CONCRETE AND HIGHWAY MATERIALS LABORATORY (18CVL58)

EXPT NO: 31 DATE:

BITUMINOUS MIX DESIGN BY MARSHALL METHOD
Aim:
1) To determine the optimum binder content of the bituminous mix by Marshall Method of
mix design.
2) To determine Marshall Stability of bituminous mixture.

Apparatus
Marshall load frame; proving ring; breaking head flow measurement dial gauge;
specimen extractor or ejector; compaction pedestal; compaction moulds; and thermometers. In
addition, an oven or hot plate, water bath and balance is required.

Theory:
Bituminous mixes are used in the surfaces layer of road and airfield pavements. The mix
usually composed of aggregates (coarse, fine and filler) and binder. The design of bitumen
paving mix as with the design of concrete is largely a matter of selecting and proportioning
constituent materials to obtain the desired properties in the finished pavement structure.
The bitumen mix design consists of two parts namely the dry mix design and the wet mix
design. In the wet mix design, the optimum bitumen content is determined. There are many
methods available for wet mix design but Marshall Method of mix design is the most popular
one. The Marshall Stability and flow test provides the performance indices for the Marshall mix
design method .the stability portion of the test measures the maximum load supported by the
cylindrical test specimen at a loading rate of 50mm/minute. Load is applied to the specimen till
failure, and the maximum load carrying capacity of the mix t 60˚ C measured in N is designated
stability; it measures the resistance of cylindrical specimen of a Bituminous mixtures to plastic
flow when loaded on the lateral surface. During the loading, an attached dial gauge measures the
specimen’s plastic flow (deformation) as a result of the loading. The flow value is recorded in
0.25mm increments at the same time when the maximum load is recorded. This test is performed
as ASTM D 1559.

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 CONCRETE AND HIGHWAY MATERIALS LABORATORY (18CVL58)

Fig 31.1: MARSHALL STABILITY TEST APPARATUS

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 CONCRETE AND HIGHWAY MATERIALS LABORATORY (18CVL58)

Procedure:
Part 1: DRY MIX DESIGN
Preparation of sample:
1) Usually two or more sizes of coarse aggregates, fine aggregate and mineral filler material
are mixed in such a proportion that the grading of combined mix is within specified
range. This can be accomplished as explained in this section
2) The specific gravity values of different aggregates, filler and bitumen used are
determined; the theoretical specific gravity of the mix is also computed.

Part 2: WET MIX DESIGN

Preparation of test specimen
1) The compaction mould assembly and rammer are cleaned and kept pre-heated to a
temperature of 100˚C to 145˚C.
2) Approximately 1200 g of aggregates and filler are blended in the desired proportions as
obtained in dry mix design and heated in the oven to the mixing temperature of 175˚C to
190˚C.
3) The bitumen is heated to the mixing temperature of 121˚C to 138˚C to produce viscosity
of 170±30 centi-stokes. The first trail percentage of heated bitumen (say 3.5or 4.0 percent
by weight of the material aggregates) is added to the heated aggregate and thoroughly
mixed using a mechanical mixer by hand mixing in a heated pan with heated trowel.
4) The mixed material is returned to the oven, and reheated and maintained to the
compacting temperature of 150˚to160˚C (to produce viscosity of 280±30centi-stokes).
5) The mixture is then transferred preheated compaction mould with a collar and base. The
mixture is spaded around the sides of the mould. The filter paper is placed under the
specimen and another on its top.
6) The mould is placed on the Marshal Compaction pedestal and compacted by giving 75
blows on the top side (as cast) of the specimen mix with a standard hammer (457mm,
4.53kg). The specimen is then inverted and compacted on the other face with 75 blows.
7) After compaction, the mould with the specimen is removed from the compaction pedestal
and cooled for a few minutes. The mould is inverted; with collar on the bottom and the
base removed the sample is extracted by pushing it out with help of specimen extractor.
8) Specimens are marked and allowed to stand for a few hours or overnight to cool at room
temperature.
The weight of mixed aggregates taken for the preparation of the specimen may
suitably alter to obtain a compacted thickness of 63.5±3mm. A series of trial specimens
are prepared by the similar method by varying bitumen content at an increment of 0.5
percent. Usually, three specimens for cast for each of the bitumen contents. At least four
binder contents are to be tested to get the optimum binder content.
9) Soon after the compacted bituminous mix specimen has cooled to room temperature, its
average thickness and diameter are noted. The mass (in grams) of the specimen w a and
ww in air and water, respectively, are recorded

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10) From these measurements following properties are determined,

a) Theoretical specific gravity G t of the mix is its specific gravity without considering
air voids,
𝑊𝑐𝑎 + 𝑊𝑓𝑎 + 𝑊𝑚𝑓 + 𝑊𝑏
𝐺= 𝑊 𝑊𝑓𝑎 𝑊𝑚𝑓 𝑊𝑏
𝑐𝑎
+ + +
𝐺 𝑏𝑐𝑎 𝐺 𝑏𝑓𝑎 𝐺 𝑏𝑚𝑓 𝐺 𝑏

Where Wca, Wfa, Wmf and Wb are the weights of coarse aggregate, fine aggregate ,
filler material and bitumen, respectively in the total mix; G bca, Gbfa, Gbmf are the apparent
specific gravity of coarse aggregate fine aggregate, filler and bitumen respectively.

b) The bulk specific gravity of the mix G m takes into account the air voids

𝑊𝑎
𝐺𝑚 =
𝑊𝑎 − 𝑊𝑤

Where Wa and Ww are the weight of mix in air and water, respectively

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

𝐺𝑚 − 𝐺𝑡
𝑉𝑣 = 𝑋100𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝐺𝑡

Where Gm and Gt are the bulk and theoretical specific gravities of the mix,
respectively.

d) the volume of bitumen Vb is the percent volume of bitumen in the total volume of mix
and given by

𝑊𝑏
𝐺𝑏
𝑉𝑏 = 𝑊𝑐𝑎 +𝑊𝑓𝑎 +𝑊𝑚𝑓 +𝑊𝑏 𝑋100
𝐺𝑚

Where Gb and Gm are the apparent specific gravity of bitumen and bulk specific
gravity of mix respectively.

e) Voids in mineral aggregate Vma is the volume of voids in the aggregates, and is the
sum of air voids Vv and volume of bitumen Vb, thus

Vma=Vv+Vb percent

f) Voids in mineral aggregate Vfb filled with bitumen

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 CONCRETE AND HIGHWAY MATERIALS LABORATORY (18CVL58)

𝑉𝑏
𝑉𝑓𝑏 = 𝑋100𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝑉𝑚𝑎

Where Vb is percent bitumen content in the mix and Vma is the percent voids in the
mineral aggregate.

Part 3: Determination Marshall Stability and flow

1. The specimens to be tested are kept immersed under water in a thermostatically

controlled water bath maintained at 60˚±1˚c for 30 to 40 minutes or in an oven for
minimum of 2hours.

2. The specimens are removed from the water bath or oven one at a time and placed
in lower segment of breaking head. The upper segment of the breaking head of the
specimen is placed in position and the complete assembly is placed in position on the
testing machine.

3. The dial gauge or floe meter to measure the vertical deformation is placed over on
of the posts and is adjusted to read zero.

4. Load is applied at a constant strain rate of 50mm/minute until the maximum load
reading is reached. The maximum load in Newton is termed as marshal stability and dial
gauge reading measuring the vertical deformation of the specimen at the failure expressed
in units of 0.25mm units is called the Marshall Flow value of the mix.

Part4: Stability corrections

If the average height of the specimen is not exactly 63.5mm; the Marshall
Stability volume of each specimen is corrected by multiplying each measured value by a
correction factor as given in table.

Part5: preparation of graphical plots

Five graphs are plotted between the binder content against the average values of
bulk specific gravity (G m); percentage of voids in total mix (vv); Marshall Stability (N)
and Marshall Flow as illustrated in fig.

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Fig 31.2: CURVES BETWEEN BINDER CONTENT AGAINST VARIOUS

PARAPMETERS

Part 6: Determination of optimum bitumen content

1. Determine the optimum binder content for the designed mix by taking average
value of following three bitumen contents noted from the graphs obtained in the previous
steps.
a) Binder content corresponding to maximum bulk density or specific gravity b1
b) Binder content corresponding to maximum stability
c) Binder content at specified per cent air voids (Vv) in the total mix B3 i.e., 4.0 per cent
Then the optimum bitumen content for mix design is given by
Bo= (B1+B2+B3)
2. Evaluate the suitability of designed mix with the design requirements /
parameters.

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