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Marshall Stability and Flow of Bituminous Mix

NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY School of Civil and Structural Engineering

LABORATORY - PAVEMENT MATERIALS

MARSHALL STABILITY AND FLOW OF BITUMINOUS MIX


OBJECTIVES To measure the resistance to plastic flow of cylindrical specimens of a bituminous paving mixture loaded on the lateral surface by means of the Marshall Apparatus. The method is suitable for mixes containing aggregate up to 25 mm maximum size.

BACKGROUND The most widely used method of bituminous mix design is the Marshall method developed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Stability and flow, together with density, voids and percentage of voids filled with binder are determined at varying binder contents to determine an 'optimum' for stability, durability, flexibility, fatigue resistance, etc. The mechanism of failure in the Marshall test apparatus is complex but it is essentially a type of unconfined compression test. This being so, it can only have limited correlation with deformation in a pavement where the material is confined by the tyre, the base and the surrounding surfacing. Wheel tracking tests have shown that resistance to plastic flow increases with reducing binder content whereas Marshall stability has an optimum, below which stability decreases. Improvement on the assessment based on stability is possible by considering flow and most agencies (e.g. Asphalt Institute, Singapore LTA) set minima for stability and specified range for flow for various purposes (roads, airports, etc.). In addition to binder content, stability and flow are also dependent on type of binder, grading of aggregate, the particle shape, geological nature of parent rock (most importantly, porosity), degree of compaction, etc. Temperature is also a factor but, for the test, it is standardised at 60 oC.

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Marshall Stability and Flow of Bituminous Mix

PROCEDURE (ASTM 1994) The dimension and specifications of the Marshall apparatus are laid down in ASTM D1559. The diameter of the specimen is 101.6 mm and nominal thickness 63.5 mm. Table 1, taken from ASTM D1559, gives a correlation ratio whereby the stability of specimens not 63.5 mm thick can be adjusted. 1. Test specimens, prepared according to the Standard, are immersed in a water bath for 30 to 40 minutes or in an oven for 2 hours at 60 1.0 oC. The testing heads and guide rods are thoroughly cleaned, guide rods lubricated and head maintained at a temperature between 21.1 and 37.8 oC. A specimen is removed from the water bath or oven, and placed between the lower jaw and the upper jaw of the specimen holder. The complete assembly is then placed in the compression testing machine and the flow meter adjusted to zero. The load is applied to the specimen at a constant strain rate of 50.8 mm/min until the maximum load is reached. The maximum force (called stability) and flow at that force are read and recorded. The maximum time allowed between removal of the specimen from the water bath and maximum load is 30 s.

2.

3.

4.

RESULTS Each specimen's stability is adjusted if its thickness is not exactly 63.5 mm. The usual practice is to test 3 specimens for each binder content, and the average of 3 tests taken to be the stability (to nearest Newton) and flow (to nearest unit) at each of the binder contents.

DISCUSSION (a) Report the results obtained from the specimen preparation stage -see specimen preparation experiment. Report the stability and flow of the mixes (for specimens with various binder contents) and produce plots of stability and flow against binder content. Determine the optimum binder contents for the bituminous mix with respect to the LTA requirements (see Table 2). Comment on the applicability of your mix under Singapore conditions.
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(b)

(c)

(d)

Marshall Stability and Flow of Bituminous Mix

REFERENCES 1. Asphalt Institute (1998). Construction of hot mix asphalt pavements. Manual Series No. 22, 2nd edition. Asphalt Institute, Lexington, Kentucky 40512-4052. 2. ASTM (1994). ASTM D1559-89, Standard test method for resistance to plastic flow of bituminous mixtures using Marshall apparatus. 1994 Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Volume 04.03, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia 19103-1187. 3. PWD (1992). PWD General Specification. Public Works Department, Singapore 1987 (with amendments, 1992). Table 1. Stability correlation ratio (from ASTM D1559)
Volume of specimen (cm3)
200-213 214-225 226-237 238-250 251-264 265-276 277-289 290-301 302-316 317-328 329-340 341-353 354-367 368-379 380-392 393-405 406-420 421-431 432-443 444-456 457-470 471-482 483-495 496-508 509-522 523-535 536-546 547-559 560-573 574-585 586-598 599-610 611-625

Approximate thickness of specimen (mm)


25.4 27.0 28.6 30.2 31.8 33.3 34.9 36.5 38.1 39.7 41.3 42.9 44.4 46.0 47.6 49.2 50.8 52.4 54.0 55.6 57.2 58.7 60.3 61.9 63.5 65.1 66.7 68.3 69.8 71.4 73.0 74.6 76.2

Correlation ratio
5.56 5.00 4.55 4.17 3.85 3.57 3.33 3.03 2.78 2.50 2.27 2.08 1.92 1.79 1.67 1.56 1.47 1.39 1.32 1.25 1.19 1.14 1.09 1.04 1.00 0.96 0.93 0.89 0.86 0.83 0.81 0.78 0.76

Table 2. Marshall design criteria specified by LTA (PWD 1992)


Marshall stability (Number of blows =2 75) Flow value (in 0.254-mm unit) Voids in total mix, VTM Aggregate voids filled with bitumen binder, VFB
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9.00 kN 8-16 units (2-4 mm) 3-5 % 75-82 %

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