MIX DESIGN

METHODS
FOR CONCRETE
ASPHALT
PAVEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
 This report covers generally about mix design for concrete
asphalt pavement and concentrates more on the
methodologies used for mix design
BACKGROUND
 The history of pavement design basically starts from

Rome empire, these roads were for foot soldiers.

 This roads were straight but virtually with out regard

for grade and they generate high noise.

 In USA in early 1890 articles were being

published on pavement design but they were
not technical.
Continued…
 In 1905 Clifford Richardson published :
“The Modern Asphalt Pavement.”
 Richardson described two types of asphalt mixes:

-Surfacing mixture: is a sand mix typical

gradations are 100 percent passing the #10 sieve
and 15 percent passing the #200 sieve.
-Asphaltic concrete: is more like current HMA.
Richardson warns that asphaltic concrete is not
suitable as a surface layer on main streets but
may be suitable for lesser streets.
Continued…
 Now a days there are different methods
developed each one different from the
other,
In this portion we will discuses those
methods.
METHODOLOGY
MIX DESIGN
 The process of selecting suitable ingredients of concrete and

determining their relative amounts with the objective of

producing a concrete of the required, strength, durability, and
workability as economically as possible, is termed the
concrete mix design.

 In Asphalt Mixture, binder and aggregate are blended together in

precise proportions. The relative proportions of these materials
determine the physical properties of the asphalt mixture and
ultimately how the asphalt mixture performs as a finished pavement.
The mix design involves three important steps
 selection of aggregates

 aggregates gradation

 proportion of aggregates(aggregate blending)

Continued…
Selection of aggregates: Qualities of a bituminous
paving mixture are dependent on the aggregates.
Aggregates gradation: density and stability
depends upon Aggregates gradation.
Best gradation is one that produces maximum
density.
Aggregate Blending:
 Trial and Error: Vary the proportion of materials

until the required aggregate gradation is achieved.

-It is used when only three materials are to be mix.
Continued…
Graphical Methods: Triangular chart
method and Roch's method.
MIX DESIGN METHODES FOR ASPHALT
CONCRETE PAVEMENT  

There are four methods of mix design:

 
 Hubbard field mix design
 Hveem mix design
 Marshall mix design
 Superpave mix design 
Hubbard Field mix design
 This method was developed in 1920s, by Charles
Hubbard and Frederick Field, with the newly
created Asphalt Association (later the Asphalt
Institute)
 This method was commonly used among state

highway departments in the 1920s and 1930s

although use continued on into the 1960s in some
states.
 Initially, the Hubbard Field method focused on the

surfacing mixture
 Specimens were 2 inches in diameter and were
compacted with a hand rammer.
Continued…

 A modified Hubbard-Field version was developed

for asphalt concrete.
 It used 6-inch diameter specimens that were
compacted with two different rammers.
 The Hubbard Field method built upon

Richardson’s process. Specimens were made in

the laboratory but instead of using a paper stain
test, they developed an evaluation method to
determine design asphalt content.
 The Hubbard Field method selected asphalt

content based on air voids and stability. Voids in

the aggregate were evaluated to help adjust the
mixture stability.
Continued…

PROCEDURES
1.First 30 “heavy blows” were applied with the 2-
inch rammer followed by 30 blows with a 5.75-
inch rammer
2.The specimen was turned over and pushed to the
opposite end of the mold. Again 30 blows of the
2-inch rammer were applied followed by 30
blows of a 5.75- inch rammer.
3.The specimen was then placed in a compression
machine and was loaded with a 10,000-pound
load
4.Then it was allowed to cool in a cold water bath
under compression.
Continued…
5.Then bulk specific gravity of the compacted
specimens was measured.

 Maximum theoretical specific gravity was computed

using aggregate bulk specific gravity
(asphalt absorption was therefore not accounted for)
 Air voids were calculated as were voids in the

aggregate skeleton (VMA by today’s terminology)

 The volumetric analysis was similar to the

properties used today.

 In addition to the volumetric analysis this method

used a stability test where the compacted mix is

squeezed or through a ring slightly smaller than the
specimen diameter.
Continued…
 The peak load sustained before the mix
started flowing through the orifice was
called the Hubbard Field stability. In
concept, this is identical to Marshall
Stability where the specimen is loaded on
its side and the peak load is the Marshall
stability.
Hveem mix design
 Early pavements in California were made using
natural bitumen from the La Brea Tar pits located
in the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara area.
Although referred to as tar, these were actually
natural asphalt seeps.
Pits of Tar
Continued…
 In the 1920s, oil mix made with cut back asphalt
was a common method of paving.
 Oil content was determined by eye, so an
experienced person was needed to ensure that the
mix had the proper brown color.
 In 1927, Francis Hveem became a resident engineer
in California, and having no experience with oil
mixes, used the information about gradation with
the paper stain test to evaluate asphalt content.
 He recognized this process was controlled by
aggregate surface area and found a method to
calculate surface area.
Continued…
 Francis Hveem applied the design process used
for oil mixes to hot mix asphalt.
 By 1932 he had developed a method to

determine asphalt content based on surface area.

He continued to make changes to the surface
area factors and developed a test using motor oil
to estimate asphalt absorption.
 The surface area factors in today’s Asphalt

Institute manual MS-2 for Hveem mix design are

those developed by Hveem.
Continued…
 Hveem started developing a stability test, based
on oil mixes, he developed threshold values for
stability and applied them to HMA.
 Hveem’s mix design philosophy is that sufficient

asphalt binder is needed to satisfy aggregate

absorption and to have a minimum film thickness
on the surface of the aggregates.
 The aggregates had to have:

-sliding resistance (measured by the Hveem

stabilometer)
-minimum tensile strength
to resist turning movement (measured by the
cohesiometer).
Continued…
 Air voids are not part of Hveem’s mix design
system.
 Fatigue cracking was a major concern

because Hveem pavements had lower

asphalt content
Hveem Mix Design Procedure
The Hveem mix design method consists of
6basic steps:
1. Aggregate selection.
2. Asphalt binder selection.
3. Sample preparation (including compaction)
.
4. Stability determination using the Hveem
Stabilometer .
5. Density and voids calculations.
6. Optimum asphalt binder content selection.
California kneading compactor
Hveem Stabilometer
 provides the key performance prediction measure
for the Hveem mix design method .
Hveem Cohesiometer
 measure cohesive strength across the
diameter of a sample on which the stability
test had already been conducted
Marshall mix design
 Bruce Marshall of the Mississippi Department of
Highways developed Marshall mix design in the
late 1930s to early 1940s.
 It was first adopted for military airfield in world

war II then it was “civilianized”

 Marshall mix design is essentially an outgrowth of

the Hubbard-Field method. The approach is

similar although the practice was different.
 Marshall included calculation of air voids from

Hubbard-Field but not VMA. Instead, he used

voids filled with asphalt as a criterion.
Marshall Mix Design Procedure
The Marshall mix design method consists of 6
basic steps:
1. Aggregate selection.
2. Asphalt binder selection.
3. Sample preparation (including
compaction).
4. Stability determination using the Marshall
Stabilometer.
5. Density and voids calculations.
6. Optimum asphalt binder content selection.
Aggregate Selection
 Although Hveem did not specifically develop an

aggregate evaluation and selection procedure,

one is included here because it is integral to
any mix design.
 A typical aggregate evaluation for use with

either the Hveem or Marshall mix design

methods includes three basic steps:

1.Determine aggregate physical properties

2.Determine other aggregate descriptive physical
properties.
3.Perform blending calculations to achieve the mix
design aggregate gradation.
Marshall drop hammers
Marshall stability testing apparatus
SUPERPAVED MIX DSESIGN
 The Superpave mix design method was designed
to replace the Hveem and Marshall methods.
 The Superpave system ties asphalt binder and

aggregate selection into the mix design process,

and considers traffic and climate as well.
 The compaction devices from Hveem and

Marshall are replace by a gyratory compacter.

Gyratory compactor.
History
 Under the Strategic Highway Research Program
(SHRP), an initiative was undertaken to improve
materials selection and mixture design by
developing a new mix design method that
accounts for:
 Traffic loading and environmental conditions.
 New method of asphalt binder evaluation.
 New methods of mixture analysis.
When the program was completed they
introduced these three developments and called
them the Superior Performing Asphalt Pavement
System (Superpave).
Superpave mix design
Procedure
The Superpave mix design method consists of 7
basic steps:
1. Aggregate selection.
2. Asphalt binder selection.
3. Sample preparation(including compaction).
4. Performance Tests .
5. Density and voids calculations.
6. Optimum asphalt binder content selection.
7. Moisture susceptibility evaluation.
Aggregate Blending
Evaluations
Dust- to-Binder Ratio

 Dust-to-binder ratio specifications are normally

0.6 – 1.2, but a ratio of up to 1.6 may be used
at an agency’s discretion.
Continued…
Fine Aggregate Angularity
Continued…
Asphalt Binder Evaluation
 Superpave uses its own asphalt binder selection
process, which is, of course, tied to the
Superpave asphalt binder performance
grading(PG) system

 Superpave PG asphalt binders are selected based

on the expected pavement temperature extremes
in the area of their intended use.
 Superpave software is used to calculate these

extremes and select the appropriate PG asphalt

binder.
Continued…
Performance Tests
 performance tests related to what the Hveem

method does with the stabilometer and

cohesiometer, or the Marshall method does with
the stability and flow test.
 These performance tests, which constitute the

mixture analysis portion of Superpave, are still

under development and review and have not yet
been implemented.
COMPARISON BETWEEN MARSHALL AND
SUPERPAVE MIXTURES DESIGN
 The Superpave mix design method differs from
the Marshall Mix design methods by using
performance-based and performance-related
criteria to design the proper asphalt mix.

This allows a direct relationship to be drawn

between the lab and field performance of the
asphalt
mix.
Based on specimen
Marshall specimen
 The aggregate is first dried to constant weight at
110 °C, separated into desired size and
recombined with mineral filler in order to meet
the required gradation for each specimen .
Superpave specimen
 Once the aggregate blend is selected and the

initial trial asphalt binder content is calculated,

the HMA mixtures are prepared.
BASED ON OPTIMUM ASPHALT
CONTENT CALCULATION
Marshall mix design
 Five different percentages (4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5,

and 6.0) % of Daurah (40-50) asphalt cement

are used with ordinary Portland cement
(filler), and (12.5) mm nominal aggregate size
is used for dense mix , for wearing course .
Continued…
Superpave Mix Design
 The aggregate and asphalt cement used for

the Superpave level one mix design are the

same materials as those used in the
Marshall Mix design.
Marshall mix design plots
Superpave mix design plots
Conclusion
 In general HMA consists of two basic ingredients:
aggregate and asphalt binder.HMA mix design is the
process of determining what aggregate to use, what
asphalt binder to use and what optimum combination
of these two ingredients ought to be there are several
methods used to go about this process but marshal
and superpave methods are the most common.
 And finally HMA should to achieve certain qualities

;they should be deformation resistant, fatigue

resistant, low temperature cracking resistant,
durable , moisture damage resistant, skid resistant
and workable whatever the method we use.