY
A single solution to cracking is not practical due to the variability of asphalt mixes across the United States. However, once the IDEAL-CT Index is understood and accepted, owners and engineers can start solving their unique cracking problems with data driven solutions.
By combining the use Surface Tech’s Aramid Pavement Solutions ranging from the 4.2 oz. / ton to 8.4 oz. /ton of ACE XP Polymer Fiber™ for reinforced overlays to incorporating ARMI™ on the really tough problems, Surface Tech provides owners and engineers a choice on how they solve their cracking problems.
