International Journal of Pavement Engineering

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Laboratory investigations on SMA mixes with

different additives

Pawan Kumar , Satish Chandra & Sunil Bose

To cite this article: Pawan Kumar , Satish Chandra & Sunil Bose (2007) Laboratory investigations
on SMA mixes with different additives, International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 8:1, 11-18,
DOI: 10.1080/10298430600987381

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Published online: 30 Jan 2007.

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International Journal of Pavement Engineering, Vol. 8, No. 1, March 2007, 11–18

Laboratory investigations on SMA mixes with different

additives
PAWAN KUMAR†{, SATISH CHANDRA‡* and SUNIL BOSE†§

†Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi, India

‡Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee 247 667 India

(Received 31 August 2005; revised 30 December 2005; in final form 30 August 2006)

Fibers are conventionally used as stabilizers in the construction of Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA)
pavements. These fibers are not manufactured in India and are imported from Germany. Naturally
occurring jute fibers were coated with low viscosity binder and were used in the present study as an
alternative to the patented fibers. Use of crumb rubber modified binder (CRMB) is also investigated as
stabilizer in SMA mixes. The performance of these mix were evaluated by conducting draindown
by two different methods, moisture susceptibility test, durability test, rutting test and fatigue life tests.
German draindown test is not suitable for modified binder. NCAT basket test is better in evaluating
mixes prepared with both stabilizers. The results of mix prepared with indigenously available fibers are
comparable to the patented fibers. Mix prepared with modified binder alone provides encouraging
results.

Keywords: Fibers; Modified binder; Draindown; Rutting; Fatigue life

1. Introduction
Jute, also known as golden fiber, is primarily used for
packaging. The fiber contains lignin and cellulose
including hemi cellulose besides waxes, sugars, minerals,
etc. Due to stiff competition from synthetic fibers, its use
in packaging has reduced considerably. This natural fiber
(Jute) has a special appeal in the field of pavement
engineering. The advantage of jute material is its strength,
environmental compatibility and biodegradability. It is
one of the cheapest natural fibers, available in abundance
in India and several other tropical countries. It has
excellent physico-chemical properties making it more
suitable fiber at low price for its use in geotextile. These
are used for drainage and reinforcing the cracked roadway
(Pandey and Majumdar 1989, 1990).
Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) is a gap-graded mixture that
relies on stone to stone contact to provide strength and a rich
mortar binder to provide durability. The fibers are normally
used to prevent draindown of the binder during transport and
placement of the bituminous mixture. The fibers commonly
used are polypropylene, polyester, mineral and cellulose.
Cellulose fibers are extensively used in SMA in Europe and
USA. These fibers are patented. The fibers improve the
service properties of the mix by forming micromesh in the
asphalt mix to prevent the draindown of the asphalt so as to
increase the stability and durability of the mix (Bukowski
1992). Brown and Haddock (1997) have studied the effect of
different stabilizing additives on draindown and reported
that fibers perform better job of preventing draindown than
polymers. They have also addressed mixture volumetric
and achievement of stone to stone contact in SMA. Brown
and Haddock (1997) demonstrated that as the percentage of
fine aggregate in a mixture decreases, the voids in coarse
aggregate (VCA) decreases. The approximately linear
relationship exists until the percentage of fine aggregate
reaches about 30%. At this point, the VCA ceases to decrease
with a further decrease in percentage of fine aggregates and
is reported as a point at which stone to stone contact exists.
They also reported that amount of filler finer than 20 mm do
not affect the results. Scherocman (1991) noted that the
gradation follows the 30–20–10 rule. The rule says that the
gradation should have 30 per cent passing the 4.75 mm, 20
per cent passing the 2.36 mm sieve and 10 per cent passing
the 0.075 mm sieve. Stuart (1992) stated that 4.75 and
2.36 mm sieves control the degree of gap and coarse

*Corresponding author. Tel.: þ 91-1332-285468 (O); þ 91-1332-285374 (R). Fax: þ 91-1332-275568. Email: satisfce@iitr.ernet.in
{Email: pawans@crridom.org
§Email: sunilb@crridom.org

International Journal of Pavement Engineering

ISSN 1029-8436 print/ISSN 1477-268X online q 2007 Taylor & Francis
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/10298430600987381
12 P. Kumar et al.
aggregate content, the material passing 0.075 mm sieve
control the optimum binder content (OBC) in SMA mixture.
Brown and Mallick (1994) indicated that there would be
an increase in the density of the mix if higher compactive
efforts were used. However, higher compactive effort may
result in crushing of coarse aggregate due to stone to stone
contact. They recommended that SMA mix should be
designed with 50 blows rather than 75 blows. Marshall
mix design procedure using 50 blows per face is followed
in Europe also for heavy traffic (Kandhal et al. 1996). The
effect of different types and quantity of mineral filler on
the mastic and mixture properties of SMA was
investigated by Mogawer and Stuart (1996). They found
that none of tests prescribed for these materials was able to
distinguish between good and bad mineral filler. Harders
(1993) evaluated the effect of stabilizers by conducting
ring and ball softening point test and reported that mortar
compositions with softening points between 85 and 1008C
provide the right viscosity and impact strength. Some-
times fibers and polymers are also combined, as reported
by Reinke (1993). The Austrian NOVOPHALT modified
bitumen technique was used in the Capital International
Airport Expressway in Beijing. 2% Styrene Butadiene
Styrene (SBS) and 4% Polyethylene (PE) were used as
asphalt additives to local bitumen in SMA pavement. The
post construction observations of the pavement indicated
good performance of the modified binder (Shen-Jinan et al.
1996). Kreich (1993) reported use of multigrade asphalt
in SMA. In 1997, the National Center for Asphalt
Technology (NCAT), USA conducted a performance
evaluation of more than 140 SMA pavements from all
over the United States (Guidelines for Materials,
Production, and Placement of Stone Matrix Asphalt
1994). With respect to performance, over 90 percent of the
evaluated SMA pavements had rut depths of 4 mm or less.
Muniandy et al. evaluated through laboratory investi-
gation the use of oil palm fiber in SMA. The oil and binder
retaining properties of oil palm fiber are superior to the
traditional via top 66 fiber. Resilient modulus increased
with an increase in percentage of oil palm fiber from 0 to
1.0% up to an optimum and then decreased. SMA with
300 mm size indicated highest resilient modulus. Marshall
stability for the 300 mm size fiber at 0.6% fiber content
was 12.37 kN. Dynamic creep test showed that SMA with
via top 66 fiber had taken higher number of load cycles to
achieve to strain levels of 1 and 3%, respectively as
compared to SMA with palm fiber. However, SMA with
oil fiber also indicated equally good results (Muniandy
et al. 2001).
2. Objective of research
The main objective of this research was to study the
performance of the SMA with different types of fibers
through exhaustive laboratory investigations. Patented
fibers are normally used in developed countries. These
fibers are not manufactured in India and are imported. This
increases the cost of construction exorbitantly. To find an
alternative, natural fibers (Jute), which are indigenously
available in plenty in India and other many tropical
countries, are used in this study with 60/70 grade of
bitumen. Patented fibers imported from Germany were
also used to compare the results. These fibers are referred
as Fiber 1: cellulose fibers imported from Germany and
Fiber 2: indigenously available cellulose fibers, in the
discussion hereafter. Further the recent interest in India
and other tropical countries is to use non biodegradable
rubber (crumb rubber obtained from discarded tires) in
road construction. Therefore, crumb rubber modified
binder (CRMB) was also used in a mix prepared with the
aggregate gradation specified for SMA but without fiber.
The purpose was to explore the feasibility of using
modified binders alone without fiber. It is also referred to
as SMA with CRMB in the present study in spite of the
fact that it does not follow the definition of SMA.
3. Materials
3.1 Asphalt
The paving bitumen 60/70 grade was used in this study. The
bitumen was tested for physical properties before and after
Thin Film Oven test (ASTM D 1754 2002). The CRMB
was also used as one of the stabilizers in the SMA mixes.
The particle size of the crumb rubber for preparation of
modified binder was passing 0.600 mm sieve and retained
on 0.075 mm sieve with 5 per cent passing through
0.150 mm sieve. The percentage of crumb rubber was 12 by
weight of asphalt cement. This percentage of CR was
added in neat bitumen to prepare grade of modified
bitumen as per Indian specifications. The purpose of using
CR in SMA was to explore the feasibility of using waste in
SMA, as Government of India is emphasizing on use of
wastes like plastic and rubber in the bituminous pavement
on high-density corridors. The properties of virgin and
modified binders are given in table 1.
3.2 Aggregates
The aggregates were procured from a jaw type stone
crusher with vertical shaft impactor in Delhi derived from
igneous rock. The properties of the coarse aggregates are
given in table 2. The percentage of combined flakiness
and elongation indices was less than 30%, which is the
requirement for dense graded bituminous mixes. The
crusher dust was used as fine aggregates and it was non
plastic in nature. The aggregates of different sizes were
used in suitable proportions by trial and error method to
obtain the average proportions of the grading as specified
by NAPA (Designing and Constructing of SMA
mixtures—State of the Practice, Quality Improvement
Programme 122 1999) for SMA and MoRTH (Ministry of
Road Transport & Highways, Specifications for Road and
Bridge Works 2001) for dense graded asphalt concrete
 SMA with different stabilizers 13

Table 1. Physical properties of the binders.

Physical properties Virgin binder Crumb rubber modified binder

Penetration at 258C/100 gm/5 s, dmm 67 38
Softening point (8C) 46.5 63
Ductility (cm) 85 –
Specific gravity, at 278C (gm/cc) 1.01 1.02
Viscosity
608C (Poise) 2026 9560
1358C (cSt) 536 2106
Flash point (8C) 223 269
Fraass breaking point (8C) 27 211
Elastic recovery at 158C, % – 62
After thin film oven test (residue)
Percent loss 0.6 0.2
Retained penetration 58 12
Elastic recovery at 258C, % – 44

Table 2. Properties of the coarse aggregates. thermostatically controlled forced draft oven maintained
at 1358C for half an hour for allowing absorption of
Properties Values asphalt. The jute fiber was removed from the beaker and
Impact value, % 19 placed in oven at same temperature for half an hour to
Los angeles abrasion, % loss 23 allow the release of extra asphalt from the jute. The jute
Flakiness and elongation indices, % (combined) 29 fiber coated with asphalt was cured for 24 h at ambient
Water absorption, % 0.3
Soundness (five cycles in sodium sulphate), % 6 temperature and weighed. The indigenous jute fiber was
Coating of bitumen on aggregate in a mix, % .95 cut into small pieces for uniformly adding in the mix.
Crushed content Since this is the first attempt to use the jute fiber in the
One face 100
Two face 97 SMA mixes, the study was started with a low percentage
of fibers (0.1%) for optimization of fiber content. The
objective was to compare the properties of SMA mixes
(AC) mix. These gradings are shown in table 3. The coated with two types of fibers at their optimum contents. CRMB
jute fibers were used in cellulose form. was also used as one of the stabilizers in SMA mixes.

3.3 Stabilizers
The fiber as stabilizer was added in the SMA mixture to 4. Design of experiments
prevent the draindown and improving the performance
related properties of the mix. The properties of the two The following tests were carried out on mixtures:
fibers chosen for the study are given in table 4.The fiber-1
contains 66% cellulose fiber and pelletized with 34% low . Marshall mix design at 608C, using 50 blows per side
melting asphalt. Jute is a coarse natural fiber. The jute . Draindown:
plants commonly cultivated as corchorus capsularis are German,
2.5 –3.5 m in height. A small portion of the plant is utilised NCAT
for extracting its fiber. The fiber is separated from the plant Resistance to rutting by Hamburg wheel loaded
by tying the plants in bundle and immersing them in water device at 508C
for a sufficient period (Jute Manufactures Development Resistance to aging:
Council 2003). The jute, with known initial weight, was Short-term oven aging with diametral modulus
dipped in low viscosity asphalt and placed in a at 258C

Table 3. Gradations of aggregates for SMA and dense graded AC.

Gradation for SMA, percent passing by weight Gradation for AC, percent passing by weight
Sieve size (mm)
Adopted Permissible limits (NAPA) Adopted Permissible limits (MoRTH)
19 100 100 100 100
12.5 90 85–95 94 79–100
9.5 47 75 maximum 78 70–88
4.75 24 20–28 55 53–71
2.36 20 16–24 45 42–58
0.600 14 12–16 28 26–38
0.300 13 12–15 18 18–28
0.075 9 8–10 5 4–10
14 P. Kumar et al.

Table 4. Typical properties of fibers. for Road and Bridge Works 2001), although it is slightly
higher than generally used value of 4% in USA, Europe
Properties Fiber-1 Fiber-2 and other countries. Moreover, the pavement temperature
Cellulose content, % 80 ^ 5 83–87 in India is normally more than 608C during extreme
Average fiber length, mm 6 6 summer in northern part of the country, a condition not
Thickness, mm 0.045 0.090
Moisture content, % by weight Less than 5 Less than 10 realised in the Europe or the USA. This also demands
Ash content (non-volatiles), percent by 23 19 higher percentage of air voids in the mix. The OBC
weight obtained corresponding to designed air voids was checked
Passing 300 mm, % 52 100
Modulus of torsional rigidity (MPa) – 750 for minimum voids in mineral aggregate (17%) and stone
Flexural rigidity (MPa) – 4.0 £ 1023 to stone contact in the SMA mixes.
Young’s modulus (MPa) – 1.0 £ 1027
Bulk density (kg/m3) – 1230
Ignition temperature (8C) – 193 4.2 Draindown
Dr Schellenberg test, an FHWA test developed at the
Long-term aging with diametral modulus at 258C Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC), and
Resistance to moisture damage: NCAT test for open graded friction courses (OGFC) were
Tensile strength ratio (TSR) used to determine the efficiency of the stabilizers in
Percent visual stripping preventing draindown in loose mixtures. The effect of
Fatigue life by beam fatigue equipment at 258C various fiber content on draindown was study in this paper.

A brief description of these tests is given below:
4.1 Mixture design
Marshall method of mix design was used to find out the
OBC as per ASTM procedure (ASTM D 1559 1989) in all
the mixes. Specimens of 100 mm diameter and 63.5 mm
height were prepared by applying 50 blows on each face.
The mixing and compaction temperatures were obtained
from viscosity-temperature relationships developed for
neat and CRMB binders corresponding to mixing and
compaction viscosities of 0.17 and 0.28 Pa.s, respectively.
The mixing and compaction temperature from figure 1
was observed to be 160 and 1508C for unmodified binder
and slightly higher for CRMB binder respectively. OBC
was calculated as per Asphalt Institute MS-2 series (Sixth
edition) by taking the bitumen corresponding to 4.5 per
cent air voids (mid value of the range) and checked for
other parameters. The air voids in the design were kept at
4.5% as per the requirements of MoRTH specifications
(Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Specifications
10
60/70
CRMB
Viscosity (Pa.s)
4.2.1 German test (Schellenberg institute, German). A
loose asphalt mixture is placed in an 800 ml glass beaker
immediately after mixing and weighted (Stuart 1992). The
beaker is covered with aluminium foil and stored for
60 ^ 1 min. at the discharge temperature. In India, the
typical hot mix discharge temperature of 1708C is used.
After storage, the mixture is placed into a tared beaker by
quickly turning the beaker upside down without shaking.
The final mass of the mixture is then recorded. The loss
resulting from draindown was calculated as
LossðpercentÞ
original mass of mixture 2 final mass of mixture
¼ £ 100
original mass of mixture
ð1Þ
Triplicate samples were tested for draindown test. Losses
up to 0.3 percent by weight of mixture are allowable.
Losses greater than 0.3 percent indicate that draindown
may be problem.
4.2.2 Basket test (national center for asphalt
technology). The loose mixture is placed in a wire
basket that is positioned on a preweighed dry paper plate
(Designing and Constructing of SMA mixtures—State of

1 the Practice, Quality Improvement Programme 122 1999).

The entire apparatus is placed in a forced draft oven for
one hour at 1708C for 60 ^ 1 min. After that, the basket
0.1 containing the sample is removed from the oven along
with paper plate, and the paper plate is weighed
to determine the amount of draindown that occurred.
0.01 The percentage draindown is calculated by equation
100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180
Temperture (C) ðfinal paper mass 2 initial paper massÞ
LossðpercentÞ ¼
Initial paper mass
Figure 1. Viscosity temperature relationships of neat and CRMB
binders. ð2Þ
 SMA with different stabilizers
Triplicate samples were tested for draindown test. The
draindown is determined by measuring the percentage
draindown of matrix at 1708C and should meet the design
criterion of 0.3 percent.
4.3 Resistance to rutting
Hamburg wheel tracking test was conducted to study the
permanent deformation characteristics of mixes. This test
was necessary as one of the reasons considered for
premature failure of flexible pavement is due to rutting
in the surface layer, which can be attributed to high
temperature prevailing in the country, overloading of
trucks and channelized traffic on high-density corridors.
Hamburg wheel tracking device consists of a loaded wheel
assembly and a confined mould in which a 300 £
150 £ 50 mm specimen of bituminous concrete is rigidly
restrained on its four sides. A motor and a reciprocating
device give the wheel back and forth motion at the rate of
24 passes/minute along the length of the slab. The
temperature during test is maintained by a water bath over
and around the mould. The steel wheel with a solid rubber
tire bears a total load of 309 N and indents a straight path
in the specimen. The contact area between the wheel and
the specimen is 5.457 cm2 giving a mean normal pressure
of 560 kPa. The test was conducted at 508C and the
specimen was subjected to 10,000 cycles. The specimen
was preconditioned for 45 min before the test was
performed. The beams were compacted by a steel wheel
roller to a relative density of 94– 96%. An average of three
specimens is reported in the test results. The rut depth was
recorded at mid point of the specimen length using a depth
gauge to a resolution of 0.1 mm. In this study, the rut depth
at the end of 10,000 cycles was statistically compared to
know rutting susceptibility of three mixes. The creep slope
was also measured.
4.4 Resistance to aging
The effect of aging on the mixtures was examined according
to Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) Method
M-007 (1992). The significance of this test is to study the
durability of the jute fiber as it is a biodegradable material.
The procedure consists of determining the effects of short
and long-term aging on asphalt mixture stiffness. For the
short-term aging, loose mixtures were aged in a forced draft
oven for 4 h at 1358C and then compacted using the
Marshall hammer to an air voids expected in the field. Mixes
were compacted to 6–7 per cent air voids. The dynamic
modulus (Md) of each compacted sample was measured
at 258C. For the long-term aging, the same compacted
mixtures were aged in a forced draft oven for 5 days at 858C.
Md was again determined after 5 days of aging.
4.5 Resistance to moisture damage
The TSR of bituminous mixes is used to determine their
moisture susceptibility. The importance of this test lies in
15
determination of effect of stagnated water on the
pavement surface due to inadequate drainage system on
the stripping of bituminous film from aggregates and
premature failure of the flexible pavement. The test
was carried out according to ASTM D 4123 (1995)
specifications by loading a Marshall specimen with
compressive load acting parallel to and along the vertical
diametric-loading plane. The loading was such as to
maintain a deformation rate of 50.8 mm/min. The test was
conducted at 258C temperature and the specimens were
conditioned for two hours prior to the test. The load at
which the specimen fails is taken as the dry tensile
strength of the bituminous mix. Equation (3) was used to
calculate the tensile strength of bituminous mix.
2P
ST ¼ ð3Þ
pDt
where, P ¼ maximum applied load, N, t ¼ specimen
thickness, mm, D ¼ specimen diameter, mm.
The specimens were placed in water bath at 608C for
24 h and then immediately transferred in an environmen-
tal chamber maintained at 258C for 2 h. These conditioned
specimens were then tested for tensile strength. The
tensile strength of these soaked specimens is called the
wet tensile strength. The ratio of the tensile strength of
the water-conditioned specimens to the dry specimens is
known as the TSR. The results reported are average of
three samples.
4.6 Flexural fatigue test
The beam fatigue tests were conducted under controlled
strain mode in beam fatigue system complying with
SHRP M-009 (Method M-009 1992). This mode was
selected as thin bituminous layers (, 100 mm) are
normally used on flexible pavements. The beam assembly
was placed in an environmental chamber. Beam of 64 mm
wide, 40 mm high and 400 mm long dimensions were cut
from test sections laid in the laboratory. The magnitude
of the compaction level was 93 – 96 percent. The
sinusoidal wave shape loading of 0.1 s magnitude with
no rest period was applied to the beam. The frequency of
loading was 10 Hz. Failure of the specimen was defined
as the point at which repeated loading had reduced its
stiffness to 50% of the initial value. Tests were carried
out at strain levels of 400, 600 and 800 micro-strains
representing intermediate and high traffic. Although these
strains are higher than the expected strains in heavy duty
pavements, they were selected to reduce the total testing
time. Also a linear relationship is shown in literature
between the number of cycles and tensile strain on a
double log scale (SHRP A404 1994). Thus, extrapolations
to higher order of cycles can be estimated from this
relationship. Poisson’s ratio of 0.35 was assumed for
bituminous mixes at 258C temperature.
16 P. Kumar et al.

Table 5. Marshall mixture design properties.

Optimum binder content Density Stability Flow Air voids Voids in mineral aggregate
Type of stabilizers (%) (kg/m3) (kN) (mm) (%) (%)
Fibers-1 6.2 2301 7.1 3.3 4.5 18.6
Fibers-2 6.1 2313 7.4 3.2 4.5 18.5
CRMB 6.2 2314 10.5 2.9 4.5 18.4

Table 6. Draindown test results.

German test method NCAT test method

Type of stabilizer
Fiber content, % Fiber content, %

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0 0.1 0.2 0.3

Percent loss in weight Percent loss in weight

Fiber—1 4.6 0.85 0.51 0.22 6.5 2.8 1.1 0.078

Fiber—2 4.6 0.76 0.42 0.14 6.5 1.6 0.4 0.034
Modified binder 4.12 0.005
Recommended, maximum 0.30 0.30

5. Results and discussion greater draindown than fibers in German test. This is
attributed to the sticking of fine aggregates to the base of
5.1 Mixture design beaker due to high viscosity of the modified binder at
1708C. However, the draindown observed in fiber mixes
Properties of the three types of mixes obtained at OBC are
was within the permissible limit. This showed that this test
given in table 5. The OBC for fiber-1 and fiber-2 and
is not applicable for modified binders. In NCAT test, at
CRMB were 6.2, 6.1 and 6.2% by weight of mixture
0.3% fiber by weight of mixture, the draindown by weight
respectively. The OBC obtained for modified binder
of mixture was found to be 0.078 and 0.034 for mixes
(CRMB) is slightly higher than that obtained for fiber-2.
prepared with fiber-1 and fiber-2, respectively. This was
Table 5 indicates that the Marshall stability of mixes
within the limits of 0.3% by weight of the mixture as
prepared with fiber-1, fiber-2 and CRMB were 7.1, 7.4 and
specified by NCAT (Designing and Constructing of SMA
10.5 kN, respectively. Corresponding flow values were
mixtures—State of the Practice, Quality Improvement
3.3, 3.2 and 2.9 mm. This shows that the modified binder
Programme 122 1999). No draindown was observed when
had the highest stability and the lowest flow, though it is
modified binder was used in the mix.
within the permissible limit of 2– 4 mm. This may be
attributed to the high viscosity of the modified binder as
compared to virgin bitumen. The fiber mixtures had 5.3 Resistance to rutting
statistically equal stability and flow values.
Table 7 shows the average rut depth in mixes at different
number of load cycles. A statistical comparison of the rut
depths between different mixes (at a level of significance
5.2 Draindown
of 0.05 using a student t-test) revealed significant
Table 6 indicates the results of draindown tests conducted difference between mixtures prepared with modified
on mix prepared with fibers and modified binder. The binder and with fibers at 10,000 cycles. However, the
draindown decreases as the percentage of fiber was difference in rutting in the mixes prepared with fiber-1
increased. As shown in table 6, modified binder showed

Table 7. Number of cycles versus rut depth. 10

CRMB

Type of mix 8 Fiber-2

Rut Depth,mm

Number of cycles Fiber-1

Fibers-1 Fibers-2 CRMB 6

0 0 0 0 4
500 1.2 1.2 1.0
1000 2.0 2.1 1.7
2
2000 3.4 3.8 3.0
4000 5.3 5.7 4.4
6000 6.1 6.5 5.1 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
8000 6.4 6.9 5.5
10,000 6.7 7.1 5.7 Number of Cycles (Thousand)
Creep slope (cycles/mm) 1915 1800 2250
Figure 2. Number of cycles versus rut depth.
 SMA with different stabilizers 17

Table 8. Aging test results with respect to dynamic modulus.

Dynamic modulus at 258C (MPa) Change in dynamic modulus (MPa)

Type of mix
Unaged Short-term aged Long-term aged Short-term aged Long-term aged Total aging
Fiber-1 1266 2414 3133 1148 719 1867
Fiber-2 1019 1973 2747 954 774 1728
CRMB 1875 2396 2995 521 599 1120

and fiber-2 was not significant. The creep slope obtained
from figure 2 indicates that the mix prepared with fiber-2
had slightly higher rutting potential than the mix
prepared with fiber-1. The maximum average indentation
observed after 10,000 cycles were 6.7, 7.1 and 5.7 mm
for the mixes prepared with fiber-1, fiber-2 and CRMB
respectively.
5.4 Resistance to aging
Table 8 shows short and long-term aging effects on three
mixes. Replicate samples were tested to study the effect of
aging. The resistance to aging is related to the dynamic
modulus determined at 258C. The change in dynamic
modulus of mix prepared with fiber-1, fiber-2 and CRMB
after total aging was found to be 1867, 1728 and
1120 MPa, respectively. This indicates that the mix with
CRMB had the lowest effect of long-term aging. Between
the fibers, the fiber-2 had lesser aging than the fiber-1.
5.5 Resistance to moisture damage
TSR for all mixes was higher than 90 percent and visual
stripping was less than 5 percent. These data indicated
little susceptibility to moisture damage in all the three
mixes taken for the study. However, the conventional mix
had 84% TSR, which is less than that of SMA mix. The
higher value of the latter mix as compared to the former
mix is due to higher film thickness of asphalt on
aggregate and higher percentage of filler, which is an anti
stripping agent.
binder sustained higher number of load cycles as
compared to other mixes, which indicates that it can be
used in areas with very heavy traffic with improved
durability. The fatigue performance of two types of fibers
is quite comparable. The values of SMA mixes are also
compared with conventional dense graded AC mix and the
fatigue life of SMA mixes is found substantially higher
than that of AC mix.
6. Conclusions
The following conclusions were drawn based on this
research:
1. Draindown results reported that the optimum percen-
tage of fiber-1 and fiber-2 was 0.3% by weight of
mixture. German test is not suitable for modified
binder stabilizers. Therefore, NCAT draindown test is
considered suitable for both stabilizers.
2. Results of strength tests on SMA mixes obtained with
natural fibers are comparable to the patented fibers as
indicated by Marshall stability tests, permanent
deformation test and fatigue life test. However, aging
index of mix prepared with natural fiber (fiber-2) is
better than that of mix prepared with patented fiber
(fiber-1). This is an important finding of this research,
as the use of natural fiber will substantially reduce the
cost of construction of SMA mix.
500
Fatigue Life (Thousand Cycles)

450 400 micron

5.6 Flexural fatigue test
400 600 micron
The number of load cycles to failure reduces with increase 800 micron
350
in the strain level as shown in table 9 and figure 3,
respectively. At a given strain level, SMA with modified 300
250
200
Table 9. Fatigue lives of mixes.
150
Number of cycles to failure at different strain
levels 100
Type of mix 50
400 mm 600 mm 800 mm
0
AC 56,610 25,710 13,630 AC Fiber-1 Fiber-2 CRMB
Fiber 21 92,348 72,290 31,810
Fiber 22 91,356 69,945 30,679 Type of Mix
CRMB 456,473 218,770 73,080
Figure 3. Fatigue lives of mixes at different strain levels.
18 P. Kumar et al.
3. Moisture susceptibility as indicated by TSR of all
mixes is higher than the prescribed values. Therefore,
all mixes are expected to perform satisfactorily in field.
4. The results of Hamburg wheel tracking tests, aging tests
and flexural fatigue tests carried out on three mixes of
SMA indicate that the mix prepared by using aggregate
gradation as specified for SMA and CRMB without
fibers (SMA-CRMB) will perform similar to or better
than conventional SMA although it does not follow the
terminology of SMA. Field trials should however, be
made to further investigate and strengthen this point.
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