Performance of macro clay on the porous asphalt mixture properties

Abstract

Porous asphalt pavement already well known as one type of pavement since many decades, however due to lack in strength it is not been widely used in road construction especially in high stresses areas. Many research had been conducted by researchers in order to improve the durability and increase the service life of the road. One of the methods that commonly used is through asphalt modification. Objectives of this study are to discuss influence of macro-clay in terms of physical and rheological properties and their effect on performance of porous asphalt mixture. Various percentage of macro-clay (starting from 2% to 8%) was blended in an asphalt binder and compacted using the Marshall compactor. The blended asphalt was characterized using penetration, softening point test and penetration index compared with unmodified binder. Performance tests of asphalt mixture were carried out such as Los Angeles Abrasion Value (LAAV) and Stability and Flow test in order to determine the strength and durability. The results show that the addition of macro-clay would increase in softening point but decrease in binder penetration. Based on the results, while macro-clay changes physical and rheological properties of bitumen and increase stiffness, it also improves strength and durability resistance, as well. Generally, the best improvements in the modified binders were obtained with 4% of macro-clay.