Investigation into the performance of asphalt mixture designed using different methods

To investigate the performance of asphalt mixture designed by the vertical vibration method, the vertical vibration design method (VTM design method) and Marshall design method were used to design the AC-16 (asphalt concrete with nominal maximum aggregate size = 16 mm) asphalt mixture. The physical properties, mechanical properties, road performance and fatigue property of the asphalt mixture designed by these two methods were examined. The results show that compared with that of the Marshall method, the optimal asphalt content of the asphalt mixture designed by the VTM method is decreased by 9.0%, and the density is increased by 1.8%; the mechanical properties, anti-rut ability and anti-crack ability are increased by at least 30%, 34% and 17%, respectively; and the water stability is also improved slightly. In addition, the fatigue life can be increased by at least 59%. The results also show that the Marshall stability, compression strength, splitting strength, tensile strength and shear strength of field drill cores designed by the VTM method are increased by at least 42%, 32%, 21%, 31% and 33%, respectively, compared with those of the Marshall method. Clearly, the performance of the asphalt mixture designed by the VTM method is better than that of the Marshall method, which could offer a better choice for asphalt mixture design.