Asphalt Mixture Design Concepts to Develop Aggregate Interlock

From the beginning of asphalt mixture design it was desired to understand the interaction of aggregates, asphalt, and the voids created during their compaction. In asphalt mixture design, guidance is lacking in the selection of the design aggregate structure and understanding the interaction of that aggregate structure and mixture volumetric properties. This paper presents mixture design concepts that utilize aggregate interlock and aggregate packing to develop an aggregate blend that meets volumetric criteria and provides adequate compaction characteristics. The presented concepts rely on coarse aggregate for the skeleton of the mixture with the proper amount of fine aggregate to provide a properly packed aggregate structure. The objective is to utilize aggregate packing concepts to analyze the combined gradation and relate the packing characteristics to the mixture volumetric properties and compaction characteristics. The presented concepts include an examination of aggregate packing and aggregate interlock, blending aggregates by volume, a new understanding of coarse and fine aggregate, and an analysis of the resulting gradation. This study presents comprehensive mix analysis concepts for developing and analyzing hot mix asphalt gradations. It is presented through a rational approach to the selection of relative amounts of coarse and fine aggregate. Evaluation of gradation with aggregate ratios provides a new tool for examining aggregate gradations. These ratios, based on particle packing, provide distinct relationships with the resulting mixture volumetrics and compaction characteristics. The results of this study improve the state-of-the-art in asphalt mix design and production by providing a method to characterize HMA mixture volumetrics and compaction characteristics through the fundamental principles of particle packing. The design concepts outlined in this study provide the foundation for a comprehensive asphalt mixture design method: The Bailey Method of Gradation Analysis and Asphalt Mix Design.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Civil Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Vavrik, William Robert

Contributors dc:contributor

• Carpenter, Samuel H.

• Asphalt
• Aggregate interlock

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2000 William Robert Vavrik

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/18830

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/18830