Coarse Aggregate Angularity and HMA Rutting
Coarse Aggregate Angularity and HMA Rutting
Rutting has been identified as one of the primary distresses in asphalt pavements. Rutting in hot-mix asphalt (HMA)
mixtures can be attributed to either the lack of interlocking of aggregate structure or insufficient bonding between aggregate
and asphalt binder, or both. In the present study, efforts have been made to identify the contributions of aggregate structure
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and asphalt binder to the rutting characteristics of a dense-graded surface HMA mixture. Coarse gravels at five different
angularity levels (100, 85, 70, 50 and 35% of aggregate with two or more fractured surfaces) were used to produce mixtures
with similar aggregate gradations. Three different asphalt binders (PG 64-22, PG 76-22 and PG 82-22) were used to make
mixtures for laboratory rut evaluations. The aggregate imaging system (AIMS), uncompacted voids in coarse aggregate
(VCA) and tri-axial shear tests were conducted to evaluate the coarse aggregate angularity (CAA). The US Army Corps of
Engineers’ gyratory testing machine (GTM), creep and the asphalt pavement analyser (APA) tests were selected to
characterise the rut resistance of asphalt mixtures.
The results from this study indicated that coarse aggregate AIMS, VCA and tri-axial tests were related to the CAA and
laboratory-measured rutting indices. At temperatures close to the binder’s upper grade limit, aggregate structures played a
critical role in the rut resistance of HMA mixtures; whereas, at temperatures below the binder’s upper grade limit, the stiffness
of the asphalt binder played a more important role in the rut resistance of asphalt mixtures evaluated in this study.
Keywords: CAA; asphalt binder; permanent deformation; asphalt concrete
test and resilient modulus are not effective in the of asphalt mixtures. A list of the laboratory experiment
evaluation of CAA. plan is presented in Table 1.
s ¼ c þ s tan f ð2Þ
X
N 23
Angularity index ¼ jui 2 uiþ3 j ð1Þ 3.6 GTM test
i
The GTM has been used for decades as an engineering tool
for the design and characterisation of both bound and
where N is the total number of points on the edge of the
unbound paving materials. The device was developed and
particle with the subscript i denoting the ith point on the
refined in the 1960s as a mechanisation of the original
edge of the particle.
Texas gyratory compactor, and is intended to serve as a
combination compaction and shear testing machine.
Samples are subjected to compaction effort using a
3.3 Uncompacted voids in coarse aggregate test
rotating head that must maintain a minimum angle via two
The VCA are measured using a calibrated cylindrical adjustable rollers positioned on opposite sides of the
measure. The coarse aggregate is struck off, and its mass is cylindrical test specimen (Prowell 2003).
determined by weighing. VCA can be calculated as the Three 150 mm diameter samples of each mixture were
difference between the volume of the cylindrical measure compacted under a 0.84 MPa vertical ram pressure in the
and the absolute volume of the coarse aggregate collected GTM. The mixture samples were compacted at 1508C
in the measurement. VCA provides an indication of the with 185 revolutions. The following parameters from
aggregate’s angularity, sphericity and surface texture GTM test were investigated in this study (Kuo and
(AASHTO 2003). Freeman 1998).
Gyratory stability index (GSI) is the ratio of the
maximum gyratory angle to the minimum gyratory
3.4 Coarse aggregate tri-axial shear test angle. For a rut-resistant mixture, the shear resistance
The coarse aggregate tri-axial test for coarse aggregate from the aggregate structure will prevent the tilting trend
was conducted in a tri-axial chamber. The coarse from the ram head as the mixture is being compacted.
22 B. Huang et al.
Therefore, a lower GSI value always indicates higher Table 2. AIMS test results of coarse aggregate.
stability (or rut-resistance) for the mixture.
Sample 12.5 mm 9.5 mm 4.75 mm Average
Sphericity index
3.7 Creep test CAA – 35 0.647 0.694 0.688 0.676
CAA – 50 0.699 0.720 0.694 0.704
The creep test was used to evaluate the rutting potential of CAA – 70 – 0.718 0.660 0.689
asphalt mixtures. This test is conducted by applying a CAA – 85 0.672 0.723 0.676 0.690
static load to an HMA specimen and measuring the CAA – 100 0.666 0.742 0.651 0.686
resulting total and permanent deformation with time. Texture index
In this study, the static unconfined creep test was CAA – 35 72.0 86.1 68.6 75.6
performed. The test temperature was 408C (close to the CAA – 50 60.8 82.6 72.4 71.9
pavement effective temperature), and applied pressure was CAA – 70 78.4 71.9 70.6 73.7
CAA – 85 82.6 90.5 71.6 81.6
69 kPa. The static load was applied for 1 h, and the load CAA – 100 64.7 76.0 72.7 71.1
was removed and the sample was allowed to rebound for
Angularity index
another hour. The permanent strain is the total strain minus CAA – 35 2547 2713 2658 2639
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the recoverable strain. The total strain is related to the CAA – 50 2483 2582 2669 2578
creep stiffness; whereas, the permanent strain is more CAA – 70 2875 2520 3080 2825
closely related to permanent deformation properties of CAA – 85 2855 2844 2954 2884
asphalt mixtures. CAA – 100 3122 2947 3312 3127
Cylindrical samples, 150 mm in diameter and 170 mm
in height were compacted by the superpave gyratory
compactor. A nominal 101.6 mm diameter specimen was Fletcher et al. (2002), crushing of most gravel does not
cored from the centre of the gyratory specimens. The two improve texture which is consistent with the results in
ends of the specimen were trimmed to get a 150 mm height Table 2. The angularity index shows a clear trend on an
specimen. Three samples were made for each mixture. The increase in angularity with more crushing. The sphericity
air voids of 7% was used for this test. indices for the five aggregates are similar. The analysis
will focus on the angularity index as it is the only property
that shows differences among the coarse aggregate
3.8 APA test samples.
Figure 3 presents the relationship between angularity
In the present study, the 150-mm diameter by 75-mm height
index of coarse aggregate and CAA level. Generally, an
laboratory compacted cylindrical specimens were tested, at
increase in CAA levels resulted in increased angularity
648C, 444.4 N load and 0.7 MPa hose pressure (as per
index.
AASHTO TP63-03). The air voids for the APA test was
selected to be 7 ^ 1%. Six samples were made for each
mixture. Rut depth versus loading cycle curves and final rut
4.1.2 VCA test
depth after 8000 cycles (16,000 passes) under dry
conditions were recorded. The wheel speed was approxi- Figure 4 presents the VCA with different CAA levels.
mately 0.6 m/s. Although not significant (VCA ranged from 43.3 to 44%),
the CAA had obvious effects on the VCA. Coarse
aggregate with higher CAA level has higher VCA. This
4. Results and discussions indicated the coarse aggregate with higher CAA level was
4.1 Aggregate tests
4.1.1 AIMS test
The coarse aggregate were composed of three aggregate
sizes; retained on 12.5, 9.5 and the 4.75 mm sieve.
The ratio of weight of these three sizes of aggregate is
11:44.5:44.5. Each size was scanned separately using
AIMS. Table 2 provides the results (average) for
sphericity, texture and angularity.
A high angularity index indicates a higher aggregate
angularity, and a higher texture index means that the
aggregate has more texture. The values of texture index for
all the five aggregates are considered within the low range,
that is, the aggregates are not highly textured. As shown by Figure 3. CAA level versus angularity index.
International Journal of Pavement Engineering 23
Figure 4. VCA at different CAA levels. Figure 6. GSI of HMA mixtures from GTM.
Figure 5. Friction angle of coarse aggregate with different CAA Figure 7. Static unconfined creep test. (a) total strain vs. CAA
levels. and (b) permanent strain vs. CAA.
24 B. Huang et al.
criteria) might be ‘too wet’ if designed with gyratory different CAA levels did not show significant difference. All
compactors. the permanent strains were within the range of 150–300
micro strain.
Figure 9. Correlation between coarse aggregate AIMS angularity index and HMA rutting performance tests. (a) rut depth vs. angularity
index and (b) permanent strain vs. angularity index.
International Journal of Pavement Engineering 25
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Figure 10. Correlation between coarse aggregate friction angle and HMA performance tests. (a) rut depth vs. friction angle and (b)
permanent strain vs. friction angle.
the results, both CAA and asphalt binder property had properties from APA and creep tests. In Figure 9(a) and
significant effects on rutting. For HMA with PG 64-22 (b), the slopes of the regression lines are negative with
binder, the rut depth generally decreased with the increase three different asphalt binders (PG 64-22, PG 76-22 and
in CAA level. HMA with 100% crushed coarse aggregate PG 82-22), which indicates that increase in angularity
only exhibited about half the rut of HMA with 35% CAA index results in decrease in APA rut depth and creep
coarse aggregate, which indicated that increasing the CAA permanent strain. The absolute value of the slope
level of coarse aggregate would result in the high resistance decreases as the asphalt binder becomes stiffer which
of HMA mixtures to rutting. When a stiffer asphalt binder means HMA with stiffer asphalt binder is less sensitive to
(PG 76-22) was used, the results showed a similar trend. the variation of angularity levels.
The rut depth generally decreased with the increase in the Figure 10 presents the correlation between the coarse
angularity of the coarse aggregate. The rut depth exhibited aggregate tri-axial friction angle and HMA mixture
only about half the rut of HMA with PG 64-22. However, properties from APA and creep tests. The slopes of the
when a much stiffer asphalt binder (PG 82-22) was used, trend lines are also negative with three different asphalt
HMA mixture with different CAA levels did not show binders (PG 64-22, PG 76-22 and PG 82-22), which
significant difference in rut depth. All the rut depths were indicates that an increase in friction angle results in the
within the range of 2– 3 mm. decrease in APA rut depth and creep permanent strain.
The absolute value of the slope decreases as the asphalt
binder becomes stiffer which means HMA with stiffer
4.3 Effects of aggregate test and GTM on rutting asphalt binder is less sensitive to the variety of friction
performance tests angle.
Figure 9 presents the correlation between the coarse Figure 11 presents the correlation between VCA and
aggregate AIMS angularity index and HMA mixture APA rut depth and permanent strain from the creep test.
26 B. Huang et al.
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Figure 11. Correlation between VCA and HMA performance test. (a) VCA vs. rut depth and (b) VCA vs. permanent strain.
Similarly, in Figure 11 (a) and (b), the slopes of the trend 4.4 Effectiveness of aggregate properties to rutting
lines are negative with three different asphalt binders (PG indices
64-22, PG 76-22 and PG 82-22) too, which indicates that From the above analyses, it appears that all coarse
increase in VCA results in decrease in APA rut depth and aggregate tests were to various degrees related to
creep permanent strain. The absolute value of the slope laboratory-measured rutting characteristics of asphalt
decreases as the asphalt binder becomes stiffer which mixtures. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of each
means HMA with stiffer asphalt binder is less sensitive to coarse aggregate property on characterising rutting,
the variety of VCA. normalisations were made to each aggregate property
These results indicate that the coarse aggregate tests versus APA rut depth and creep permanent strain. Since
(such as AIMS, tri-axial and VCA) and HMA rutting mixtures with PG 64-22 had the least influence of asphalt
performance tests (such as GTM, creep and APA) are binder, only these mixtures were selected for analyses.
intimately related. Figure 13(a) gives an example of the normalisation for
Figure 12 presents the correlation between GSI and creep permanent strain versus GSI. The maximum values of
APA rut depth and creep permanent strain. The slopes of both GSI and permanent strain were assigned as 1, and the
the regression lines of GSI versus rut depth, total strain and minimum as 0. The slope of the normalised permanent
permanent strain are positive with three different asphalt strain against the normalised GSI provided a relative
binders (PG 64-22, PG 76-22 and PG 82-22), which effectiveness of utilising the GSI to characterise the
indicates that increase in GSI results in increase in APA rut permanent strain from static creep.
depth, creep total strain and creep permanent strain. The Consequently, the normalised ‘effectiveness slope’ of
value of the slope decreases as the asphalt binder becomes each aggregate properties versus both APA rut
stiffer which means HMA with stiffer asphalt binder is less depth and creep permanent strain are illustrated in
sensitive to the variety GSI. Figure 13(b). It appears that the CAA was most ‘effective’
International Journal of Pavement Engineering 27
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Figure 12. Correlation between GSI with APA and creep test. (a) rut depth vs. GSI and (b) permanent strain vs. GSI.
(4) CAA had significant effect on the laboratory Fletcher, T., et al., 2002. Measurement of aggregate texture and its
influence on hot mix asphalt (HMA) permanent deformation.
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