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DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND

ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

MARSHALL MIX DESIGN

VEB3042: CIVIL ENGINEERING LAB
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Highway Laboratory Testing
5th October 2021
Marshall Mix Design 2

Originally developed by Bruce Marshall of the Mississippi

State Highway Department

The Marshall Method of mix design is intended both for laboratory

design and field control of bituminous hot-mix dense graded paving
mixtures.

The test is conducted as per ASTM D1559 and AASHTO

T245 standard procedures.
 The design of a bituminous mix involves the
choice of aggregate type, aggregate grading,
GENERAL bitumen grade and the determination of optimum
bitumen content which will optimize the
DISCUSSION engineering properties in relation to the desired
behavior in service.

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  Sufficient Asphalt to ensure a durable pavement.
 Sufficient mix stability to satisfy the demands of traffic
without distortion or displacement.
 Sufficient voids in the total compacted mix to allow for
slight amount of additional compaction under traffic and
slight amount of asphalt expansion due to temperature
Objectives increases without bleeding and loss of stability.
 Sufficient workability to permit efficient placement of the
mix without segregation and without sacrificing stability and
performance.
 For surface mixes, proper texture and hardness to provide
sufficient skid resistance in unfavorable weather conditions.

4/9
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Molds

APPARATUS

Oven Marshal Compactor Marshal Stability Machine

Water Bath
PROCEDURE: Sample
preparation & Compaction 6

 Select aggregate grading to be used

(JKR).
 Determine the proportion of each
aggregate size required to produce the
design grading >>>>> Sieve Analysis
 Determine the specific gravity of the
aggregates and asphalt binder.
 The possible range in percentage of
asphalt binder can be 4 to 6% (JKR)
with 0.5 increment.
 All materials are batched and kept in an
oven at 150°C.
Sample preparation & Compaction
 The batched granular material (plus filler) should be 7
placed in the mixer and mixed dry for about 1 minute,
then the appropriate amount of bitumen should be
added to the aggregate. Mixing should continue until
all-particles are coated with bitumen.
 The material should also be compacted in 100 mm
diameter steel moulds (which are also kept at 150°C -
160°C). After filling the mould with the appropriate
amount of material, the operator should make sure that
it is evenly distributed in the mould. This is done by
tamping the material (using steel rod) 15 times around
the edges and 5 times in the centre.
 The molds are than brought to marshal compactor and
compacted with 75 blows on both sides
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PROCEDURE:

Dimensions and Extrude the After keeping Measure the Determine

samples form samples at Weight of each
weight molds after room
dimensions of
each sample sample >> Dry
weight, weight
determination cooling at
room
temperature
for 24 hours
(Height and
in water and
diameter)
temperature Saturated
surface dry
weight
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Heat the specimens in a water bath to a temperature of
Heat
60°C for 30 minutes.

Place the specimen in the Marshall testing rig. The

Place breaking head Of Marshall testing apparatus is also
conditioned to 60°C.

Load the specimen radially at a constant rate of strain

Load
PROCEDURE: of 50.8 mm/min.

Testing Determine
Determine the stability of each specimen as the
maximum load that the specimen could withstand.

Correct the stability value obtained above (in order to

Correct take into account, the dimensions of the sample) by
the appropriate coefficient.

Read Read also the deformation/flow value at failure.

 100
𝑆𝐺 𝐴𝑔𝑔=
𝑊𝑐𝑎 𝑊𝑓𝑎 𝑊𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙
+ + 10
𝑆𝐺𝑐𝑎 𝑆𝐺𝑓𝑎 𝑆𝐺𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑙

SG agg = Specific gravity of combined aggregates

Wca = percentage weight of coarse aggregates
Wfa = percentage weight of fine aggregates
Wfill = percentage weight of fillers

SGca = Sp. Gravity of coarse aggregates

SGfa = Sp. Gravity of fine aggregates
Calculations SGfill = Sp. Gravity of fillers

𝑊𝑎𝑖𝑟
𝑆𝐺 𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑘=
(𝑊𝑎𝑖𝑟 − 𝑊𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 )

SGbulk = Bulk Specific gravity of Compacted mix

Wair = weight of specimen in air (dry weight)
Wwater = weight of specimen in water
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100
𝑆𝐺 𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
¿¿
SGmax = Max. Theoretical Specific gravity
SGb = binder specific gravity

Calculations

𝐴𝑖𝑟 𝑉𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠 ( 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 )=100 ∗ [ (𝑆𝐺𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑆𝐺𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑘)

𝑆𝐺𝑚𝑎𝑥 ]
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𝑉𝑀𝐴=100 − [ (𝑆𝐺𝑏𝑢𝑙𝑘)(100 − % 𝑏𝑖𝑡𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛)
𝑆𝐺𝑎𝑔𝑔 ]
VMA = Voids in Mineral Aggregates

Calculations
𝑉𝐹𝐵=100 ∗ [ (𝑉𝑀𝐴 − 𝐴𝑖𝑟 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑𝑠)
𝑉𝑀𝐴 ]
VFB = Voids Filled with Binder
 2.44 18.00
13/9
2.42

Marshal Stability (kN)

Calculations 2.40
15.00

Sp. Gravity
2.38
12.00

Optimum
2.36

2.34 9.00

Bitumen
4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5
Bitumen Content (%) Bitumen Content (%)

Content
(OBC) 8.00
Optimum Bitumen Content (OBC)
6.00
Air Voids (%)

4.00

2.00

0.00
4 4.5 5 5.5 6 6.5
Bitumen Content (%)
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DATA
TABLE
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