CLASSIFICATION OF MATERIALS

FOR PAVEMENT
Outline:
• Pavement : Definition
• Pavement : classification
• Elements of flexible pavement
• Elements of rigid pavement
• Bituminous materials : intro and classification
• Asphalts
• Properties of asphalts
PAVEMENT: Definition

Asphalt concrete pavement Portland cement concrete pavement

 PAVEMENT: Classification

• Pavements are classified as “flexible” or “rigid” depending on how they

distribute surface loads

• Flexible pavements are those which are surfaced (i.e., paved) with
bituminous materials such as asphalt concrete

• Asphalt concrete possess a lower stiffness (EI) than Portland cement

concrete due to lower modulus of elasticity of asphalt concrete as
compared to Portland cement concrete
 PAVEMENT: Classification

• A rigid pavement structure is typically composed of a

PCC or RCC surface course built on top of either the
sub-grade or an underlying base course.

• The pavement structure deflects very little under

loading due to the high modulus of elasticity of their
surface course.
PAVEMENT: Elements of flexible pavement

• A flexible pavement consists of four elements, as follows:

– Subgrade: Prepared roadbed consisting of natural or imported soil
– Subbase course: A layer between the subgrade and the base course, made
from materials superior to that of subgrade. In case of a good quality of
subgrade, the subbase course is omitted.
– Base course: This is the layer directly below the asphalt concrete layer and
generally consists of aggregate (either stabilized or unstabilized).
– Surface course: This is the top layer and the layer that comes in contact
with traffic.  It may be composed of one or several different asphalt
concrete sublayers.
PAVEMENT: Elements of rigid pavement

• A rigid pavement consists of four elements, as follows:

– Subgrade: Prepared roadbed consisting of natural or imported soil
– Subbase course: This is the layer (or layers) under the base layer.  A subbase
is not always needed and therefore may often be omitted .
– Base course: This is the layer directly below the Portland cement concrete
layer and generally consists of aggregate or stabilized subgrade.
– Surface course: This is the top layer and the layer that comes in contact with
traffic.  It consists of the Portland cement concrete slab.
• The above four elements of rigid pavement are shown below:
 BITUMINOUS MATERIALS: Introduction
• Bituminous material (or bitumen) is a solid, semisolid, or viscous
cementitious material (i.e., binder) natural or manufactured, and
composed of “hydrocarbons”
• Bitumen are usually fairly hard at normal temperatures. When
heated, they soften and flow.
• Bitumens possess a number of properties that make them useful
in the construction industry
• When mixed with aggregates in their hot fluid state, and then
allowed to cool, they solidify and bind the aggregates together,
forming a pavement surface.
• The most common bituminous materials are, as follows:
– Asphalts (available as natural deposits or are produced from
petroleum processing)
– Tars (obtained through the destructive distillation of materials such
as wood, coal, and shale, i.e., by heating wood or coal or shale in
absence of air)
– Pitches (obtained through further processing of tars)
 BITUMINOUS MATERIALS: Classification
• Classification of bituminous materials is shown below:
ASPHALTS
• Asphalts are the most common and most widely use
bituminous materials
• The term “asphalt” refers to a black cementitious
material which varies widely in consistency from
solid to semisolid at normal temperatures
• Asphalts are found as natural deposits or are
produced from petroleum crude
• The classification of asphalts is already presented in
the previous slide
• Natural Rock asphalts
• Native asphalts
• Petroleum asphalts
PETROLEUM ASPHALTS

• Petroleum asphalts are

produced from the residual
matter (i.e., impurities) present
in the crude oil

• Higher-grade crude oil (i.e.,

crude oil with less residual
matter) may contain as little as
10% asphalt , whereas lower-
grade crude oil (i.e., crude oil
with more residual matter) may
contain as much as 90% asphalt

• A flow chart showing

production of different types of
asphalts are shown in the
adjoining figure.
 TYPES OF PETROLEUM ASPHALTS

• Following types of petroleum asphalts are used in pavement

construction:
1. Asphalt cement

•asphalt cement obtained by distillation process from crude petroleum

using different refining process

• asphalt cement is black, sticky and semisolid ang highly viscous

material. Its also strong and durable with excellent adhesive and water
proofing characteristics, highly resistant to the action of most acids,
alkalies and salt.
TYPES OF PETROLEUM ASPHALTS

2. Asphalt Emulsion

•An asphalt emulsion is liquid asphalt cement emulsified in water. It

is composed of asphalt, water and an emulsifying agent. The
emulsifying agent is sometimes called the surfactant, which is
composed of large molecules.

3. Liquid or Cutback asphalt

•A cutback asphalt is simply a combination of asphalt cement and

petroleum solvent. Like emulsions, cutbacks are used because they
reduce asphalt viscosity for lower temperature uses (tack coats, fog
seals, slurry seals, stabilization material).
PROPERTIES OF ASPHALTS

7 MUST HAVE PROPERTIES OF ASPHALT CONCRETE

1. STABILITY
2. DURABILITY
3. IMPERMEABILITY
4. WORKABILITY
5. FLEXIBILITY
6. FATIGUE RESISTANCE
7. SKID RESISTANCE
 PROPERTIES OF ASPHALTS

1. STABILITY
•Stability of an asphalt pavement is its ability to resist shoving and
rutting under loads (traffic). A stable pavement maintains its shape
and smoothness under repeated loading; an unstable pavement
develops ruts (channels), ripples (wash boarding or corrugation) and
other signs of shifting of the mixture.

2. DURABILITY
•The durability of an asphalt pavement is its ability to resist factors
such as changes in the binder (polymerization and oxidation),
disintegration of the aggregate, and stripping of the binder films
from the aggregate. These factors can be the result of weather,
traffic, or a combination of the two.
 PROPERTIES OF ASPHALTS

3. IMPERMEABILITY
•Impermeability is the resistance of an asphalt pavement to the
passage of air and water into or through it. This characteristic is
related to the void content of the compacted mixture, and much of
the discussion on voids in the mix design sections relates to
impermeability.
•Even though void content is an indication of the potential for
passage of air and water through a pavement, the character of these
voids is more important than the number of voids. The size of voids,
whether or not the voids are interconnected, and the access of the
voids to the surface of the pavement all determine the degree of
impermeability.
•Although impermeability is important for durability of compacted
paving mixtures, virtually all asphalt mixtures used in highway
construction are permeable to some degree. This is acceptable as
long as it is within specified limits.
 PROPERTIES OF ASPHALTS
4. WORKABILITY
•Workability describes the ease with which a paving mixture can be
placed and compacted. Mixtures with good workability are easy to
place and compact; those with poor workability are difficult to place
and compact. Workability can be improved by changing mix design
parameters, aggregate source, and/or gradation.

5. FLEXIBILITY
•Flexibility is the ability of an asphalt pavement to adjust to gradual
settlements and movements in the sub-grade without cracking.
Since virtually all sub-grades either settle (under loading) or rise
(from soil expansion), flexibility is a desirable characteristic for all
asphalt pavements. An open-graded mix with high binder content is
generally more flexible than a dense-graded, low binder content mix.
Sometimes the need for flexibility conflicts with stability
requirements, so that trade-offs have to be made.
 PROPERTIES OF ASPHALTS

6. FATIGUE RESISTANCE
•fatigue resistance is the pavement’s resistance to repeated bending
under wheel loads (traffic). Research shows that air voids (related to
binder content) and binder viscosity have a significant effect on
fatigue resistance. As the percentage of air voids in the pavement
increases, either by design or lack of compaction, pavement fatigue
life (the length of time during which an in-service pavement is
adequately fatigue-resistant) is drastically shortened. Likewise, a
pavement containing binder that has aged and hardened
significantly has reduced resistance to fatigue.

•The thickness and strength characteristics of the pavement and the

supporting power of the subgrade also have a great deal to do with
determining pavement life and preventing load-associated cracking.
Thick, well-supported pavements do not bend as much under
loading as thin or poorly supported pavements do. Therefore, they
have longer fatigue lives.
 PROPERTIES OF ASPHALTS

7. SKID RESISTANCE
•Skid resistance is the ability of an asphalt surface to minimize
skidding or slipping of vehicle tires, particularly when wet. For good
skid resistance, tire tread must be able to maintain contact with the
aggregate particles instead of riding on a film of water on the
pavement surface (hydroplaning). Skid resistance is typically
measured in the field at 40 mi/hr with a standard tread tire under
controlled wetting of the pavement surface. A rough pavement
surface with many little peaks and valleys will have greater skid
resistance than a smooth surface. Best skid resistance is obtained
with rough-textured aggregate in a relatively open-graded mixture
with an aggregate of about 3/8 in.-1/2 in. (10-13 mm) maximum size.
Besides having a rough surface, the aggregates must resist
polishing (smoothing) under traffic. Calcareous aggregates polish
more easily than siliceous aggregates. Unstable mixtures that tend
to rut or bleed (flush asphalt to the surface) present serious skid
resistance problems.