High-Tech, Space-Age Metal Surface Enhancement Coating Solves Wear and Release Problems for Pine Instrument Company's Gyratory Compaction Asphalt Testers

High-Tech, Space-Age Metal Surface Enhancement Coating Solves Wear and Release Problems for Pine Instrument Company's Gyratory Compaction Asphalt Testers

The development of computer-controlled asphalt testing equipment to simulate and then quantify and predict the punishment which various asphalt mixes will be able to endure when used to pave actual roads has placed enormous burdens on the components of that test equipment. To stand up to simulations of heavy road wear, equipment designers have had to look beyond the conventional and to seek out materials that could endure tremendous stress. That was precisely the position in which the worldwide, leading supplier of such equipment, Pine Instrument Company of Grove City, Pennsylvania, found itself.

Research has shown that the best way to simulate the long term effect of traffic is to use what is known as the "gyratory compaction method." In this procedure, the asphalt aggregate to be tested is placed in an enclosed compaction chamber or enclosure in which it is subjected to various forces. In this situation, acceptable performance not only meant that the equipment would withstand these forces for long periods of time, but also that the asphalt would be released quickly, easily, and completely from the compaction chamber following each test.