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A numerical study on the effect of aggregate gradation on mechanical response of asphalt mix

  • Research Paper
  • Highway Engineering
  • Published:
KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Aims and scope

Abstract

Various aggregate gradations are recommended in various guidelines/specifications for different types of asphalt mixes. These aggregate gradations have primarily evolved through experimental studies and experience on their field performances. Given a size range of aggregates, numerous aggregate gradations (and thereby numerous asphalt mixes) are possible. It is essentially a cumbersome and time consuming task to study the laboratory or field performances for all such possible asphalt mixes. The objective of the present work is to perform a micromechanical analyses on various asphalt mixes generated from computer simulated aggregate gradations. A hierarchical modeling scheme is used in the present work, where the asphalt mix is modeled as elastic-visco-plastic matrix with aggregates as rigid particulate intrusions with large volume fraction. In this process, a large number mixes can be simulated for their mechanical responses and some of them can be chosen for further laboratory verification. It is expected that such a process would save a considerable time and effort while finalizing a suitable gradation for the mix design.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Civil Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, 208016, India

    Ashok Singh & Animesh Das

  2. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, 208002, India

    Sumit Basu

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  1. Ashok Singh
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  2. Animesh Das
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  3. Sumit Basu
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Correspondence to Animesh Das.

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Singh, A., Das, A. & Basu, S. A numerical study on the effect of aggregate gradation on mechanical response of asphalt mix. KSCE J Civ Eng 16, 594–600 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-012-1391-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-012-1391-1

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