Potential of Using Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) in Mississippi
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2004-01-01
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Abstract:Stone matrix asphalt (SMA) has been used in Europe for over 30 years. SMA was first used in Europe as a mixture that would resist the wear of studded tires; however, an additional benefit found with SMA was that it was durable and highly rut resistant. Because of the success of SMA in Europe, five state agencies within the U.S. constructed SMA pavements during 1991. These agencies designed the SMA mixtures using "recipe" procedures adopted from European practices. The recipe generally consisted of a single aggregate gradation band that followed the ì60-30-10" rule. This rule indicates that 60 percent of the aggregate gradation was made up of a coarse aggregate, 30 percent was a fine aggregate, and 10 percent was mineral filler. The first publication within the United States that provided guidance on the design of SMA mixtures was produced by the SMA Technical Working Group (TWG) and published in 1994 (1). Within this publication, a single gradation band was provided (Table 1). Depending upon the actual gradation within the band, SMA gradations that met the TWG's requirements had either a 12.5 or 19.0 mm nominal maximum aggregate size (Superpave definition). In 1997, the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) conducted a performance evaluation of more than 140 SMA pavements from throughout the United States (2). The evaluation consisted of collecting data concerning mix design, plant production, lay down, and performance for each of the 140 SMA pavements. With respect to performance, over 90 percent of the evaluated SMA pavements had rut depths of 4 mm or less. There were only six of the 140 projects in which rutting (more than 6 mm) could be attributed to the SMA layer. However, most of these problems could be attributed to construction problems. Another observation made during the performance review was that there was no evidence of raveling on any of the projects.
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