Petroleum Science and Technology

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Rutting resistance and resilient modulus

evaluation of polymer-modified SMA mixtures

Reza Imaninasab

To cite this article: Reza Imaninasab (2016) Rutting resistance and resilient modulus evaluation
of polymer-modified SMA mixtures, Petroleum Science and Technology, 34:16, 1483-1489, DOI:
10.1080/10916466.2016.1206567

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10916466.2016.1206567

Published online: 12 Sep 2016.

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 PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
, VOL. , NO. ,
http://dx.doi.org/./..

Rutting resistance and resilient modulus evaluation of

polymer-modified SMA mixtures
Reza Imaninasab
School of Civil Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
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Ethylene copolymer bitumen (ECB), namely Lucobit, as a thermoplastic poly- Hamburg Wheel Tracking
mer, SBS as a thermoplastic-elastomer polymer, and ethylene-vinyl-acetate test; penetration index;
(EVA) combined with Fischer-Tropsch wax and resin additives, namely Rheo- resilient modulus; rutting
performance; thermoplastic
falt WKR-2, as a modified thermoplastic polymer were used for stone matrix
polymer
asphalt modification. Two types of asphalt modification processes including
polymer-modified bitumen (PMB) and direct addition of polymer into mix-
ture were employed and the effect of each one on resilient modulus and
rutting resistance was evaluated by performing Indirect Tensile Resilient Mod-
ulus and Hamburg Wheel Tracking tests. PMB, SBS, and Rheofalt-modified mix-
tures resulted in lower rut depth and higher resilient modulus than did those
modified by ECB. In direct addition of the polymer into mixture process, there
is reduction in rutting resistance and resilient modulus of Rheofalt-modified
mixtures in comparison with PMB. Furthermore, there was no improvement
for ECB-modified mixtures by direct addition modification.

1. Introduction
Stone matrix asphalt (SMA) is a gap-graded hot mix asphalt composing of coarse skeleton and mastic,
which contains high filler content, some fine aggregates, cellulose fiber and asphalt binder (Brown and
Cooley, 1999; Gatchalian, 2006). SMA was first developed in 1960s in order to reduce damages of stud-
ded tire that used to be common in Germany. Prohibition of studded tire and the high costs of SMA
materials and construction led to SMA production decrease. However, it became popular in some other
countries such as Sweden because of its high rutting resistance properties (Gatchalian, 2006). Later, it
was introduced to the United States as a result of European Asphalt Study Tour in 1990 (Xie, 2006).
Providing stone on stone contact, SMA is rut resistant hot mix asphalt (HMA) with a mechanism
to bear compressive stress by coarse skeleton, which made up of approximately over 70% of aggregate
weight (Brown et al., 1997). Coarse aggregates are defined as the retained aggregate on #4 sieve or #8,
depending on Nominal Maximum Aggregate Size (NMAS; Gatchalian, 2006).
A lot of field-related researches have been carried out on rut depth of SMA mixture, proving its rut
resistance capacity (Brown, 1992; Bellin, 1997; Brown et al., 1997). However, only some of the laboratory
tests have been found to be able to evaluate the performance of SMA mixtures versus dense-graded mix-
tures. These tests include the confined creep test, Hamburg Wheel Tracking (HWT) test, and gyratory
shear test. All of them are used for rutting resistance evaluation (Brown, 1992).

CONTACT Reza Imaninasab imany_reza@civileng.iust.ac.ir School of Civil Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technol-
ogy, Tehran, Iran.
Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
 1484 R. IMANINASAB

Table . Properties of ller, coarse aggregate, and ne aggregate.

Result
Property Coarse aggregate Fine aggregate Filler Limits

Bulk specic gravity (ASTM C and . . .

)
Sand equivalent (SE) Min.
Fine aggregate angularity (AASHTO Min.
TP)
Los Angeles abrasion value (AASHTO Number of rotations
T)
Abrasion value . Max.
Atterburg limits (AASHTO T, T) Plasticity index N.A. Non-plastic
Plastic limit (PL)
Liquid limit (LL) N.A.
Percentage of fractured particles in One side Min.
coarse aggregate (ASTM D)
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Two side Min.

Flakiness and elongation (BS ) Elongation . Max.
Flakiness . Max.
Soundess of aggregate by use of . .
sodium sulfate or magnesium
sulfate (AASHTO T)

2. Objectives
The objectives of this research are evaluation of the effect of using fiber on binder content and evaluation
of rutting resistance and resilient modulus of ethylene copolymer bitumen (ECB) and Rheofalt with
respect to control and SBS-modified SMA mixture in two applicable processes for granular polymers
that are widely used to produce polymer-modified asphalt.

3. Research approach
Aggregates, asphalt binder, stabilizing additives and mineral fillers were selected to meet Iran High-
way Paving Code Specifications (Ministry of Road and Transportation Research and Education Center,
2012). After determining optimum gradation and binder content according to the NCHRP report 425
procedure (Brown and Cooley, 1999), HWT and resilient modulus tests were performed on cylindrical
specimens to examine rutting performance and structural response.

3.1. Material
Using high-quality coarse aggregates is required for SMA because these aggregates are the load-bearing
structure of this type of asphalt mixtures. The mechanical properties of fine and coarse siliceous aggregate
used in this research are presented in Table 1. Furthermore, used bitumen is 60/70 penetration bitumen
with the properties listed in Table 2.

Table . Physical properties measured of bitumen.

Parameter measured Method (ASTM) Unit Value

Penetration at C D . mm
Softening point (R&B) D C
Ductility at C D Cm >
Flash and re point D C
Specic gravity at C D g/cm .
 PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1485
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Figure . Selected gradation for SMA.

3.2. Gradation and optimal asphalt binder content

Proposed SMA gradation limits depend on NMAS. Gradation with closest void in coarse aggregate
(VCA) ratio (VCAmix /VCADRC ) to 1, which meets minimum void in mineral aggregate of 17% and has
the void of coarse aggregate in mix (VCAmix ) less than the void of coarse aggregate determined by the
dry-rodded technique (VCADRC ), is selected as the desired gradation with stone on stone contact estab-
lishment. The trial and desired gradations of this study are shown in Figure 1.
Based on NCHRP report 425 (Brown and Cooley, 1999), the optimal asphalt binder content was deter-
mined for mixes with and without cellulose fiber. It is defined as the asphalt binder percentage that results
in 3 to 4 percent air void content. In this research 4% was selected as it is proposed for warmer regions.

3.3. Specimen preparation

Mixing conditions for polymer-modified bitumen and direct addition into the mixture are presented in
Table 3 and notably no direct addition into the mixture is defined for SBS. Moreover, polymer weight for
target polymer percentage is calculated as Eq. (1):

P = a/ (a + b) (1)

Where a: is polymer weight, b: is bitumen weight, and P: is polymer percent.

For indirect tensile resilient modulus test, three identical specimens were compacted by SGC (Super-
pave Gyratory Compactor) for each type of mixture that was equivalent to 50 Marshall hammer blows.
SGC is proved to better simulate field compaction by roller (Imaninasab et al., 2016).

Table . Mixing conditions of dierent additives.

Temperature Mixing time

Additive Dosage used, % Process type (PMB), C Apparatus used (PMB) (PMB), min

EVA+Fischer Tropsch by bitumen PMB- direct addition Screw type mixer

wax+resin weight into mixture
ECB by bitumen PMB- direct addition High shear ( rmp)
weight into mixture
SBS by bitumen PMB High shear ( rmp)
weight
Cellulose ber . by mixture Direct addition into
weight mixture
 1486 R. IMANINASAB

Table . Bitumen test results.

Test
Sample Penetration, . mm Softening point, C Penetration index

AC / .
ECB % .
ECB % .
ECB % .
EVA+Wax+resin % .
EVA+Wax+resin %
EVA+Wax+resin % .
SBS % .
SBS % .

3.4. Resilient modulus

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In this research, indirect tensile resilient modulus was performed at 21C according to ASTM D4123-
82 standard to compare the tensile and rutting resistance properties of control and-modified asphalt
concrete. Amplitude of load was 555 N and Poisson ratio was assumed to be 0.35. Elastic or resilient
modulus of specimen is computed by Eq. (2):

MR = P ( + 0.2734) / (t ) (2)

where MR is resilient modulus (MPa), P is applied load (N), is Poisson ratio, is recoverable deforma-
tion (mm), and t is specimen thickness (mm)

3.5. Hamburg wheel tracking

Before performing the WHT test, specimens were kept at least for 4 hours at ambient temperature of
50C to reach homogeneous temperature all over the samples. The test was then carried out according
to BS 589110 code. Three 300 300 50 mm compacted slabs were fabricated for each type of mixture
at the optimum binder content and, after 8000 cycles, rut depth was measured in order to evaluate rutting
resistance of different mixtures.

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Bitumen
Penetration at 25C and softening point are presented in Table 4, respectively. It is shown that polymer
dosage increase resulted in penetration decrease and softening point increase. Table 4 indicates that,
within the range used, penetration index (PI) increases with polymer content increase. It is proved that
asphalt binder with less PI is more susceptible binder to temperature and less favorable for areas with
hot temperature variations (Ameli et al., 2016). Therefore, it is Rheofalt-12% with the best performance
in warm region followed by Rheofalt-8%, SBS-6%, and ECB-7%.

4.2. Mix design

Mix design results for mixtures containing cellulose fiber and no cellulose fiber are presented in Table 5.
Using fiber in SMA mixtures reduces the optimal asphalt binder content since it substitutes binder con-
tent and fills voids instead of bitumen. In contrast, bitumen modification does not change the optimal
binder content since the criterion for its determination is volumetric property of air void content. There-
fore, polymer modification does not increase or decrease the cost with respect to required binder content
in SMA.
 PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1487

Table . Volumetric properties of dierent limits of gradation.

Mix type
Measured parameter With ber Without ber

Optimal binder content, % . .

Bulk density, Gmb . .
Maximum theoretical density, Gmm . .
Void of coarse aggregate in dry rodded condition%(VCADRC ) . .
Void of coarse aggregate in mixture % (VCAmix ) . .
Ratio VCA . .
Void in mineral aggregate % .
Air void of mixture % . .

4.3. Resilient modulus

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As shown in Figure 2, polymer-modified mixtures processed by PMB have greater modulus than unmod-
ified and cellulose fiber-modified mixture. Moreover, PMB mixing process results in greater resilient
modulus than direct addition of polymer into the mixtures.
Figure 2 also shows that adding cellulose fibers leads to resilient modulus reduction for control and
SBS-modified samples. There is increase in resilient modulus with Rheofalt content increase for both
modification types, however, at similar content, the value for direct addition is less than modified mix-
ture by PMB process. The resilient modulus decrease in the mixtures containing cellulose fiber including
SBS, neat and Rheofalt-modified mixtures is due to 0.3% binder content reduction because cohesion and
adhesion of mixtures decreases because cementitious material is substituted by stabilizer that just pre-
vents draindown and does not contribute to cohesion and adhesion at early stage of asphalt. In contrast,
direct addition of ECB into the mixture does not improve resilient modulus. It can be concluded that
this polymer is not soluble in such conditions.
All the mixtures containing modified bitumen as well as modified mixtures by 8% and 12% Rheofalt
with direct addition have resilient modulus greater than 3100 MPa which is accomplished by suscep-
tibility to thermal and fatigue cracking (American Association of State Highway and Transportation

Figure . Resilient modulus for dierent modied mixtures.

 1488 R. IMANINASAB
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Figure . Rut depth of modied mixtures.

Officials, 1993). So these stiff mixtures are recommended to be used in upper layer of topcoat, which is
not imposed by high tensile stress.

4.4. HWT test

As shown in Figure 3, although direct addition of polymers into mixtures is effective for Rheofalt and
there is rut depth reduction with polymer increase, ECB does not contribute to rutting performance
enhancement that way. It can also be observed that, for both ECB and Rheofalt, PMB resulted in smaller
rut depth compared with direct addition. For Rheofalt, such increase in rut depth is attributed to optimal
binder content reduction as a result of cellulose fiber introduction. However, for ECB, direct addition of
the polymer into mix is believed not to be efficient for asphalt modification.
Melting point of Rheofalt (105C) is far less than that of ECB (165195C), which it is due to modifi-
cation of EVA by Fischer-Tropsch wax. Subsequently, it can be inferred that Rheofalt is soluble into the
asphalt mixes when added directly into mixes and is able to enhance mechanical properties while the
higher melting temperature of ECB does not lead to being effective in this modification process.
SBS and unmodified mixtures containing cellulose fiber are less rut resistant compared to those with-
out the fiber because, similar to resilient modulus deduction, cohesion and adhesion of asphalt mixes
decrease as a result of cellulose fiber substitution. Furthermore, with respect to PMB, effect of SBS and
Rheofalt on rutting performance is almost the same while ECB is not as influential as Rheofalt and SBS.

5. Conclusion
Following conclusion can be drawn according to obtained results:
r Polymer content increase resulted in PI increase suggesting being appropriate for warm region,
where rutting is common.
r Using cellulose fiber reduces optimal binder content, and consequently decreases resilient modulus
and increases rut depth.
r Direct addition of ECB into the mixture is not an effective modification process since it does not
improve the rutting resistance and resilient modulus.
r In the PMB process, SBS and Rheofalt have approximately the same improvement on rutting
resistance.
 PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1489

r Direct addition of Rheofalt into the mixture leads to rutting resistance and resilient modulus
improvement with polymer percentage increase within the recommended dosage range.
r For Rheofalt, the PMB process leads to less rut depth than direct addition into the mixture which
is due to cellulose fiber introduction.

References
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