Pavement Materials and Construction (PM&C) Module 3

MODULE 3

Mechanical Properties of Bituminous Mixes:

The combined action of weather and traffic reduces the life of bituminous road surfacings to
a level below that obtainable with other civil engineering structures such as dams and
bridges. The action of weather may be minimized by the use of 'dense' surfacings but the
traffic forces still remain. It is natural therefore to examine the mechanical properties of
bituminous materials, particularly of the dense type, in an attempt to determine the properties
required to resist mechanical failure under different climatic conditions and under different
intensities of traffic. Bituminous materials can fail mechanically by deformation at high
temperatures or by fracture and disintegration, usually at low temperatures. Bituminous
materials having a very high resistance to deformation may well be expensive, difficult to lay
and lacking in durability. On the other hand although it is easy to formulate materials which
will be very durable, in the sense that they will not fracture or disintegrate, they may well
deform and become smooth. No one test can predict the ability of a material to satisfy the two
requirements of continued resistance to deformation and continued resistance to fracture or
disintegration so that if a complete assessment is required of the performance of a bituminous
surfacing material, separate tests must be made to determine:

a) Its resistance to deformation;

b) Its flexibility and resistance to fracture; and
c) The effect of weather on these properties.

Dense and Open-Textured Bituminous Mixes

In considering the mechanical properties of bituminous road surfacing mixtures, an important

distinction must be drawn between dense mixtures and those having an open or medium
texture. In general, coated macadam and fine cold asphalt the open and medium textured
materials have a relatively of high voids content (15 to 25 per cent), the voids in coated
macadam being of large size. The combined action of weather and traffic on these materials
leads to major changes in their constitution: the binder hardens, the aggregate tends to crush
to a different grading and the binder may be stripped from the aggregate by the action of
water. For these reasons, measurement of the mechanical properties of laboratory-prepared
specimens is of little value in estimating the likely behaviour of the mixture on the road.
Attempts have been made to develop simulative trafficking tests with an accelerated
weathering regime, but such tests have not given promising results; the main method of
developing suitable materials has been by the use of the full-scale road experiment and by an
analysis of commercial experience. On the other hand, mixtures which are designed to be
dense and impervious when laid, such as rolled asphalt, mastic asphalt and dense tar
surfacing, are not so sensitive to attack by weather, and laboratory-prepared specimens can be
used with much greater confidence to predict performance. For this reason, much of this
chapter will be concerned only with the behaviour of dense mixtures of the asphalt type. Even

Abhinag, Assistant Professor, CED, AIT, Chikkamagaluru

Pavement Materials and Construction (PM&C) Module 3

in these mixtures, despite the designation 'dense', a proportion of air is entrained and it has
been shown that, in rolled asphalt and dense tar surfacing, some voids are an advantage for
adequate stability.

Flexibility and Brittleness of bituminous mixes

Fracture of bituminous materials:

It is well established that bituminous surfacings are able to follow without fracture small but
rapid movements of the whole road structure and in some cases relatively large but slower
movements, and this flexibility is one reason for their widespread use. In the development of
tests to measure the flexibility of such surfacings consideration must be given to the different
mechanisms making for fracture, within the range of temperature experienced on the road,
under slow and rapid loading. The loading on roads is repetitive in character a section of
surfacing on a heavily-trafficked road sustaining something like 20 million applications in ten
years, so that the effect of fatigue may be of importance.

Fracture of Bituminous Surfacings on the Road

The fracture of bituminous surfacings may occur in the following ways:

a) Foundation failures: The base may be so weak or the construction so under-designed that
there is loss of shape due to settlement with accompanying fracture.
b) Cracks over joints. Frequent relative movements of a concrete base cause reflection
cracking in the bituminous surfacing over the joints and cracks in the base. Timber-decked
and steel-decked bridges are also liable to this type of failure due to their extreme flexibility
and are probably the most difficult sites to surface without cracking being produced.
c) Disintegration: This type of failure, largely due to weather, is characterised by aggregate
being dislodged from the surfacing by traffic and is most commonly found in open-textured
materials particularly those with low binder contents.
d) Miscellaneous types. Fracture can be produced by thermal stresses particularly at very
low temperatures when the surfacing is least flexible. This type of fracture is most usually
seen in mastic asphalts in countries where the winter temperatures are extremely low.
Differential soil settlement and the subsidence characteristic of mining areas may also
produce strains greater than the surfacing can withstand.

Effect of Type and Viscosity of Binder

Binders of high viscosity and high elastic modulus will give rise to high stresses in mixed
materials with consequent liability to brittle fracture. The tensile strengths of different types
of binder have been found to be about the same, so that the liability of mixed materials to
fracture is dependent on the combined viscous and elastic properties (approximately
measured by the stiffness) of the binder and their dependence on temperature.

Abhinag, Assistant Professor, CED, AIT, Chikkamagaluru

Pavement Materials and Construction (PM&C) Module 3

Effect of Binder Content

Irrespective of the type of binder the actual binder content can influence the brittle properties
of mixtures at low temperatures. The breaking strength of mixtures reaches a maximum at a
fairly high binder content at temperatures. Further, the extension-to-fracture increases with
increase in binder content. These effects indicate that mixtures with low binder contents are
less flexible.

Effect of Type and Proportion of Aggregate

Under heavy traffic even the hardest stones, if exposed on the surface, will ultimately fracture
and will be reduced to particles of the order of size of sand grains. No bituminous material,
especially of high stone content, can be durable if it does not retain the major proportion of
these broken stones. To do this the material must have sufficient flexibility in the constituent
mortar or binder. For a given mixture with a given binder content there is a maximum value
of the breaking load. This maximum occurs at a temperature near the point where there is a
transition from brittle to non- brittle failure. The maximum breaking load is substantially
independent of the type of binder used.

Bituminous Mix Design

Overview
The mix design (wet mix) determines the optimum bitumen content. This is preceded by the
dry mix design discussed in the previous chapter. There are many methods available for mix
design which varies in the size of the test specimen, compaction, and other test specifications.
Marshall Method of mix design is the most popular one and is discussed below.

Marshall Mix design

The Marshall Stability and flow test provides the performance prediction measure for the
Marshall Mix design method. The stability portion of the test measures the maximum load
supported by the test specimen at a loading rate of 50.8 mm/minute. Load is applied to the
specimen till failure, and the maximum load is designated as stability. During the loading, an
attached dial gauge measures the specimen's plastic flow (deformation) due to the loading.
The flow value is recorded in 0.25 mm (0.01 inch) increments at the same time when the
maximum load is recorded. The important steps involved in marshal mix design are
summarized next

Specimen Preparation

Approximately 1200gm of aggregates and filler is heated to a temperature of 175 to 190oC.

Bitumen is heated to a temperature of 121 to 125oC with the first trial percentage of bitumen
(say 3.5 or 4% by weight of the mineral aggregates). The heated aggregates and bitumen are
thoroughly mixed at a temperature of 154 to 160oC. The mix is placed in a preheated mould

Abhinag, Assistant Professor, CED, AIT, Chikkamagaluru

Pavement Materials and Construction (PM&C) Module 3

and compacted by a rammer with 50 blows on either side at temperature of 138 oC to 149oC.
The weight of mixed aggregates taken for the preparation of the specimen may be suitably
altered to obtain a compacted thickness of 63.5+/-3 mm. Vary the bitumen content in the next
trial by +0:5% and repeat the above procedure. Numbers of trials are predetermined. The
prepared mould is loaded in the Marshall Test setup as shown below.

Fig. 1: Marshall Stability Test Apparatus

Properties of the mix

The properties that are of interest include the theoretical specific Gravity Gt, the bulk specific
gravity of the mix Gm, percent air voids Vv, percent volume of bitumen Vb, percent void in
mixed aggregate VMA and percent voids filled with bitumen VFB. These calculations are
discussed next. To understand this calculation a phase diagram is given in Figure 2.

Fig. 2: Phase diagram of a bituminous mix

Abhinag, Assistant Professor, CED, AIT, Chikkamagaluru

Pavement Materials and Construction (PM&C) Module 3

Theoretical Specific Gravity of the mix (Gt)

Theoretical specific gravity (Gt) is the specific gravity without considering air voids, and is
given by:

where,
W1 is the weight of coarse aggregate in the total mix,
W2 is the weight of fine aggregate in the total mix,
W3 is the weight of filler in the total mix,
Wb is the weight of bitumen in the total mix,
G1 is the apparent specific gravity of coarse aggregate,
G2 is the apparent specific gravity of fine aggregate,
G3 is the apparent specific gravity of filler,
Gb is the apparent specific gravity of bitumen

Bulk Specific Gravity of mix (Gm)

The bulk specific gravity or the actual specific gravity of the mix Gm is the specific gravity
considering air voids and is found out by:

where,
Wm is the weight of mix in air,
Ww is the weight of mix in water;
Note that Wm -Ww gives the volume of the mix. Sometimes to get accurate bulk specific
gravity, the specimen is coated with thin film of paraffin wax, when weight is taken in the
water. This however requires considering the weight and volume of wax in the calculations.

Air Voids percent (Vv)

Air voids Vv is the percent of air voids by volume in the specimen and is given by:

where,
Gt is the theoretical specific gravity of the mix

Abhinag, Assistant Professor, CED, AIT, Chikkamagaluru

Pavement Materials and Construction (PM&C) Module 3

Gm is the bulk or actual specific gravity of the mix

Percent volume of bitumen Vb

The volume of bitumen V b is the percent of volume of bitumen to the total volume and given
by:

where,
W1 is the weight of coarse aggregate in the total mix,
W2 is the weight of fine aggregate in the total mix,
W3 is the weight of filler in the total mix,
Wb is the weight of bitumen in the total mix,
Gb is the apparent specific gravity of bitumen,
Gm is the bulk specific gravity of mix

Voids in Mineral Aggregate (VMA)

Voids in mineral aggregate VMA is the volume of voids in the aggregates, and is the sum of
air voids and volume of bitumen, and is calculated from,

VMA = Vv + Vb
where,
Vv is the percent air voids in the mix,
Vb is percent bitumen content in the mix

Voids Filled with Bitumen (VFB)

Voids filled with bitumen VFB is the voids in the mineral aggregate frame work filled with
the bitumen, and is calculated as:

where,
Vb is percent bitumen content in the mix,
VMA is the percent voids in the mineral aggregate

Determination of Marshall Stability and Flow

Marshall Stability of a test specimen is the maximum load required to produce failure when
the specimen is preheated to a prescribed temperature placed in a special test head and the
load is applied at a constant strain (5 cm per minute). While the stability test is in progress

Abhinag, Assistant Professor, CED, AIT, Chikkamagaluru

Pavement Materials and Construction (PM&C) Module 3

dial gauge is used to measure the vertical deformation of the specimen. The deformation at
the failure point expressed in units of 0.25 mm is called the Marshall Flow value of the
specimen.

Apply Stability Correction

It is possible while making the specimen the thickness slightly vary from the standard
specification of 63.5 mm. Therefore, measured stability values need to be corrected to those
which would have been obtained if the specimens had been exactly 63.5 mm. This is done by
multiplying each measured stability value by an appropriated correlation factors as given in
Table below.

Preparation of Graphical Plots

The average values of the above properties are determined for each mix with different
bitumen content and the following graphical plots are prepared:
1. Binder content versus corrected Marshall Stability
2. Binder content versus Marshall Flow
3. Binder content versus percentage of void (Vv) in the total mix
4. Binder content versus voids filled with bitumen (VFB)
5. Binder content versus unit weight or bulk specific Gravity (Gm)

Determination of Optimum Bitumen Content (OBC)

Determine the optimum binder content for the mix design by taking average value of the
following three bitumen contents found form the graphs obtained in the previous step.
1. Binder content corresponding to maximum stability
2. Binder content corresponding to maximum bulk Specific Gravity (Gm)
3. Binder content corresponding to the median of designed limits of percent air voids (Vv) in
the total mix (i.e. 4%)

Abhinag, Assistant Professor, CED, AIT, Chikkamagaluru

Pavement Materials and Construction (PM&C) Module 3

The stability value, flow value, and VFB are checked with Marshall Mix design specification
chart given in Table below. Mixes with very high stability value and low flow value are not
desirable as the pavements constructed with such mixes are likely to develop cracks due to
heavy moving loads.

Abhinag, Assistant Professor, CED, AIT, Chikkamagaluru

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