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Information listed in this lecture is mainly taken from Standard Specifications for
Engineering Materials and Methods of Sampling and Testing (AASHTO, 2013),
A Manual for Design of Hot Mix Asphalt with Commentary (NCHRP, Report 673,
2011), Traffic and Highway Engineering (Garber, 2009), Handbook of Highway
Engineering (Fwa, 2006), http://www.pavementinteractive.org (Accessed on 2015)
and Highways (OFlaherty, 2007).
A- Constituents of a mix
Coarse aggregates: Offer compressive and shear strength and shows good
interlocking properties. E.g. Crushed stone.
Fine aggregates: Fills the voids in the coarse aggregate and stiffens the binder. E.g.
Sand, Rock dust
Filler: Fills the voids, stiffens the binder and offers permeability. E.g. Rock dust,
cement, lime.
Binder: Fills the voids, cause particle adhesion and gluing (cementing) and offers
impermeability. E.g. Bitumen (Asphalt) and Tar.
Asphalt Concrete (Also known as hot mix asphalt, plant mix, bituminous mix,
bituminous concrete) is a combination of two primary ingredients - aggregates
(90 95)% by weight of total mixture and asphalt cement (5-10)% asphalt cement.
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3. Flexibility
It is the ability of the pavement to bend repeatedly due to traffic loads without
cracking (fatigue resistance). To obtain the desired flexibility :
1- Using appropriate content and type of asphalt;
2- Using well graded aggregate;
3- Selected temperature of mixing and compaction.
4. Skid resistance
It depends on the roughness of surface textured aggregate , hardness of aggregate
and less asphalt content. Best skid resistance is obtained with rough-textured
aggregate in a relatively open-graded mixture.
5. Workability
Workability describes the ease with which a paving mixture can be placed and
compacted. Mixtures with good workability are easy to place and compact; those
with poor workability are difficult to place and compact.
Workability can be improved by changing
a- mix design parameters
b- aggregate source, and/or
c- gradation.
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There are several mix design methods for Hot-Mix Asphalt, Hveem (1920s), Marshall
(1930s), and Superpave (1990s) are the most common methods. In this course, only
Marshall method will be covered.
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Outline of method
The Marshall method uses standard cylindrical test specimens that are 64 mm
(2.5in) high by 102 mm (4in) diameter. These are prepared using a specified
procedure for heating, mixing and compacting the bitumenaggregate mixture. The
two principal features of the Marshall method of mix design are a density voids
analysis and a stability-flow test of the compacted test specimens. The stability of
the test specimens is the maximum load resistance, in newtons, that the standard
test specimen will develop at 60C. The flow value is the total movement or
displacement, in units of 0.25 mm, occurring in the specimen between no load and
the point of maximum load during the stability test.
Procedure
Step 1. Aggregate Evaluation
The aggregates proposed for use in the mix design should be have the desired
properties and satisfy the required specifications (See Lecture L13). If the aggregates
meet the requirements above, the aggregate specific gravity, absorption, and
gradation are determined. These will be used for determining the volumetric
properties of the mix. Last, the individual aggregate gradations are combined in
different proportions to develop trial blends.
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aggregates. Similarly, mixes with more viscous asphalt cements will have a higher
stability than mixes with less viscous asphalt cements. The primary use of the
Marshall stability is to evaluate the effect of asphalt cement in the Marshall mix
design procedure. However, increasing the Marshall stability in the laboratory does
not automatically translate to increased stability of mixes in the field.
Flow is the vertical deformation of the sample at failure. High flow values typically
indicate a plastic mix that could be susceptible to permanent deformation. Low flow
values may indicate low air voids that may lead to premature cracking.
Step 5. Density and Void Analysis
Using the bulk specific gravity and maximum theoretical specific gravity test results
and the relevant equations, the volumetric properties of the mix can be determined.
This information is used in Step 6.
Step 6. Tabulating and Plotting Test Results
With the completion of Steps 4 and 5, the average (from three replicates) results
can be tabulated and plotted. The following plots can then be made to evaluate the
mix:
* Density (or Unit Weight) vs. Asphalt Content
* Marshall Stability vs. Asphalt Content
* Flow vs. Asphalt Content
* Air Voids vs. Asphalt Content
* VMA vs. Asphalt Content
* VFA vs. Asphalt Content
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The density plot typically shows a trend of increasing density until the peak is
reached. After this peak, the density begins to decrease.
The Marshall stability has a similar trend but its peak is typically at a lower asphalt
content than density. Some recycled mixes may show a decreasing stability with
increasing asphalt content with no peak.
Flow typically increases with increasing asphalt content.
The percent air voids should decrease and the VFA increase with increasing asphalt
content.
VMA is another property that increases with asphalt content until it reaches its peak
and then decreases with additional increase in asphalt content.
Step 7. Optimum Asphalt Content Determination
The criteria used to select the optimum asphalt content can vary considerably
between agencies. In the Asphalt Institute method (adopted in Iraq), the OAC is the
average of the following three asphalt contents:
* Asphalt content at maximum stability
* Asphalt content at maximum density
* Asphalt content at the mid-point of specified air void content (typically at 4%)
1
Compare the proposed optimum asphalt content against the criteria in Tables
below. The proposed optimum asphalt content is selected if it meets the criteria in
the Tables. If not, the mix should be redesigned.
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Following is the corresponding the Iraqi specifications (SCRB, 2007, Table R9/5).
The Marshall Stability of surface course for Expressway, all bridges and the
approaches to bridges for a distance of 200m on each side shall be not less than
10 KN, if directed by the Engineer.
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The (S) letter refers to aggregate, (m) to mixture , and (b) to binder (asphalt).
Vm: volume of mix (bulk)
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The Apparent Specific Gravity (Gsa) is the ratio of the mass in air of a unit volume of
an impermeable material at a selected temperature to the mass in air of equal
density of an equal volume of gas-free distilled water at the same temperature.
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The Effective Specific Gravity (Gse) is the ratio of the mass in air of a unit volume of
a permeable material (excluding voids permeable to bitumen) at a selected
temperature to the mass in air of equal density of an equal volume of gas-free
distilled water at the same selected temperature.
A - Bulk Specific Gravity of Combined Aggregate (Gsb): When the total aggregate
consists of separate fractions of coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, and mineral filler,
all having different specific gravities, the bulk specific gravity for the total aggregate
is calculated from:
where P1; P2; Pn are individual percentages by mass of aggregate and G1; G2; Gn are
individual bulk specific gravities of aggregate.
B - Effective Specific Gravity of Aggregate (Gse): The effective specific gravity of the
aggregates is normally based on the maximum theoretical specific gravity of the
paving mixture Gmm ( measured using ASTM D 2041), the effective specific gravity of
the aggregate, Gse, includes all void spaces in the aggregate particles except those
that absorb bitumen.
;
Pb + Ps=100
Where;
Pb: asphalt percent by total weight (mass) of paving mixture (100 Ps),
Ps: is the percent of the combined aggregate by total weight of mix,
100: (Pmm) is the percent by mass of total loose mix,
Gb: specific gravity of binder (asphalt).
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Gmm: maximum specific gravity of the paving mixture as measured using ASTM
D 2041 (AASHTO T209). The precision for the test is best when the mixture is close
to the design asphalt content.
The effective specific gravity of the aggregates Gse can be considered constant, since
varying the asphalt content in the paving mixture does not significantly vary the
asphalt absorption.
C - Maximum specific gravity of mixtures with different asphalt contents Gmm
The effective specific gravity obtained in (B) above then is used to determine the
maximum specific gravity of the paving mixtures with different asphalt cement
contents.
where Pba = absorbed bitumen (as percentage by mass of aggregate); Gse = effective
specific gravity of aggregate; Gsb = bulk specific gravity of aggregate; and
Gb = specific gravity of bitumen.
B- Effective asphalt content of a paving mixture
The effective bitumen content, Pbe, of a paving mixture is the total bitumen content
minus the quantity of bitumen lost by absorption into the aggregate particles. As it
is the portion of the total bitumen content that remains as a coating on the outside
of the aggregate particles, it is this bitumen content which governs the performance
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where VMA = voids in mineral aggregate, percentage of bulk volume; Gsb = bulk
specific gravity of total aggregate; Gmb = bulk specific gravity of compacted mixture
(AASHTO T 166, ASTM D 1188 or D 2726); and Ps = aggregate content, percentage by
total mass of mixture.
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where VFB= voids filled with bitumen, percentage of VMA; VMA= voids in mineral
aggregate, percentage of bulk volume; and Va = air voids in compacted mixture,
percentage of total volume.
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Hence,
(f)
2.7332.707
2.7072.733
1.013 = 0.356%
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Example: Using the information provided in the listed Table, determine the
asphalt absorption, effective asphalt binder content, VMA, air voids, and VFA of
the given asphalt mixture.
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