Evaluation of a Performance-Based Approach to Design Asphalt-Treated Base Mixtures
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 29, Issue 7
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a comprehensive laboratory testing program that was conducted to develop a performance-based approach to design asphalt-treated base-course mixtures. Eight asphalt-treated base-course mixtures with different aggregate types were considered and evaluated in this study. The considered aggregates included four limestones, sandstone, granite, novaculite, and rhyolite. The laboratory testing program was conducted in two phases. The first phase, Phase I, was a screening phase that evaluated the physical and strength properties of the aggregates used. Furthermore, this phase examined the high-temperature and intermediate-temperature properties of asphalt-treated mixtures based on the results of the load-wheel tracking and indirect tensile strength tests, respectively. In Phase II, permeability and a suite of mechanistic tests were performed to further examine the behavior of the asphalt-treated mixtures that passed the Phase-I screening evaluation. The mechanistic tests performed in Phase II included dynamic modulus, flow number, semicircular bend, and dissipated creep strain energy tests. The results of the first phase showed that asphalt-treated base-course mixtures with porous limestone aggregates did not pass the screening criterion at intermediate or high temperatures. Among all asphalt-treated mixtures evaluated in Phase II, the mixture containing the novaculite aggregate exhibited the least rutting and fracture resistance. In addition, asphalt-treated base-course mixtures containing limestone aggregates showed the best laboratory performance and met the minimum criteria in all conducted tests for well-performing conventional base-course hot-mix asphalt (HMA) mixtures. The results of the study also indicated that the parameters characterizing the coarse and fine portions of aggregate gradation significantly affect the critical strain energy release rate of asphalt-treated mixtures. In addition, the results of the dissipated creep strain energy test exhibited good correlations with the aggregates’ absorption and the mixtures’ film thickness. Finally, the cost of asphalt-treated base-course mixtures evaluated in this study was approximately $7.20 per ton lower than that of conventional HMA base-course mixtures. This corresponded to about a 16% reduction in price.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
AASHTO. (2003). “Determining the dynamic modulus of hot-mix asphalt concrete mixtures.” AASHTO TP-62-03, Washington, DC.
AASHTO. (2004). “Preparing and determining density of hot mix asphalt specimens by means of the superpave gyratory compactor.” AASHTO T 312, Washington, DC.
AASHTO. (2015a). “Grading or verifying the erformance grade of an asphalt binder.” AASHTO R29-02, Washington, DC.
AASHTO. (2015b). “Standard method of test for resistance to plastic flow of bituminous mixtures using Marshall apparatus.” AASHTO T 245, Washington, DC.
AASHTO. (2016). “Hamburg wheel-track testing of compacted hot mix asphalt.” AASHTO T 324, Washington, DC.
ASTM. (2003). “Standard provisional test method for measurement of permeability of bituminous paving mixtures using a flexible wall permeameter.” ASTM PS129-01, West Conshohocken, PA.
Benkelman, A. C., Kingman, R. I., and Schmitt, H. M. (1962). “Performance of treated and untreated aggregate bases.”, Highway Research Board, Washington, DC.
Bonaquist, R. F., Christensen, D. W., and Stump, W., III. (2003). “Simple performance tester for superpave mix design: First-article development and evaluation.”, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, DC.
Choubane, B., Page, G. C., and Musselman, J. A. (1998). “Investigation of water permeability of coarse graded superpave pavements.” J. Assoc. Asphalt Paving Technol., 67, 254–276.
Cooper, S., Mohammad, L., Kabir, S., and King, W. (2014). “Balanced asphalt mixture design through specification modification: Louisiana’s experience.” Transp. Res. Rec., 2447, 92–100.
LADOTD (Louisiana Department of Tranportation and Development) (2006). “Standard specifications for roads and bridges manual.”, Baton Rouge, LA.
Mohammad, L. N., and Nazzal, M. (2012). “Development of a design methodology for asphalt treated base.”, Federal Highway Administration and Louisiana Dept. of Transportation and Development, Baton Rouge, LA.
Mohammad, L. N., Wu, Z., and Aglan, M. (2004). “Characterization of fracture and fatigue resistance of recycled polymer-modified asphalt pavements.” Proc., RILEM: 5th Int. Conf. on Cracking in Pavements Mitigation, Risk Assessment and Prevention, RILEM Publications SARL, Bagneux, France, 375–382.
Mohammad, L. N., Wu, Z., and Raghavedra, A. (2007). “Performance evaluation of Louisiana superpave mixtures.”, Louisiana Transportation Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA.
Moreno, F., and Rubio, M. (2013). “Effect of aggregate nature on the fatigue-cracking behavior of asphalt mixes.” Mater. Des., 47, 61–67.
Mull, M. A., Othman, A., and Mohammad, L. (2006). “Fatigue crack growth analysis of hot-mix asphalt employing the semi-circular notched bend specimen.” Transportation Research Board 85th Annual Meeting (CD-ROM), Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.
Obulareddy, S. (2006). “Characterization of Louisiana asphalt mixtures for 2002 mechanistic-empirical design procedure.” Master’s thesis, Louisiana State Univ. and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Baton Rouge, LA.
Roque, R., Birgisson, B., Drakos, C., and Dietrich, B. (2004). “Development and field evaluation of energy-based criteria for top-down cracking performance of hot mix asphalt.” J. Assoc. Asphalt Paving Technol., 73, 229–260.
Rostron, J. P., Busching, H. W., and Roberts, F. L. (1971). “Relative strength of flexible pavement bases.” J. Assoc. Asphalt Paving Technol., 41, 626–663.
Ruth, B. E., Roque, R., and Nukunya, B. (2002). “Aggregate gradation characterization factors and their relationships to fracture energy and failure strain of asphalt mixtures.” J. Assoc. Asphalt Paving Technol., 71, 310–344.
Wang, L. B., Mohammad, L. N., Mull, M. A., and Wu, Z. (2005). “Fracture resistance characterization of superpave mixtures using the semi-circular bending test.” J. ASTM Int., 2(3), 1–15.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 8, 2016
Accepted: Nov 4, 2016
Published online: Mar 29, 2017
Published in print: Jul 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Aug 29, 2017
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.