CE 420: PAVEMENT DESIGN

IV B.Tech (Civil Engineering), January – May 2012

Aggregates
ƒ Materials derived from natural rocks, or are the by-product of the manufacturing process
of other materials (e.g., blast furnace slag obtained from steel industry).
ƒ Important ingredient used in the highway construction.
ƒ Constitute 70% to 85% by weight PCC and HMA.
ƒ By volume, it is 60% to 75% for PCC and 75% to 85% for HMA.
ƒ Physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of aggregates play an important role in the
performance of both rigid and flexible pavements.
ƒ Aggregate classification based on source:
o Aggregates derived from natural rocks can classified on the basis of size as
crushed stone, sand, or gravel.
o Crushed stone refers to different rock types and sizes that are produced by
blasting and then crushing.
o Sand and gravel comprise any clean mixture of aggregate sizes found in
natural deposits such as stream channels.
o The word “natural” in reference to sand is used to indicate that this aggregate
is available in natural deposits and not produced through crushing processes.
o The work “manufactured” in reference to sand is used to refer to the small
sizes of crushed stone.
ƒ Aggregate classification based on size:
o Aggregates are classified in terms of size as fine and coarse aggregate.
o The size that separates fine aggregate from coarse aggregate differs based on
the application.
o According to ASTM, for PCC works, fine aggregate sizes are defined as those
passing the 4.75 mm sieve and retained on 75 µM sieve. Coarse aggregates are
defined as those retained on 4.75 mm sieve.
o For HMA works, 4.75 mm or 2.36 mm sieves are used to separate coarse
aggregates from fine aggregates.
ƒ Properties of aggregates can classified as physical, chemical, and mechanical.
ƒ Following are the physical properties of aggregates:
o Aggregate gradation,
o Specific gravity,
o Water absorption,
o Geometry, and
o Durability.
ƒ Chemical properties: adhesion with bitumen.
ƒ Following are the mechanical properties of aggregates:
o Strength,
o Hardness,
o Toughness, and
o Polishing.
ƒ Aggregate Gradation:
o Aggregate gradation gives the percentage of each of the sizes in a blend.
o It is expressed as percentage of the aggregate blend passing sieves with
standard openings.
o The size distribution of aggregate particles is directly related to the
performance of the pavement layers.

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o Aggregate gradation is typically presented in a graphical form in which the
percent of aggregate passing a sieve size is plotted on the y-axis in arithmetic
scale and the particle size is plotted on the x-axis in a logarithmic scale.
o Maximum density gradation was developed by Fuller in 1907.
n
⎛d⎞
P = 100⎜ ⎟ .
⎝D⎠
Where,
P is the percentage of aggregates passing the sieve size d, D is the
maximum aggregate size in the gradation, and n is an exponent.
o The range of n is 0.45 to 0.50 depending upon the shape of the aggregate. For
maximum particle density (spherical shape), n is 0.50. For pavement works, n
is taken as 0.45 (air void consideration).
o The aggregate size distributions are classified as gap/skip graded, uniform
graded, well/dense graded, and open graded.

o Dense/well graded: a gradation that is near the 0.45 power curve for maximum
density.
o Gap/skip graded: a gradation that contains only a small percentage of
aggregate particles in the mid-size range. That is, the absence of some sizes in
the blend.
o Open Graded: a gradation that contains only a small percentage of aggregate
particles in the small range. This results in more air voids because there are not
enough small particles to fill in the voids between the larger particles. The
curve is near vertical in the mid size range, and flat and near-zero in the small
size range.
o Uniformly graded: a gradation that contains most of the particles in a very
narrow size range.
o Maximum size of aggregate: is the smallest sieve through which 100 percent of
the particles will pass. It can also be defined as one sieve size larger than the
nominal maximum aggregate size (NMAS).
o NMAS: is one sieve size larger than the first size to retain more than 10
percent by weight of the aggregates.
o Example:

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Sieve size, Weight Cumulative weight Cumulative percentage Percent
mm retained, g retained, g weight retained passing
19.0 0 0 0 100
9.5 60.8 60.8 3 97
4.75 141.8 202.6 10 89.9
2.36 162 364.6 18 82
1.18 344.4 709 35 65
0.6 506.4 1215.4 60 40
0.3 486.1 1701.5 84 16
0.15 222.8 1924.3 95 5
0.075 48.6 1972.9 97.4 2.6
Pan 52.7 2025.6 100 0
Total 2025.6 2025.6 - -
o Question: determine the maximum size of aggregate and NMAS for the above
data. Maximum size of aggregate is 19.0 mm and NMAS is 9.5 mm.
o The fineness modulus denotes the relative fineness of the sand. It is defined as
one-hundredth of the sum of the cumulative percentages held on the standard
sieves in sieve test of sand. The smaller the value of the fineness modulus, the
finer the sand.
ƒ Aggregate Geometry:
o Particle geometry can be expressed in terms of three independent properties:
shape, angularity, and surface texture.
o Shape reflects variations in the proportions of a particle.
o Angularity reflects variations at the corners.
o Surface texture is used to describe the surface irregularity at a very small scale.
o Texture is a function of aggregate mineralogy, while angularity is influenced
by crushing techniques.
o The shape and texture characteristics of aggregates affect the frictional
characteristics of a pavement surface.

o Aggregates can have rounded, cubical, angular, flaky or elongated shapes.

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 o Rounded aggregates are not preferred in base course construction and asphalt
concrete works as the stability due to interlocking of rounded particles is less.
Thus angular particles are preferred.
o The elongation ratio and the flatness ratio are generally used to define the
aggregate shape as shown in the figure. The elongation ratio is the ratio of dI to
dL, and the flatness ratio is the ratio of dS to dI.
o Four different aggregate shapes are possible: disk, blade, rod, and cube.
o The disk and blade shaped aggregates are flaky whereas the blade and rod
shaped aggregates are elongated. The blade shaped aggregate is both flaky and
elongated.
o
ƒ Specific Gravity: will be explained in detail while discussing the hot mix asphalt mix
design.
ƒ Water absorption: will be explained in detail while discussing the hot mix asphalt mix
design.
ƒ Durability:
o The aggregate should be durable and should resist weathering due to adverse
climatic conditions.
o The property of aggregates to withstand adverse action of weather is called
soundness.
o Durability and soundness of aggregates refer to their resistance to temperature
and moisture, as well as to the presence of deleterious substances such as soft
particles, clay, and organic materials.
o Clay particles can adversely affect the bond between the aggregates and
asphalt, which can lead to stripping and ravelling in asphalt pavements.
o The presence of clay particles weakens the bond between aggregates and paste
in PCC pavements leading to cracking.
o The sand equivalent test is used to determine the relative proportions of clay
and dust in fine aggregates. In this test, a sample of fine aggregates is agitated
in water and allowed to settle. The sand particles settle and separate from the
flocculated clay, and the heights of clay and sand in the cylinder are measured.
The sand equivalent is the ratio of the height of sand to the height of clay times
100.
o The wetting and drying process influences the volume change of aggregates
and inturn the pavement layer. Aggregates should exhibit little or no volume
change with variations in moisture content.
o The freezing and thawing process is another phenomenon that could cause
fracture of aggregates due to the build-up of internal stresses as a result of the
increase in of water volume inside the aggregate.
o The sulphate soundness test is used to measure the aggregate resistance to
freezing and thawing.
o The aggregate sample is immersed into a solution of sodium or magnesium
sulphate of specified concentration for a period of time. The sample is then
removed and permitted to drain, after which it is placed in an oven to dry to
constant weight. The process of immersion and drying is typically repeated for
five cycles. During the immersion cycle, the sulphate salt solution penetrates
the aggregate. Oven drying dehydrates the sulphate salt precipitated in the
aggregate pores. The internal expansive force, due to the formation of the
sulphate salt crystals is intended to simulate the expansion of water upon
freezing. The aggregate sample is washed and sieved, and the reduction in

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 aggregate sizes due to breakage is used as the indication of durability of the
aggregate.
o The influence of freezing and thawing and the presence of deleterious
materials cause major distresses in PCC pavements.
ƒ Adhesion with Bitumen:
o Poor adhesion of asphalt to the aggregate in the presence of moisture leads to
stripping and ravelling.
o Aggregates should have less affinity to water, i.e. they should be hydrophobic
(exhibiting water aversion/dislike) or basic.
o Hydrophilic (exhibiting water affinity) or acidic aggregates cause stripping of
asphalt.
ƒ Strength:
o Aggregates should be strong enough to withstand the stresses due to wheel
loads.
o Aggregates used in wearing course are subjected to higher stresses and should
possess high strength to resist crushing.
ƒ Hardness:
o Aggregates used in surface course are subjected to constant rubbing or
abrasion due to moving loads.
o Aggregates should be hard enough to resist the wear due to abrasive action of
traffic.
o Mutual rubbing action of aggregates is called attrition.
ƒ Toughness:
o Aggregates are subjected to impact due to moving loads.
o The magnitude of impact will increase with roughness.
ƒ Polishing:
o The resistance of aggregates to polishing influences asphalt pavement
frictional resistance, also know as skid resistance.
o The fine aggregate fraction in PCC pavement is important to the friction
characteristics of the surface.
o The friction characteristics of asphalt pavements are influenced mostly by the
coarse aggregate exposed at the surface.
o Stone polishing equipment and portable British pendulum tester are used to
measure the polishing effect of aggregates.

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