Influence of moisture and compaction effect on volumetric and mechanical properties of bituminous mix

ABSTRACT

Asphalt Institute Manual formulates different compaction levels (35, 50 and 75 blows) for three different traffic conditions Light, medium and heavy. However, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) guidelines specifies compaction level of 75 blows for all traffic conditions. The present study comprehends the influence of the combined effect of compaction and moisture condition on the volumetric and mechanical properties of bituminous mixture and to optimise the number of compaction blows depending on varying traffic conditions for different moisture conditions. The compaction levels explored for the present research are 75, 60, 50, 40 and 35 blows. Moisture conditioning is performed through dry conditioning and wet conditioning. Using Response Surface Methodology, the study intends to optimise the number of blows necessary for both dry and wet conditioning in relation to the various traffic conditions. The test results demonstrate that air voids are the most significant parameter among the volumetric properties of the bituminous mix. The maximum and minimum range of compaction blows in dry conditions for different traffic conditions ranges from 35 to 58 blows and that of wet conditions ranges from 61 to 71 blows.

KEYWORDS:

• Moisture
• compaction
• volumetric properties
• mechanical properties
• statistics
• response surface methodology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the funding support of Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) centre of excellence.