Do we need to add mineral filler in bituminous mixtures?

Mr. Rajib Chattaraj, Executive Engineer P.W.D. West Bengal asked Prof. Prithvi ingh !andhal so"e interesting and good #uestions about the use of "ineral fillers in bitu"inous "ixes in $ndia. %he follo&ing 'uestions and (ns&ers )' and (* should be of interest to the high&a+ co""unit+ in $ndia and therefore are being shared &ith the". Prof. !andhal had the ,rivilege of leading research on "ineral aggregates and fillers )including baghouse fines* at the national level in the - .!andhal and Parker /0012 !andhal /01/3. %he latest $nfor"ation Manual on Baghouse 4ines currentl+ in use in the - has been authored b+ hi" .!andhal /0003. %herefore, the res,onses to Mr. Chattaraj5s #uestions are based on his o,inions considering the latest research on this subject. Before res,onding to Mr. Chattaraj5s #uestions, Prof. !andhal gave so"e background on "ineral fillers. Background During the earl+ /067s, the use of baghouses in hot "ix as,halt )8M(* ,lants &as "ade "andator+ in the - due to stringent air ,ollution regulations. Prior to the /067s, the 8M( ,lants used to blo& the dust fro" the aggregate dr+ers into the at"os,here. %his generall+ used to result in deficienc+ of fines in the bitu"inous "ixes, &hich re#uired addition of so"e kind of "ineral filler. 9nce the aggregate fines &ere started to be collected in the 8M( ,lant baghouses, there generall+ &as no deficienc+ of fines in the bitu"inous "ixes because these :baghouse fines; &ere incor,orated back into the "ix in a controlled "anner through a scre& conve+er. %herefore, there &as no need for an+ additional "ineral filler. $nitiall+, so"e as,halt technologists had doubts about the #ualit+ of baghouse fines. 8o&ever, "an+ studies in the - have since confir"ed that the baghouse fines )&hich are sa"e as stone dust or "ineral dust resulting fro" the aggregate crushing o,erations* are good "ineral fillers. %herefore, "ost 8M( ,lants in the - hardl+ use an+ additional "ineral filler no& exce,t /< = > of h+drated li"e, &hich is used onl+ &hen the designed "ix does not "eet the re#uire"ents of "oisture susce,tibilit+ test such as (( 8%9 % =1?. @o& that the baghouses are also re#uired and used in $ndia, it is not understood as to &h+ so"e engineers are so keen to add so"e sort of filler )such as ,ortland ce"ent* &hen the baghouse fines are abundantl+ available and are as good as those fillers. $t is si",l+ a &aste of "one+. %he - has one of the best roads in the &orld, if a technolog+ &orks there, &h+ not in $ndiaA Questions & Answers 1. ChattarajB $n the M9R%8 9range book, h+drated li"e, ce"ent, "ineral dust etc. have been reco""ended as filler. 8o&ever, li"estone ,o&der )C P* has not been "entioned as so, &hereas C P has been ,rescribed as filler in Mastic (s,halt. Wh+, is there an+ s,ecific reason for thisA What is the har" if &e use C P as filler in case of "ixes like BC or DBMA

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andhal! Ci"estone ,o&der can be used as "ineral filler in "ixes like DBM or BC. 8o&ever, as "entioned in the background it does not have to be used if baghouse fines )&hich are also "ineral dust* are abundantl+ available. Ci"estone ,o&der "ust be used in "astic as,halt. %his is based on successful ex,erience in Der"an+ &here :Dussas,halt; )also "astic as,halt* is used. $ had the ,rivilege of su,ervising and docu"enting the first<ever usage of Dussas,halt on a "ajor ,roject in the - .!andhal and Mellott /0663. We follo&ed the Der"an s,ecification for selecting the "ineral filler, &hich is a "ajor co",onent of the Dussas,halt "astic. %he filler "ust "eet the co",atibilit+ )"iscibilit+* re#uire"ent, &hich is re,orted to be essential for obtaining satisfactor+ "astic as,halt. (t least 6E g of filler &hen "ixed &ith /E g of bitu"en at /F? C should result in a ho"ogeneous "ixture to ,ass this test. %he heated filler is added in incre"ents to the hot bitu"en &hile "ixing &ith a s,atula. $t &as ,ossible to "ix 0? g of the filler used on that ,roject &ith /E g of bitu"en. $t &as a li"estone dust, &hich ,assed that test for the Dussas,halt. %his t+,e of test can also be conducted on the "astic as,halt used in $ndia to deter"ine the suitabilit+ of the li"estone ,o&der actuall+ being used. $ "ust "ention here that unlike BM and DBC, &hich are funda"entall+ fla&ed and undesirable "ixes and should be deleted fro" the orange book .!andhal, inha and Geeraragavan =7713, "astic as,halt is a :success; stor+ in $ndia. Mastic as,halt has served us ver+ &ell in resisting rutting on roundabouts and intersections. 8o&ever, it cannot be used on high&a+s &here s,eed li"its are over E7 k" ,er hour because of its relativel+ lo&er skid resistance. ". Chattaraj! What should be the exact dose of fillerA (s ,er orange book it is => b+ &eight of the aggregates but as ,er international standard ) u,er,ave* it should be 7.F to /.=> of the effective as,halt content. %hese t&o actuall+ differ &hich $ had calculated and sho&n in the co""ent on ,a,er no. E?7 ),ublished in $RC Hournal (,ril< Hune, =771*. ". andhal! (s "entioned in the background, there is no need to add an+ :filler; )&hen baghouse fines are available* so the #uestion of adding = > filler does not arise at all. %his state"ent should be deleted fro" the orange book. 9nl+ the dosage of h+drated li"e is established bet&een / to = ,ercent based on the results of (( 8%9 % =1?. $n the - , generall+ there is no #filler;. $t is called :fines;, &hich are defined as all "aterial ,assing the 7.76E "" sieve siIe )sieve @o. =77* #uite "uch of it usuall+ co"ing fro" the baghouse again. $t is also called P=77 "aterial ),assing =77 sieve*. $n u,er,ave or Marshall for that "atter, &e should ensure that the ratio b+ &eight of P=77 and effective bitu"en content )finesJbitu"en* in the bitu"inous "ix is bet&een 7.F to /.= so that &e do have so"e "ini"u" fines to stiffen the bitu"en and not too "uch fines &hich &ill "ake the "ortar too brittle )dull* and less cohesive and &ill also reduce the GM( "ore than &e desire. @o& +ou see the difference bet&een the :filler; and :P=77 "aterial;. (gain, just to e",hasiIe there is no need to add an+ filler )unless the aggregate is clean and therefore deficient in fines*. $. ChattarajB What is +our o,inion about rec+cling of "ineral dust to be used as fillerA Can it serve the ,ur,ose of increasing the viscosit+ of the binderA

$. andhalB (lthough technicall+ correct, $ &ould not call it :rec+cling; "ineral dust2 dust is being added back to the "ix as baghouse fines in the sa"e 8M( ,lant. $ &ould not call it rec+cling but just a routine ,rocess in "ix ,roduction. @o& that &e do have baghouses in $ndia, &e "ust use these fines. Kes, baghouse fines do stiffen the bitu"en, &hich &e do desire to certain extent. %. ChattarajB 8o& and in &hat se#uence filler should be added in 8M( during ,roduction in 8M( ,lant )es,eciall+ in continuous dru" "ix ,lant* kee,ing in vie& that :filler is "ainl+ used to increase the viscosit+ of the binder;A %. andhal! (gain, kee, in "+ "ind &e are not al&a+s adding an+ filler unless it is h+drated li"e to resist stri,,ing. $n a batch ,lant, baghouse fines or h+drated li"e are best added to the &eigh ho,,er and dr+ "ixed &ith all other aggregates before adding the bitu"en. $f the fines are added to the aggregates going u, the hot elevator these can for" slugs in 8ot Bin @o. / and their content in the "ix can var+ fro" one batch to another. Do not be concerned, fines are grabbed b+ the bitu"en first before coating the larger aggregate ,articles. $n a dru" ,lant, these are added near the inlet of bitu"en so that these are not blo&n back to the baghouse and are caught b+ the bitu"en instead. $ suggest +ou visit a hot "ix ,lant and see the o,erations. 4iller has also other i",ortant functions besides increasing the stiffness of the bitu"en as "entioned later. &. Chattaraj! What is +our o,inion about other "aterials to be used as filler like "arble dust, fl+ ash, granulated slag, etcA &. andhal! Waste "aterials like the ones +ou have "entioned, &hich are hard to dis,ose off should al&a+s be considered. 8o&ever, &e "ust ensure that their use is cost effective and not detri"ental to the hot "ix. $n "+ o,inion, "arble dust has a ,otential for causing stri,,ing so an antistri,,ing agent &ill ,robabl+ have to be used in the hot "ix. o"e research is alread+ under &a+ in $ndia to deter"ine the suitabilit+ of the "arble dust as filler. o"e states in the - do not ,er"it the use of fl+ ash because its ,articles are generall+ rounded and, therefore, increase the rutting ,otential of the as,halt "ix &hen used on heav+<traffic roads. Marble dust or an+ other &aste "aterial should not be used in lieu of baghouse fines because then the dis,osal of &aste baghouse fines &ill also be ,roble". '. Chattaraj! 4ro" the @ational Center for (s,halt %echnolog+ )@C(%* textbook on :8ot Mix (s,halt Materials, Mix Design and Construction; b+ Prof. P. . !andhal and others, it is read that the ,article siIe of /7 "icron and belo&, filler "aterials are used in increasing the binder viscosit+ and co"e into ,la+ as fil" around the "ineral aggregates, because the as,halt fil" thickness is generall+ F "icron to 1 "icron. %hen &hat function does /7 "icron to 6E "icron siIed filler "aterial ,la+ L is it onl+ to fulfill the gradation re#uire"ent of the "ix )belo& sieve siIe 6E "icron*A $f so, then there should be ,article siIe<&ise sub<diversion in filler "aterial, are ranging /7 "icron to 6E "icron and another belo& /7 "icron. '. andhal! %here is no such actual thing as F<1 "icron bitu"en fil" thickness around the aggregate ,articles .!andhal and Chakrabort+, /00F3. $t is just a :calculated; average value obtained b+ dividing the volu"e of bitu"en &ith the surface area of the

aggregate. We actuall+ do not kno& &here is the dividing line in ter" of siIe belo& &hich the fines )filler* beco"e ,art of the bitu"en thus affecting its viscosit+ and above &hich the filler just fills the voids bet&een the larger ,articles, &hich is also needed to reduce the GM( to an acce,table level. We do kno& it ha,,ens that &a+ but &e do not kno& the exact ans&er. (. Chattaraj! What are the ,ur,oses other than increasing viscosit+ of binder, served b+ fillerA 8o& "uch ,ur,ose, does the filler serve in kee,ing the balance of air void, GM(, stabilit+, flo&, densit+ of the "ixA 8o& far its utilit+ is there in decreasing the ,er"eabilit+ of the "ixA (. andhal! (ccording to a stud+ .PuIinauskas /0F03, the "ineral filler has a dual role in 8M(B )a* it fills the interstices and ,rovides contact ,oints bet&een larger aggregate ,articles and )b* &hen "ixed &ith bitu"en binder it for"s a high<consistenc+ binder or "astic &hich ce"ents larger aggregate ,articles together. Both of these roles affect the Marshall ,ro,erties )void ,ara"eters and stabilit+* of the bitu"inous "ix. Per"eabilit+ of the "ix de,ends on the extent of interconnected air voids in the co",acted s,eci"en, &hich are function of so "an+ factors such as gradation )including fines* and bitu"en content. ). Chattaraj! $t is also learnt that h+drated li"e has the ,ro,ert+ of antioxidant and antistri,,ing )$ believe li"e stone ,o&der also have such ,ro,ert+*, this is an added advantage. $f the other "aterials such as ce"ent, "ineral dust, stone dust etc. do not have these ,ro,erties, &h+ at all those &ill be used as fillerA ). andhal! Kes, h+drated li"e retards the oxidation )aging* of bitu"en to so"e extent and also is a ver+ good antistri,,ing agent. 8o&ever, li"estone ,o&der is no "atch for h+drated li"e. %he latter has its active li"e content )Ca98= M Ca9* above 07 ,ercent as s,ecified in (( 8%9 M ?7?, :Ci"e for (s,halt Mixtures;. -nfortunatel+, &e do not have an $ndian tandard for h+drated li"e to be used in as,halt "ixtures. (s $ "entioned earlier, there is no need to add other "ineral fillers unless the aggregate is deficient of fines, &hich ha,,ens rarel+ unless the fines are blo&n into the at"os,here and are not collected in a baghouse. 8+drated li"e should be added if the designed "ix does not "eet the re#uire"ents of (( 8%9 % =1?. %he tate of Deorgia in the - has ,redo"inantl+ granite aggregate, &hich is ,rone to stri,,ing, so ever+ ton of hot "ix there is treated &ith h+drated li"e. %hat is &hat &e should do in areas, &hich have a ,roble" aggregate like granite or #uartIite. 4or exa",le, #uartIite aggregate is used in and around Hai,ur and therefore ever+ ton of hot "ix ,roduced there "ust be re#uired to have h+drated li"e in it to ,revent stri,,ing. *. Chattaraj! $f &e consider that dose of filler as :7.F to /.=> of effective as,halt content; &hat are the criteria b+ &hich the exact a"ount of filler in HM4 is fixedA *. andhal! (gain, refer to "+ ,revious res,onses. %he range of 7.F to /.= ,ertains to the ratioB P=77Jeffective bitu"en content b+ &eight. Cet5s not confuse it &ith filler. When the total P=77 in the job<"ix for"ula is used &ithin this range of ratio based on the gradation of the available aggregates, it is ensured that there are sufficient fines to stiffen the bitu"en and not excessive enough to "ake the finesJbitu"en "ortar brittle.

@or"all+, the ,ercentage of the "aterial ,assing 7.76E "" sieve )P =77* in the job<"ix for"ula should be ke,t &ithin N to F ,ercent. Personall+, $ &ould never use less than N ,ercent so that the "ortar contributes ade#uatel+ to "ix rut resistance. %he ,ercentage of this "aterial given in the orange book for DBM and BC should be revised to ? to 6 ,ercent. $t should be "entioned here that this range of 7.F to /.= for finesJbitu"en ratio is based on &eight. ince it is si",le, ,ractical, and eas+ to i",le"ent it is generall+ s,ecified as such. 8o&ever, &e kno& different fines cause different degree of stiffening of bitu"en although used on an e#ual &eight basis. %he stiffening effect of fines is influenced b+ voids in the dr+ co",acted fines )called Rigden voids*. 8igher the Rigden voids, "ore is the stiffening effect. %he $nfor"ation Manual on Baghouse 4ines .!andhal /0003 currentl+ being used in the - gives a no"ogra,h b+ &hich one can deter"ine the "axi"u" a"ounts of fines based on their Rigden voids so that the finesJbitu"en "ortar is not too stiff or brittle. %his "anual also gives t&o "ore alternate criteria to choose fro" so that the "ortar is not too stiffB )a* the viscosit+ of finesJ"ortar should not be "ore than //.E ti"es that of the neat bitu"en used, and )b* the softening ,oint of the finesJbitu"en "ortar should not be "ore than // C co",ared to that of the neat bitu"en. 1+. Chattaraj! (s ,er the ,revailing nor"s of orange book )N th Revision*, if "ineral aggregates fail to satisf+ the stri,,ing criteria )if failed, then &ater sensitivit+ test has to be done, even then if the aggregates fail to satisf+ this test*, filler is reco""ended to be used. Man+ stone aggregates easil+ satisf+ these criteria, &hich "eans, filler is not re#uired to be used at all, ho& far this is justifiedA 1+. andhal! $ drafted $RCB/// ,ecifications for Dense Draded Bitu"inous Mixes to include a "andator+ test for stri,,ing &hich is (( 8%9 %=1?, :Resistance to Moisture $nduced Da"age of Bitu"inous Mixtures;, &hich &ill be a ,art of Marshall "ix design. %his test is conducted on the final co",lete "ix )including fines or filler*. 4iller or fines are not added )exce,t for h+drated li"e* s,ecificall+ to reduce &ater sensitivit+. ,-.-,-/C-0 !andhal, P. . )/01/*. Evaluation of Baghouse 4ines in Bitu"inous Mixtures. Proc. (ssociation of (s,halt Paving %echnologists, Gol. E7, /01/. !andhal, P. . Evaluation of Baghouse 4ines in 8ot Mix (s,halt. @ational (s,halt Pav"ent (ssociation, $nfor"ation Manual /=6, /000. !andhal, P. . and D. B. Mellott. )/066*. Penns+lvania5s Ex,erience &ith Design, Construction and Perfor"ance of Dussas,halt. Proc. (ssociation of (s,halt Paving %echnologists, Gol. NF, /066. !andhal, P. . and 4. Parker )/001*. (ggregate %ests Related to (s,halt Concrete Perfor"ance in Pave"ents, %rans,ortation Research Board, @ational Coo,erative 8igh&a+ Research Progra" Re,ort N7E, /001.

!andhal, P. . and . Chakrabort+ )/00F*. Effect of (s,halt 4il" %hickness on hort< and Cong<%er" (ging of (s,halt Paving Mixtures. %rans,ortation Research Board, %rans,ortation Research Record /E?E, /00F. !andhal, P. ., G. !. inha and (. Geeraragavan )=771*. ( Critical Revie& of Bitu"inous Mixes -sed in $ndia. Hournal of the $ndian Roads Congress. Golu"e F0<=, Hul+< e,te"ber =771. PuIinauskas, G. P. )/0F0*. 4iller in (s,halt Mixtures. %he (s,halt $nstitute Research Re,ort F0<=, 4ebruar+ /0F0. 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111