Analysis of the choice of the method for the elaboration of dosages for an asphalt mixture

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to perform an analysis regarding the choice of a method for designing a dosage of an asphalt mixture. There have been concerns in the field of asphalt mix dosing since 1920 when Field and Hubbard introduced the impact compaction with the Proctor hammer for laboratory testing. Later, Marshall introduced the method that bears his name and which remained the most used method for determining the asphalt mixture dosages in Romania. Since it was found that the density of the samples obtained in the laboratory did not correspond to the density of the cores extracted from the compacted asphalt layers, the gyratory compaction was introduced, which is now frequently applied in the USA and other European countries. The study presented in this paper deals with the problem of establishing the mixture of aggregates, filler and binder in terms of the volumetric method (Superpave) and Marshall method, presenting both theoretically and experimentally the dosage study of an asphalt mixture type BA16 (asphalt concrete with maximum grain size of 16 mm) but also the physical-mechanical characteristics obtained following the application of the two methods for determining the dosage for the studied BA 16 type asphalt mixture.