MultiCool

About MultiCool:

MultiCool is an asphalt pavement cooling prediction program for use during construction. Funding for this app was provided by the National Asphalt Pavement Association. MultiCool is meant to estimate how rapidly a freshly-placed mat will cool as a function of the initial mat temperature, ambient conditions, mat thickness and other properties. The cooling rate prediction can help contractors better plan their rolling operations to more efficiently achieve target mat density. MultiCool has been validated in cold (Minnesota) and warm (California and Alabama) climates for typical Superpave mixtures, stone matrix asphalt (SMA) mixes, warm mix asphalt (WMA), reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), reclaimed asphalt shingle (RAS) and ground tire rubber (GTR) mixtures. Though it has been validated, in no event will the authors of this program be liable to you or any other person for any damages, expenses, lost profits, lost savings, or other damages arising out of use or inability to use this program.

By using this application, you agree to the preceding statement.

General Information

Help: Enter the specifics of your project location. The program will use this information to calculate the angle of the sun during construction.

SI English
Degrees N
Degrees E

Existing Surface

Help: Specify the type of material, the moisture condition and temperature of the material on which you will pave the first lift of asphalt concrete. The program will use this information to calculate how quickly the heat will be drawn out of the freshly laid mat.


Mix Specifications

Help: Enter the details of each lift to be paved, adding lifts as needed. The lifts are numbered in order of placement. Note that weather should be set for each lift separately. The mix specifications and weather conditions are used to compute the starting point for each lift and how quickly they cool.

Lift 1 <- Selected
Existing Surface


Results

Help: The time available for compaction, based on all the inputs, is shown for each lift. The time is based on time for each lift to cool from its starting to stopping temperature.

Cooling Curves


MultiCool References:

MultiCool evolved from the original PaveCool program developed in Minnesota, followed by further enhancements to simulate multiple lifts cooling in California (CalCool). For PC users, the full MultiCool program is available here. The following references document the development and field validation of the program.

Chadbourn, B. A., D. E. Newcomb, V. R. Voller, R. A. DeSombre, J. A. Luoma and D. H. Timm, “An Asphalt Paving Tool for Adverse Conditions,” Final Report, MN/RC-1998-18, Minnesota Department of Transportation, St. Paul, MN, 1998.

Timm, D.H., Voller, V.R., Lee, E.B. and Harvey, J., “CalCool: A Multi-Layer Asphalt Pavement Cooling Tool for Temperature Prediction During Construction,” International Journal of Pavement Engineering, Vol. 2, 2001, pp. 169 - 185.

Vargas-Nordcbeck, A. and D.H. Timm, “Validation of Cooling Curve Prediction Model for Nonconventional Asphalt Concrete Mixtures,” Transportation Research Record 2228, Transportation Research Board, 2011, pp. 111-119.

Diaz Sanchez, M. and D.H. Timm, “Influence of Sustainable Recycled Asphalt Technologies on Pavement Construction Cooling Predictions,” Proceedings of the 93rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 2014.