Experimental Evaluation on the Performance of Cold Mix Asphalt in Comparison with Hot Mix Asphalt for BC Layer

Abstract

Abstract— Hot Mix Technology is used from many years in the construction of bituminous layer. It basically involves heating of aggregates and bitumen, mixing and laying of the mixture at a high temperature around 120°C - 165°C. Though it is well suited for all the types of roads because of its good performance, it has several dis-advantages such as degradation of environment, it consumes lot of energy, problems due to hardening of asphalt, and it cannot be laid in cold region and during rainfall season. There is an increasing demand for the Cold Mix Asphalt (CMA) due to its several advantages and also it is gaining importance nowadays specially in the cold areas. The main advantage is the elimination of heating of aggregates and bitumen; instead emulsion can be used in producing the bituminous mix. Also, Cold Mix Asphalt is ecofriendly and consumes less energy. In the present study, the main objective is to check the feasibility of cold mix asphalt for Bituminous Concrete layer. For Cold Mix Asphalt bitumen emulsion of grade SS-2 is used. The Marshall Test is carried out on CMA and Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) by varying bitumen emulsion and bitumen content respectively.. The results obtained are comparable with Hot Mix Asphalt. Hence Cold Mix Asphalt is feasible for BC layer. Keywords— Cold Mix Asphalt; Hot Mix Asphalt; Marshal Test; BC Layer; Emulsion;