Laboratory evaluation of the effect of compaction method and compaction work on the performance of SMA-13 mixture

PLOS ONE RESEARCH ARTICLE Laboratory evaluation of the effect of compaction method and compaction work on the performance of SMA-13 mixture Jinshun Xue ID1,2*, Yingjun Jiang3*, Yuanbiao Zheng4, Shaohui Xiong4 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 a1111111111 1 Hubei Key Laboratory of Power System Design and Test for Electrical Vehicle, Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang, Hubei, China, 2 School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang, Hubei, China, 3 Key Laboratory for Special Area Highway Engineering of Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China, 4 Ningbo Communications Planning Institute Co., Ltd., Ningbo, Zhejiang, China * (JX); (YJ) Abstract OPEN ACCESS Citation: Xue J, Jiang Y, Zheng Y, Xiong S (2022) Laboratory evaluation of the effect of compaction method and compaction work on the performance of SMA-13 mixture. PLoS ONE 17(3): e0265097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265097 Editor: Reginald B. Kogbara, Texas A&M University System, QATAR Received: November 20, 2021 Accepted: February 22, 2022 Published: March 8, 2022 Copyright: © 2022 Xue et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are within the paper. Funding: The project was funded by the Ningbo Transportation Bureau, the Ningbo Communications Planning institute Co., Ltd., and Hubei Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under grant 2020CFB330, Hubei Superior and Distinctive Discipline Group of “Mechatronics and Automobiles" under grant XKQ2021025. YJ, YZ, and SX cooperated with one another to complete the Ningbo transportation technology project (No.202006) application, which also helped The influence of compaction methods such as the Marshall compaction method (MCM), vibration compaction method (VCM) and gyration compaction method (GCM), on the performance of stone mastic asphalt (SMA-13) mixture has yet to be explored. Therefore, to compare the influences of compaction methods and work on the physical and mechanical properties of SMA-13 mixture, the volume parameters, mechanical properties, and gradation changes of SMA-13 mixture specimens prepared under different vibration compaction times, Marshall double-compaction numbers, and gyration compaction numbers were studied. The compaction method for SMA-13 mixture design was also proposed under the principle of optimum properties. Results demonstrate that the asphalt aggregate ratio and compaction work directly affect the volumetric properties (VV, VFA, and VMA) of asphalt mixture specimens while the raw material and mineral aggregate gradation were fixed. The influence of compaction work on physical properties is greater than that of asphalt aggregate ratio. The mechanical strength of VCM and GCM specimens is higher than that of MCM specimens under the same compaction work and the optimum asphalt aggregate ratio. With the increase in compaction work, the mechanical properties of SMA-13 mixture are improved at the same compaction method and the optimum asphalt aggregate ratio. The aggregate gradation of the SMA-13 mixture before and after compacted using VCM and GCM changes minimally compared with that of the SMA-13 mixture compacted by MCM. Thus, the compaction methods of VCM65 and GCM130 were recommended for SMA-13 mixture design. 1 Introduction With the aggravating trend of China’s traffic toward the direction of “large flow, large-scale vehicles, heavy load, and overload” [1] and the frequent occurrence of extreme weather, early diseases of stone mastic asphalt (SMA) mixture pavement, such as rutting, cracks, and water PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265097 March 8, 2022 1 / 20 PLOS ONE fund the project. YZ and SX receive salary support from Ningbo Communications Planning institute Co., Ltd. The specific roles of this author are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have read the journal’s policy and have the following competing interests: YZ and SX are employees of Ningbo Communications Planning institute Co., Ltd. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products associated with this research to declare. Effect of compaction on the performance of SMA-13 mixture damage, are becoming increasingly serious [2–4]. One reason for such a phenomenon is that the standard of 50 times Marshall double-compaction number is adopted for the mix proportion design of SMA mixture, which is evidently lagging behind the current traffic situation to prevent aggregate breakage due to excessive compaction number [5]. However, the Marshall compaction method (MCM), which is easy to operate for researchers, is mostly used in the research of SMA mixture at present [6]. Wu explored the effect of fiber types on the performance of SMA mixture under different ageing states [7]. The performance of SMA mixtures with different high-viscosity modified asphalts based on laboratory tests was evaluated by Luo [8]. SMA containing ceramic waste aggregate for cooling asphalt pavement was studied by Huang [9]. Nevertheless, previous studies have shown that the correlation between the engineering characteristics of Marshall specimens and field core specimens is less than 70% [10, 11]. Thus, the Hveem compaction methods, gyratory testing machine methods, and Superpave design methods are adopted for the compaction of asphalt mixture throughout the world [12, 13]. The compactability and water sensitivity of rubberized SMA mixtures with chemical warm mixture asphalt additive were evaluated using the Superpave gyratory compactor method (GCM) [14, 15]. The GCM for SMA mixture, specifically its design applicability and feasibility, was analyzed [16]. The mechanical differences of various asphalt mixtures were compared using GCM and MCM [15]. Although the specimens compacted using the above compaction methods show enhanced correlation with field samples, the equipment used for these compaction methods is considerably expensive for worldwide application [17]. Researchers have suggested asphalt mixture compaction via the vibration compaction method (VCM) to investigate the performance of mixtures. VCM can make asphalt mixtures have a skeleton dense structure, and the Marshall stability (MS) and crack resistance of asphalt mixtures can be significantly improved [18]. VCM not only makes the aggregate difficult to break but can also obtain compressive strength (Rc) and splitting strength (RT) similar to those obtained using GCM [19]. Compared with the asphalt (...truncated)