Design and Performance of Stone Mastic Asphalt
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 12
Abstract
Accurate quantification of aggregate gradation is essential for a better understanding of its effect on the load-carrying capacity of an asphalt mixture. This is even more applicable for stone mastic asphalt (SMA), where stone-to-stone contact forms the cornerstone of its load-carrying capacity, especially against rutting. This paper presents a mix design procedure, which is based on and adapted from the Bailey method, to objectively quantify stone-to-stone contact for SMA mixtures. A total of 16 asphalt mixtures with six different aggregate gradations and three different asphalt binder contents were studied. Volumetric analysis of specimens showed that the volume of coarse aggregate in the mixtures had a significant effect on the voids in the coarse aggregate and the voids in the mineral aggregate (VMA). The coarse aggregate stone-to-stone contact was developed when the volume of coarse aggregate was in the range of 95–105% of the rodded unit weight. Asphalt binder content at 5.5% was optimal for the designed aggregate gradation of SMA mixtures. The test results indicated that the SMA mixtures having stone-to-stone contact exhibited excellent rutting characteristics. The findings also indicated that a positive correlation existed between the rutting obtained from the wheel tracking test and the deformation strain obtained from the uniaxial creep test.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would like to thank the reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions on improving this paper.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 12 • December 2006
Pages: 956 - 963
Copyright
© 2006 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 23, 2005
Accepted: Apr 19, 2006
Published online: Dec 1, 2006
Published in print: Dec 2006
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