Impact of Intrinsic Properties of Aggregate and Volumetric Properties of Hot Mixture Asphalt (HMA) in the Influence of the Resistance to Rutting

Several studies show that properties of Hot Mixture Asphalt (HMA) mix design materials, aggregate gradation and volumetric properties had an influence on their resistance to rutting. However, these properties do not impact in the same way this performance. For a given aggregate type, an infinity aggregate gradation type can be observed, and for each type of HMA several types of bituminous binder can be used. This article aims to measure the evolution of resistance to rutting according to the three main classes of National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) aggregate gradation (dense-graded, fine-graded and coarse-graded). To this end, a study was conducted on the measurement of rutting resistance for eight bituminous mixtures manufactured with two bitumen types and two types of manufacturing aggregates. The results showed that there is a priority order of these different parameters on the influence of the resistance to rutting. This highlights a competition between the properties of aggregate and type of granular skeleton. Indeed, for the same type of aggregate, asphalt binder type first impacts resistance to rutting of the HMA followed by aggregate gradation, volumetric properties of the mix and finally by the angularity of the aggregates. However, this order cannot be fixed and can depend of the intensity of each parameter.