ASPHALT CONCRETE

General Description

Asphalt Concrete (A/C) is mix, which is a combination of aggregate that are uniformly
mixed and coated with asphalt. To dry the aggregate and obtain sufficient fluidity for
proper mixing and workability both must be heated to a specified temperature as given in
the relevant standards.

The A/C mix that is to be used on a particular road should have specified properties
which will vary perhaps from one another. These properties will be discussed later. In
order to meet these requirements, an A/C mix should be designed provided that the
design is focussed on the selection of materials with prescribed properties, determination
of the grading of aggregate and amount of asphalt for the A/C mixture to be used on the
intended road. The Marshall mix design is normally done in the Central Laboratory of the
Research & Development Division of RDA.

The designed data for the asphalt concrete mix is given to the asphalt plant where the
mixture is manufactured and delivered to the construction site by dump trucks. Better
quality controlling system should be there in order to check that the mix manufactured
using the hot mix plant satisfies the designed mix criteria with the tolerances.

The surface course should be carefully constructed, after applying a tack coat on to the
existing surface, maintaining the correct camber, vertical profile and uniform texture
(corresponding to the designed grading of the mixture). Care should be given in the
construction of the transverse joints and longitudinal joints so that no undulations could
be observed at the joint. It is essential to complete the construction before the mixture is
cooled to a specified temperature.

A paver and the motor grader are used to spread A/C, manual spreading should also be
carried out in narrow or restricted areas where there is a difficulty to operate the paver,
such as access areas, sections with small curvatures etc. or in small scale construction.

The hot mix should be compacted immediately after spreading while maintaining the
compacting temperature specified in the project. It should be compacted enough to
achieve its prescribed density given in the relevant specification of design, production,
spreading and compaction.

Design of an Asphalt Concrete Mixture

Marshall Method of Mix Design

Marshall method of mix design for A/C is used by the Road Development Authority for
designing the mixes.

The main steps are as given below.

 a. Selection of the material with the prescribed qualities provided that the required
quantity is available for the project. The required properties of the aggregate and
bitumen are explained in this chapter under the selection of material

b. Determination of the mix proportion of each aggregate so that the combined grading
lies within the grading band given in the project specification

Determination of the bitumen content corresponding to the chosen grading of

aggregate according to the procedure described below.

❖ Within a particular range of the bitumen contents the Marshall specimens are
prepared, with the asphalt content varying at 0.5% intervals.

❖ Density, stability and flow values of specimens are measured and percentage
of air voids and voids in mineral aggregate are calculated. Test results are
plotted indicating the bitumen content on the axis of abscissa and the density,
percentage of air voids, voids in mineral aggregate, stability and flow values
on the axis of the ordinate.

❖ The range of bitumen contents, which satisfy the individual standards given in
the relevant specifications are found from the curves

❖ The common range of bitumen content, which satisfies all the standards, is to
be obtained, with the median value being taken as the design bitumen content.

Note: The graphical representations and the calculation of the design bitumn
contents are shown in the laboratory study.

Selection of Material

This is the preliminary step in designing an A/C mix. There are few tests which are
carried out for the acceptance of the aggregate and asphalt. The relevant properties of
aggregate, and asphalt testings and their significance are described below.

Properties of Aggregate

Generally aggregate to be used for road construction should be clean, hard and durable.
Since properties of aggregate vary significantly from source to source, their engineering
properties will also differ. It is therefore important to be able to define the variation by
means of standard tests.
Importance of shape, grading and consistency.

The skeleton of aggregate which forms when A/C mix are compacted, determines the
stability of materials. Designing the skeleton to achieve maximum interlock though shape
and gradation while allowing sufficient room for asphalt cement is the key to good
performance. Aggregate which have a large number of crushed faces are likely to have
good interlock characteristics. Also since gradation is important, blending of aggregate is
fundamental.

Testing of Aggregate and its Significance

Physical property tests such as for shape, water absorption, voidage, gradation and
relative density are used to describe flakiness, elongation and angularity and these
characteristics will indicate the degree of interlock of the particular material which can be
expected.

Water absorption can indicate bitumen absorption into the aggregate. It is commonly
used to assess durability. High water absorption normally means low durability.

Bulk density can indicate voids in the uncompacted/compacted mineral aggregate and it
can be used to assess the compactibility of aggregate.

Gradation tests are used to define the particle size distribution of the aggregate. This is
very important to assess the compliance with the specification and its affects
compactibility.

Relative density tests which determines the unit weight and used in design calculations
to assess the theoretical density of asphalt mixtures.

Impact resistance is the measure of the resistance of a particular aggregate to rapid

loading. Tests such as the aggregate impact value (AIV) test and the Los Angeles
Abrasion test are used to assess these properties.

The toughness of an aggregate is defined as its ability to resist slow loading. Aggregate
crushing and 10% fines values are commonly used as a measure of toughness.

Striping test is normally done to assess the likelihood of the bitumen stripping from the
stone.

Resistance to weathering test, soundness test is done to predict the ability of aggregate to
withstand the repeated action of effect of temperature, water etc.

Properties of bitumen

The performance of A/C mixtures is significantly influenced by the engineering

properties and to some extent the chemical constitution of bitumen cement. The latter is
very important at the road surface because the constitution influences the rate of
oxidation and thereby how rapidly the bitumen is eroded by traffic. The factors which
will affect the oxidation are air, temperature and water on the bitumen. There are many
other factors influencing this behaviour including the nature of aggregate, mix
composition, asphalt film thickness degree of compaction etc. which influence long term
durability.

Bitumen is a visco elastic material and its behaviour depends on time of loading and
temperature. During the mixing and compaction of A/C mixes and at high service
temperatures, the properties can be considered in terms of viscosity but at most service
conditions they behave visco-elastically and their properties can be expressed in terms of
stiffness modulus bitumen behaves purely elastically, under conditions when the stress is
applied on a long term basis and at high temperatures the behaviour is purely viscous.

Testing of bitumen and its significance

It is most convenient to discuss tests on binders by categorising them into four groups; (a)
consistency tests (b) compaction tests (c) specific gravity tests (d) flash and fire point
tests.

❖ Grades of bitumen are most commonly determined by "the value of

penetration when a standard needle penetrates through a sample of asphalt
cement under specified condition. Generally the higher penetrations are
preferred for use in colder climates and vise versa. It is difficult to get lower
penetration bitumen to adhere to aggregate, once adhesion has been
established, the cohesive bond is much stronger resulting higher strength
than if softer ones are used.

❖ The Ring and Ball softening point test is also widely used to evaluate the
consistency of asphalt. Softening point is the temperature at which the
asphalt cement reaches a particular consistency. Obviously if the softening
point is low, the asphalt will have a tendency to become soft at high road
temperatures. On the other hand if the softening point is very high it is likely
that it will be brittle which may lead to cracking at low road temperatures.

❖ The ability to form thin films which helps to coat aggregate better is also a
characteristics of asphalt, which is determined by ductility test.

❖ The viscosity of a bituminous binder is one of its most important

characteristics to the road engineer. Viscosity measurements are useful not
only in ensuring that the material with the desired properties has been
obtained, but also in selecting the temperatures to which they must be heated
for specific purposes.

❖ Establishing the amount of actual binder available for use in the road
surfacing is important in highway engineering, solubility in
 Trichloroethylene test is done to find out the percentage of binder in asphalt
cement, which is soluble in Trichloroethylene.

❖ The flash and fire point tests are basically safety tests. The flash point test is
the more important of the two, and it will give an indication of the maximum
temperature to which the binder can be safely heated.

Important Marshall Properties of an Asphalt Concrete Mix

Voids in the mineral aggregate, VMA

The volume of inter granular void space between the aggregate particles of a compacted
mix that includes the air voids and the effective bitumen content, expressed as a percent
of the total volume of the mix. The aim of providing a minimum VMA is to furnish
enough space for the bitumen to provide adequate adhesion to bind the aggregate
particles, but without bleeding when temperatures increase and the bitumen expands.
With the increase in bitumen, the mix actually become more workable, compacts more
easily into less volume up to a particular percentage of asphalt. Therefore up to a point,
the bulk density of the mix increases with decreasing VMA. However at some point as
the bitumen content increases, the VMA begins to increase as it acts only to displace the
aggregate.

Designing an asphalt content at the right hand increasing side of the VMA curve have a
tendency to bleed and to exhibit plastic flow when placed in the field. Any amount of
additional compaction from traffic may lead to deformation in high traffic areas.

When the bottom of the U-shape curve falls below the minimum criteria given in the
specification grading of the aggregate should be changed to obtain additional VMA.

The minimum voids in mineral aggregate varies with the size of the aggregate and also it
is a function of the design air voids. However the value should not be so high as more
voids will also shorten the life of the A/C surfacing by the penetration of water into the
layer and by oxidation.

The standard Specification for Construction and Maintenance of Roads and Bridges
(SSCM) of RDA has also specified a single minimum value for both the grading bands
where the nominal maximum size of aggregate is different. According to SSCM the value
should be greater than 14 for both the aggregate bands where the nominal maximum sizes
of aggregate are 19.0mm and 12.5mm. and also it has not considered the VMA as a
function of air voids.

Voids in the mix VIM

The voids in the mix is defined as the total volume of the small pockets of air between
the coated aggregate through compacted mixture, expressed as percent of the bulk
volume of the compacted paving mixture
.
Normally the design range of the air voids (3 to 5 percent) is the level desired after
several years after construction of asphalt concrete mixture. TRL (1991). The correct
compactive effort is essential to achieve the designed air void range
.
The effect of compaction at the field is also very important to maintain at a particular
level because further compaction is expected with road traffic
.
The result of a change in any factor that is out of the total process will be a loss of
performance of life. Several factors such as accidental increase in asphalt content at the
mixing plant or an increased amount of fines passing 75 m (No.200)sieve than that
predicted in the laboratory etc. contribute to many modes of faliure of A/C surfacings in
many modes of failure, as these directly affect the VIM.

Stability

The term stability is the ability of the asphalt concrete mix to resist deformation when
subjected to an imposed load. Stability is dependent on both internal friction and
cohesion of the mix.

Internal friction is dependent mainly on the interlocking characteristic of the aggregate

used and also on the surface texture. Interlocking characteristic of aggregate is a function
of particle shape, gradation of aggregate etc.

Cohesion is the internal binding force in the A/C mixture. It varies directly with the rate
of loading, loaded area, and viscosity of asphalt; as explained in the section 3.6 on
“Development of strengthening Asphalt pavement”
.
However in the laboratory the stability is measured as the maximum load which the
Marshall specimen can carry when loaded diametrically and vertically between two
special jaws with the axis of the cylindrical specimen kept horizontal and in the same
plane as the special jaws.

Flow:

Flow gives an idea about the workability of the mixtures, which means how ease with
which the paving mixture can be placed and compacted. This is a very important property
to study for a A/C mix, in laying and compacting of A/C. When the mix is very stable the
flow value is less, but practically it is difficult to compact.

However in the laboratory the diametrical strain is measured using a dial gauge at the
failure and it is known as the flow of the mixture, when the value obtained for flow
increases, the mixture tends to be more workable.
 Table:1 Grading band for Binder Course and Wearing Course

Mix classification Binder Wearing Wearing Wearing

Course Course Course Course
Type-1 Type-2 Type-3
Completed 75 75 75 75
Thickness mm - Max. 35 35 40 40
Min.
Sieve Size
mm/m
28 100 - 100 100
20 90 – 100 100 90 – 100 95 - 100
14 - 85 - 100 - -
10 56 – 82 66 - 94 59 – 94 58 - 84
5 36 – 58 46 - 74 38 – 69 36 - 66
2.36 21 – 38 35 - 58 25 – 48 23 - 49
1.18 15 – 32 26 - 48 20 – 40 -
600 10 – 26 18 - 38 15 – 32 -
300 6 – 20 13 - 28 10 – 23 05 - 19
150 3 – 13 08 - 20 4 – 15 -
75 1–7 04 - 12 3 – 12 02 - 08

Percentage binder 3.5 – 5.5 4.0-6.5 4.0 – 6.5 3.5-6.0

content by total
weight of mix

Mix Characteristics

The mix characteristics as determined by the Marshall Mix Designs procedure shall be as
given in Table 2 and 3 for binder courses and for wearing courses respectively for low,
medium or high traffic depending on whether the cumulative number of standard axles,
for the design life of the surfacing, is less than 10,000 or between 10,000 and 1,000,000
or greater than 1,000,000 respectively.

The wearing course mix shall be determined by using Table 3

Table 2 – Binder Courses

No Description Low Traffic Medium Traffic High Traffic

1. Marshall stability in kN Not less than 2.25 Not less than 4.5 Not less than 7.0

2. Marshall flow (0.25mm) 8 to 20 8 to 18 8 to 16

3. Air voids in mix percent 3 to 7 3 to 7 3 to 7

4. Voids in mineral aggregate

VMA (%)
(i) for design VIM of 4% Not less than 13 Not less than 13 Not less than 13
(ii) for design VIM of 5% Not less than 14 Not less than 14 Not less than 14

Table 3 – Wearing Courses

No Description Low Traffic Medium Traffic High Traffic

1. Marshall stability in kN Not less than 2.25 Not less than 3.33 Not less than 7.0

2. Marshall flow (0.25mm) 8 to 20 8 to 18 8 to 16

3. Air voids in total mix (VIM) 3 to 5 3 to 5 3 to 5

(percent)

4. Voids in mineral aggregate

VMA (Percent)
For design VIM of 4% Not less than 13 Not less than 13 Not less than 1

The most predominate and common type of failure in asphalt concrete surfacing is
cracking and plastic flow.
Quality control

The frequency of testing is given in the table below

Reasons for Plastic flow

The cause of plastic flow in asphalt Studies in several countries have shown that when
the VIM drop below 3% asphalt concrete mixes are very likely to fail by plastic flow.

Loss of VIM Due to Compaction by Traffic Marshall Mix design procedures have always
75 Blow Marshall After traffic required the VIM to be above 3%. The trouble is, the
density achieved by 35, 50 or even 75 blows on each face of the sample is less than that
which occurs in the wheel paths of roads carrying severe traffic loads. The final in situ
density may be 3% or even 4% higher than the75 blow Marshall density.

This means that 3% or 4% of air voids can be lost during further compaction caused by
traffic. If the original design was for 4% or 5%, which case the road will be failing by
plastic flow. To prevent this happening, the Asphalt Institute recommends that mixes are
laid and compacted to air voids up to 8%. This allows for 3% - 5% of expected
compaction during trafficking. Target for the "final` VIM is which is considered in the
Marshal design. (See figure -1)

To be sure that in-situ VIM never drop below 3% during its design life an additional test
procedure is recommended, in which samples are compacted to a refusal condition.

Cracks

At the surface of the road the bitumen looses its lighter oils, by evaporation, and is
progressively oxidised. These changes lead it becoming hard and brittle. The penetration
can drop to between 10 and 20 at the top while it may be 50 or above in the body of the
layer.
Cores taken from cracked roads have shown that most cracks start at the top of the
asphalt. Apparently, the embrittlement makes the tensile strains at the top of the layer
more damaging than those at the bottom.