Evaluation of a modification of current microsurfacing mix design procedures (original) (raw)

2015, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering

Although Micro-surfacing is widely used, current tests and mix design methods mostly rely on laboratory condition and the correlation between laboratory results and field performance is poor. Therefore, there is a need to develop new mix design procedures, specifications, and guidelines for Micro-surfacing. The research described in this thesis intended to review the current mix design procedures for Slurry Seal and Micro-surfacing and suggest modifications to the actual International Slurry Seal Association (ISSA) mix design procedure for microsurfacing as a high performance surface treatment and pavement preservation method. The first part of study reports the findings of a detailed laboratory investigation concerning the effect of asphalt emulsion, added water content, and the use of additives (Portland cement) on the design parameters and properties of micro-surfacing mixtures. For this, one aggregate type, one asphalt emulsion type/grade, and one aggregate gradation were used in the study. The evaluation was conducted at one curing stages of the mix (24-Hours). Three levels of asphalt emulsion, four levels of added water content, and one level of Portland cement were used in order to evaluate role of asphalt emulsion, water, and cement. This part of study consisted mainly of establishing a method for preparing and testing micro-surfacing mixture using four main mixture design tests proposed by the ISSA (TB 139, TB 113, TB 100, and TB 109). The results obtained with ISSA TB 109 and ISSA TB 100 mixture design tests were found highly variable and not precise enough to suggest optimum mix design. For the second part of this study, different tests were also studied in order to refine the current mix design procedure. The results have shown that ISSA TB 139 can be used to define the optimum water content at which samples should be tested, and that ISSA TB 147 mix design test should be used to define the optimum asphalt emulsion content.