Introduction

• From the early days of Roman empire to the

interstate highway network
• The materials used for road construction have progressed
with time.
• This advancement in materials has been
accompanied with corresponding
advancement in methods with which this
materials are characterized and applied to
pavement structural design.
 Introduction …
• Important parameters of granular materials for the design of
flexible pavements are
• The stiffness and
• Strength characteristics.
• These characteristics are strongly influenced by the stress
conditions to which the material is subjected.
• Other important factors are the degree of compaction,
compaction
• the moisture content as well as characteristics of the material
itself like gradation etc.
Major components for highway
• HMA consists primarily of:
– Mineral aggregates : 90-95%
by W and 75-85% by V of HMA
– Asphalt cement (or binder)
and
– Air
• It is important to have
suitable proportions of
asphalt cement and mineral
aggregates so as to develop
mixtures that have desirable
properties associated with
good performance.
Performance measures
• Permanent Deformation
• Fatigue cracking
• Low temperature
cracking
– Aggregate interlocking is the
primary component that resist
permanent deformation with
AC playing only a minor role.
– Angular-rough textured
aggregate will help to reduce
permanent deformation.
Aggregate Sources
Aggregate Rock Type Strength Durability
Granite Igneous Good Good
Diabase Igneous Good Good
Limestone Sedimentary Good Fair
Sandstone Sedimentary Fair Fair
Shale Sedimentary Poor Poor
Quartzite Metamorphic Good Good
Removing Rock for Crushing
Quarry Facility
Unloading of Stones into Crusher
Top of Crusher Facility
Aggregate Washer
Transportation of Aggregate
 Base Materials

• Gravel
• Crushed Stone
• Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP)
• Recycled Portland Cement Concrete
• All Can Be Stabilized if Desired
 Aggregate properties
 An aggregate’s mineral composition largely determines its
physical and chemical characteristics and behavior as a
pavement material.

 When selecting an aggregate source, knowledge of the quarry

rock’s mineral properties can provide a suitability of the
resulting aggregate.

 We classify aggregate’s properties in two broad categories as

chemical and physical.
 Chemical properties
 Identify the chemical composition and
indicate the transformation due to chemical
action.

 In HMA, aggregate surface chemistry can determine

how well an Asphalt Cement binder will adhere to an aggregate surface

 Poor adherence (stripping) can cause premature structural failure.

Stripping(HMA)
• It is the displacement of asphalt on the aggregate particles
surface by water
• Stripping is a complex phenomena and is not yet fully
understood
• However, mineralogy and chemical composition are important
contributing factors.
• Some aggregates have an affinity for water over asphalt
(hydrophilic)
• Some aggregates have an affinity for asphalt over
water(hydrophobic).
 Physical properties
 Commonly measures physical aggregate properties are:

Property Indicator
Gradation and Size Sieve analysis
Strength Crushing
Toughness Abrasion
Toughness Impact
Durability Soundness
Shape Factor Flaky and Elongation Index
Adhesion with Bitumen Stripping
Specific Gravity Density
 Tests used to quantify these properties are largely
Porosity Water Absorption
empiricalStone
. Polishing Polishing Characteristics
Particle shape and texture
 Percent Fractured Faces
(ASTM D5821)

desirable characteristics of aggregate shape:

• Angular
• Non-Flat, non-elongated
• Rough
 Specific gravity
Condition of aggregates
Bulk Specific Gravity, Dry
Bulk Specific Gravity, SSD
Apparent Specific Gravity
 Important tests for aggregate

• Agg mineralogical and chemical make-up are

important in evaluating characteristics such as:
– Hardness (toughness)
– Soundness (durability)
– Shape, and
– Striping potential
• Durability
– Resistance to Freeze-Thaw
– Sodium Soundness Test
– Specification
» Minimum Percent Loss
 Soundness
AASHTO T104
The most common soundness test involves repeatedly submerging an aggregate
sample in a saturated solution of sodium or magnesium sulfate.
sulfate
 Toughness

• Ability to Resist Abrasion

– Los Angeles Abrasion Test

• Step 1. Prepare specific aggregate gradation.

Use different number of steel balls.
LA Abrasion
 LA Abrasion

• Step 4: Wash material retained on No. 12

sieve, dry to constant weight, and determine
dry mass.
 Problem 5.1
• A fine aggregate angularity test is run on 2
aggregates with identical specific gravities.
gravities
After running the test, the weight of the
material in the cylinder is 140 gram for
Aggregate A and 150 gram for Aggregate B.
Which aggregate is expected to have better
rutting resistance? Briefly explain.
 Solution

Since WB > WA; V and Gsb are the same

uncompacted voids of Aggregate A is greater than the
uncompacted voids of aggregate B
 A is more angular than B
A have better rutting resistance
 Problem 5.2

• Calculate the specific gravity values (bulk and

apparent) and the absorption for the
following fine aggregate?

– Weight of SSD sand = 500.0 g (D)

– Weight of flask with water only = 623.0 g (B)
– Weight of flask with sand and water = 938.2 g (C)
– Weight of dry sand = 495.5 g (A)
Solution
 Gradation

• Different Types
• Specifications limits e.g. AASHTO
• To Reach Desired Gradation
– Crushing
– Scalping
– Blending
AASHTO Specification
 Theoretical Gradation
• Theoretical gradations generally take the
following form:
– P = 100 (d/D)x
• Where, P = percent passing
– d = size of sieve opening
– D = largest size in gradation
• The basic idea of the theory is that the amount of
material of a given size should be just sufficient
to fill the voids between aggregates of larger size
• Fuller suggested a value of 0.5 for x, however, a
value of 0.45 for x is being used in Superpave
gradations.
0.45 Power Grading Chart
 Specified Gradation

• Specified gradations are worked out starting

from the theoretical gradations
• Lower and upper limits of gradation for each
sieve size are arrived at for allowing window of
variation by examining the changes in density
and the resulting stability in the final mix
• The specified gradations are also related to the
thickness of construction and the nominal size of
aggregate used
 Gradation Types
• Uniformly (Open) graded-
Few points of contact-Poor
interlock (shape dependent)-
High permeability

• Well (Dense) graded-Good

interlock-Low permeability

• Gap graded-Only limited

sizes-Good interlock-
Moderate permeability
Types of Gradations
 Blending of Aggregates

• Reasons for Blending

– Obtain desirable gradation
– Single natural or quarried material not enough
– Economical to combine natural and processed
materials
 Methods of Proportioning

• Graphical Methods
– Rothfutch’s Method
• Analytical Method
• Trail and Error Method
 Blending Stockpiles

• Plot individual gradations

• Plot specification limits
– Can be used for initial assessment
– Can blend be made from available materials?
– Identification of critical sieves
– Est. trial proportions
 Rothfuchs method

• The method described by Rothfuchs has been

found most useful as it is reasonably quick and
simple and can be applied to blends of any
number of components.
components It consists essentially
of the following stages:
 Problem 5.3

– The particle-size distributions of three fractions of stone

and filler available to produce the required design grading
are given in Table A1. Note that for greater accuracy a wet
particle-size analysis should be carried out on these
components.
– The design or specification grading is also given in the
Right-hand column of the table.
TA1 Particle size distribution of components
sieve size Design of spec.
A22 B45 C25 D8
(mm) grading
19 100 _     100
13.2 85 100     90
6.7 30 90     78
4.75 0  70 100   61
2.36 0 25 95   45
1.18 0 10 70   30
0.6 0  0 50 100 22
0.3 0  0 30 95 16
0.15 0  0 10 80 12
0.075 0  0  0 50 6
• In Fig. the required grading of the blend is represented
by the diagonal straight line 0-0’. The vertical ordinates
of the grading sheet are graduated for percentages from
0 to 100 on a linear scale.
• The horizontal scale for sieve aperture size is graduated
by drawing for each sieve size a vertical line which cuts
the diagonal at a point where the ordinate equals the
percentage passing that sieve, i.e. 100% for 19.0 mm,
90% for 13.2 mm, 78% for 6.7 mm and so on.
• The size distributions of the fractions to be mixed (A, B, C and D in
the Table) are plotted on this scale of sieve size giving lines EFO’
(fraction A), GHI (fraction B), JKL (fraction C) and OPQ (fraction D) in
Fig.
• The nearest straight lines to these size distributions are drawn with
the aid of a transparent straight-edge, by the 'minimum balanced
areas' method described above. They are the broken lines RO’, TS,
VU and OW.
• The opposite ends of these lines are joined giving the chain lines RS,
TU and VW. The points where these lines cross the required
distribution line (diagonal 0-0’) are marked by the circles 1, 2 and 3.
• The proportions in which the four fractions should be mixed are
obtained from the difference between the ordinates of these points
and are shown on the right-hand side of Fig. (sections A, B, C and
D).
• The theoretical particle-size distribution which will result from
mixing the fractions in these proportions is given in Table A2.
Although not identical to the design grading, it is close enough for
practical purposes.
Aggregate blending chart – Rothfuchs’s method
 Analytical Method Methods

• For each sieve we write the constraints

– a×FA + b × FB + c × FC + d × FD <=UL
– a×FA + b × FB + c × FC + d × FD >=LL
– Where, a, b, c and d are the proportions of
aggregates A, B, C and D respectively
– FA, FB, FC, and FD are respectively the percent
fines of aggregates A, B, C and D passing the sieve
• Solve the above keeping a+b+c+d = 1
 Trial and Error Steps

• Select critical sieves in blend

• Determine initial proportions which will meet
critical sieves
• Check calc. blend against specification
• Adjust if necessary and repeat above steps
Cont’d
• The following equation may be written to apply the
procedure to any given sieve:
aA+ bB=T
Where,
A and B are percentages from aggregates A and B to
be blended for satisfying the specification limits. a
and b are the respective sieve analysis values for a
given sieve X, expressed as a decimal fraction, and T
is the sieve analysis value in the blended aggregate.
Cont’d
• The result of this equation is used to
proportion the first trial blend for the trial-
and-error method.

• The second and the subsequent blends are

proportional by observation until the
specification is satisfied.
Example 2 Three aggregates are to be blended to meet a specification are
given in Table 2.1

Sieve size Agg. A Agg. B Agg. C specificati Spec. mid Combined

on point gradation
12.5mm 100 100 100 100
9.5mm 62 100 72-88 80 79
4.75mm 8 100 78 45-65 55 46
2.36mm 2 91 52 30-60 45 34
1.18mm 0 73 36 25-55 40 25
600µm 51 29 16-40 28 18
300µm 24 24 8-25 16.5 11
150µm 4 20 4-12 8 6
75µm 1 18 3-6 4.5 5