Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

Waste Management 28 (2008) 191–199

www.elsevier.com/locate/wasman

A study on engineering characteristics of asphalt concrete

using filler with recycled waste lime
a,1 a,* b,2
Hwang Sung Do , Park Hee Mun , Rhee Suk keun
a
Korea Institute of Construction Technology, 2311, Daehwa-Dong, Ilsan-Gu, Goyang-Si, Gyeonggi-Do 411-712, Republic of Korea
b
Kyunghee University, 1, Seocheon-Dong, Giheung-Gu, Yongin-Si, Gyeonggi-Do 446-701, Republic of Korea

Accepted 17 November 2006

Available online 3 April 2007

Abstract

This study focuses on determining the engineering characteristics of asphalt concrete using mineral fillers with recycled waste lime,
which is a by-product of the production of soda ash (Na2CO3). The materials tested in this study were made using a 25%, 50%, 75%,
and 100% mixing ratio based on the conventional mineral filler ratio to analyze the possibility of using recycled waste lime. The asphalt
concretes, made of recycled waste lime, hydrated lime, and conventional asphalt concrete, were evaluated through their fundamental
engineering properties such as Marshall stability, indirect tensile strength, resilient modulus, permanent deformation characteristics,
moisture susceptibility, and fatigue resistance.
The results indicate that the application of recycled waste lime as mineral filler improves the permanent deformation characteristics,
stiffness and fatigue endurance of asphalt concrete at the wide range of temperatures. It was also determined that the mixtures with recy-
cled waste lime showed higher resistance against stripping than conventional asphalt concrete.
It was concluded from various test results that a waste lime can be used as mineral filler and, especially, can greatly improve the resis-
tance of asphalt concrete to permanent deformation at high temperatures.
 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction bility of the recycling technology for waste lime. Various

Waste lime is an industrial waste generated in the pro-
duction of soda ash (Na2CO3). It is well known that soda
ash is the main material for the production of flat glass
or soap detergents. Until recently, most waste lime from
the study area was discarded in the nearby 4,212,000 m2
landfill, causing environmental problems due to the dust
and water leakage.
To overcome this situation, the engineering analysis
was conducted to investigate the possible use of waste
lime as an asphalt concrete filler and to review the feasi-
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 31 9100 323; fax: +82 31 9100 161.
E-mail addresses: sdhwng@kict.re.kr (H. Sung Do), hpark@kict.re.kr
(P. Hee Mun), skrhee@khu.ac.kr (R. Suk keun).
1
Tel.: +82 31 9100 180; fax: +82 31 9100 161.
2
Tel.: +82 31 201 2900; fax: +82 31 202 8854.
laboratory tests were performed on the asphalt concrete
with waste lime filler. Laboratory tests undertaken in this
study include a basic physical material property test, indi-
rect tensile test, resilient modulus test, moisture suscepti-
bility test, repeated load indirect tensile test, and wheel
tracking test. The asphalt binders were mixed with waste
lime filler at four different filler/waste lime ratios by
weight – 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. Also, the same tests
were conducted on the asphalt concrete mixtures with
existing mineral fillers and with hydrate lime for compar-
ison purposes.
In this study, the performance characteristics of asphalt
mixtures with varying waste lime contents were evaluated
by measuring fundamental material properties and by per-
forming various laboratory tests. Through engineering
analyses based on the test data, the effect of waste lime fill-
ers on pavement performance was assessed.

0956-053X/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2006.11.011
192 H. Sung Do et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 191–199

2. Waste lime Table 1

Heavy metal elution test of waste lime
2.1. Waste lime production procedure Heavy Waste process test (mg/l)
metal
Standard Dongyang Korea Public Health
Waste lime is produced when soda ash (Na2CO3) is pro- Chemical Environment Research
duced by a reaction between the Na in sodium chloride Company (1995) (1999)
(NaCl) and CO2 in limestone (CaCO3) by the Solvay Lead 3.0 Not detected Not detected
method. This means that sodium chloride is melted in Lead 3.0 Not detected 0.03
Arsenic 1.5 Not detected Not detected
water, making salt water, and the limestone is heated to Mercury 0.005 Not detected Not detected
1000 C to separate the CaO and CO2. Then the material Cadmium 0.3 0.01 0.05
undergoes a chemical reaction in the water, which produces Chromium 1.5 Not detected Not detected
soda ash. In this process, wastewater is produced by distill- Cyanogen 1.0 Not detected Not detected
ing plastic limestone, which is used to retrieve the ammonia
in ammonium chloride (NH4Cl). When this wastewater is
deposited, lime oversupplied to dismantle ammonium chlo- there is little waste lime recycling technology. Sin
ride, not fully plastic deformed limestone, waste lime of (1996), indicates that the heavy metal concentration of
inorganic solid sludge, and other wastes are generated. This waste lime meets the environmental standards, but it is
process can be expressed in the following chemical highly alkaline with a pH over 12, so it can pollute
equation hydraulic resources. Table 1 shows the heavy metal elu-
2NaCl þ CaCO3 þ H2 O ! Na2 CO3 þ CaCl2 þ H2 O ð1Þ tion test of waste lime.
or
2.2. Composition of waste lime
2NaCl þ 2NH4 OH þ CO2 ! Na2 CO3 þ 2NH4 Cl þ H2 O
ð2Þ Hydrate lime used for anti-stripping for asphalt concrete
has the components most in common with waste lime.
The chemical equation for waste lime is as follows (Fig. 1 Hydrate lime produced by adding lime with water is white
shows the process of waste lime production) or white-gray alkali powder, and more than 98% passes a
2NH4 Cl þ CaO þ H2 O ! 2NH3 þ CaCl2 þ 2H2 O ð3Þ 0.15 mm sieve. Hydrate lime is used to improve the
mechanical quality of soils, and has an excellent perfor-
CaCO3 ðplasticÞ ! CaO þ CO2 ð4Þ
mance in water damage and resistance to permanent defor-
Waste lime, which is the inorganic sludge produced in mation (Kennedy and Ping, 1991).
the production of soda ash, is made up of the calcium Waste lime is produced in the production of soda ash
compound (around 50%), the magnesium compound and has a similar chemical composition with hydrate lime.
(around 20%) and the silica compound. Among these, Table 2 presents a comparison of hydrate lime and waste
the calcium compound is known to be effective in prevent- lime, conducted by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) chemical
ing the stripping of asphalt concrete (Little and Epps, composition analysis.
2001). About 310,000 tons of waste lime, which is classi- Fig. 2 shows photos of waste lime before and after the
fied as industrial waste according to article 2 of Korean heat processing of sludge. After initial inorganic sludge,
Waste Management Law, is buried in the landfill located waste lime is heated 100 C for 24 h and crushed to a
near Dongyang Chemical Company in Incheon, Korea. powder with a particle size of less than 0.075 mm. Then
This practice has become the main cause of environmental powder waste lime can be used for the filler of asphalt
problems in the neighborhood of the landfill. However, concrete.

salt
melting device reaction device filtering device drying device
saltwater

product (soda ash)

limestone plasticity apparatus distillation apparatus

calcium chloride waste water

Dehydration
recovery settle apparatus
slurry apparatus
waste lime

Fig. 1. Waste lime production.

 H. Sung Do et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 191–199 193

Table 2 Table 3
Comparison of chemical composition between hydrate lime and waste Test code of asphalt concrete for each mix ratio
lime Test Weight ratio
Composition Hydrate lime (Weight%) Recycled waste lime (Weight%) Control Mineral filler 100%
Al2O3 0.79 1.81 WL25 Mineral filler 75% + Waste lime 25%
CaO 65.34 47.72 WL50 Mineral filler 50% + Waste lime 50%
Fe2O3 0.12 0.83 WL75 Mineral filler 25% + Waste lime 75%
K2O 0.02 0.38 WL100 Waste lime 100%
MgO 0.82 18.12 HL50 Mineral filler 50% + Hydrate lime 50%
MnO 0.01 0.08
Na2O 0.19 3.00
P2O5 0.02 0.07
SiO2 1.32 7.26
100
TiO2 0.01 0.05
L.O.I 31.34 20.64
Total 99.98 99.97 80

% passing
60

3. Testing programs
3.1. Test plan
In order to evaluate the possibility of using waste lime
for the filler in asphalt concrete, waste lime was mixed in
various weight ratios (25%, 50%, 75% and 100%) with min-
eral fillers, and used as filler in asphalt concrete.
For each mixture with waste lime, the Marshall mix
design of asphalt concrete was carried out, and the Mar-
shall stability, indirect tensile strength, wheel tracking,
moisture susceptibility and fatigue resistance tests were
conducted. Table 3 presents the test code of asphalt con-
crete for each mix ratio.
3.2. Mix design
The asphalt binder used in this study is PG 64-22 pro-
duced by SK company in Korea. Crushed aggregate pro-
duced in Pocheon of Korea, a kind of gneiss, was used
for coarse aggregates and fine sand for production of
asphalt concrete. Fig. 3 shows the combination gradation
curve of aggregate used in this study. The asphalt con-
crete mixture was produced based on the Marshall mix
design in this study. Results of mix design are presented
in Table 4.
40
20
0
0.075 0.15 0.3 0.6 2.36 4.75 12.5 19 25
seive size (mm)
Fig. 3. Combination gradation of aggregate with 20 mm dense grade mix.
3.3. Test method
3.3.1. Indirect tensile test
The indirect tensile test on asphalt concrete mixes is a
frequently used procedure for assessing the pavement per-
formance. The indirect tensile test for resilient modulus
was conducted at six temperatures: 20 C, 10 C, 0 C,
5 C, 25 C, and 60 C. Cylindrical specimens with a
101.6 mm diameter and a 63.5 mm height were used in this
test. The test method follows the analysis method devel-
oped by Roque and Buttlar (1992). The test was performed
by applying a repeated haversine waveform load to a spec-
imen for 0.1 s, followed by a rest period of 0.9 s. The load
was selected to keep the horizontal strain in the linear vis-
coelastic range, typically 150–300 microstrain. Based on

Fig. 2. Before and after recycling processing (waste lime).

194 H. Sung Do et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 191–199

the test data, the resilient modulus and Poisson’s ratios are

Flow (0.25 mm)

computed by the following equations
P ðm þ 0:27Þ
MR ¼ ð5Þ
tDH
3:59DH

13
12
13
12
12
13
m¼  0:27 ð6Þ
DV
where, P is the repeated load (N), T, specimen thickness
Stability (kg)

(mm), DH, recoverable horizontal deformation (mm) and

DV is the recoverable vertical deformation (mm).
2272
2496
2673
2734
2614
2366
In order to evaluate the fatigue and low temperature
cracking potential of asphalt concrete, the indirect tensile
strength test was conducted. Tensile strength is determined
by applying the vertical deformation to failure at a con-
VFA (%)

stant rate of 50 mm/min for 25 C of temperature and

71.92
76.23
75.38
75.37
75.19
73.97

12.5 mm/min in 20 C, 10 C, and 0 C temperatures.

The vertical and horizontal movement and the load were
recorded until the load begins to decreases. The indirect
tensile strength of asphalt concrete can be computed using
the following equations
VMA (%)

16.94
15.07
15.52
15.46
15.74
15.40

2P
S¼  CSX ð7Þ
pDT    
T T
CSX ¼ 0:948  0:01114  0:2693ðmÞ þ 1:436 ðmÞ
D D
Air void (%)

ð8Þ
where, S is the tensile strength, P, load level, D, diameter of
4.62
3.52
3.72
3.71
3.76
4.13

specimen, T, thickness of specimen, CSX, stress correction

factor, and t is the Poisson’s ratio.

3.3.2. Moisture susceptibility test

Unit weight (g/cm3)

Moisture induced damage of asphalt mixtures occurs

when moisture causes a loss of bond between the aggregate
and the asphalt binder (Kandhal, 1992; Kennedy et al.,
1982). The moisture damage may reduce the internal
2.397
2.441
2.428
2.428
2.419
2.433

strength of asphalt mixtures and pavement design life dra-

matically. It was reported that the deterioration rate
because of moisture damage can be reduced by the use of
lime as mineral filler (REF). Two different test methods,
Asphalt content (%)

Marshall immersion stability test and Lottman test

(AASHTO T 283), were used to evaluate the moisture sus-
ceptibility of asphalt concrete in this study (Lottman,
1982). The moisture susceptibility of asphalt concrete was
evaluated using the MSR (Marshall stability ratio) from
5.02
4.70
4.77
4.77
4.80
4.79

the Marshall remaining stability test and TSR (tensile

Mix design results of asphalt concrete

strength ratio) from the Lottman test. It is well known that

the higher MSR or TSR value indicates the better resis-
concrete
Control
Asphalt

WL100
WL25
WL50
WL75

tance to moisture damage of asphalt mixtures. MSR and

HL50

TSR can be defined as follows:

MSR ð%Þ ¼ ðImmersion stability=standard stabilityÞ  100

20 mm Dense grade

ð9Þ
TSR ð%Þ ¼ ðIndirect tensile strength after freezing and
Gradation
Table 4

melting process=Standard asphalt concrete

indirect tensile strengthÞ  100 ð10Þ
 H. Sung Do et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 191–199
3.3.3. Repeated load indirect tensile test
The repeated load indirect tensile test was conducted to
evaluate the fatigue life of asphalt concrete at a tempera-
ture of 25 C. Fatigue life is determined by applying a
repeated load with a fixed amplitude along the diametrical
axis of a specimen. The repeated load consists of 0.1 s of
loading and 0.4 s of rest time in each cycle. The weight of
the load was 500 lb (227 kg), the maximum value in the
standards, and 30 lb (13.6 kg) was constantly applied as a
constraint load.
3.3.4. Wheel tracking test
To evaluate the rutting resistance of asphalt concrete,
the wheel tracking test was used according to the KS
F2374 test procedure. A contact pressure of 628 kPa and
total wheel load of 1.37 kN was applied to the 300 mm ·
300 mm · 50 mm slab specimens. The wheel passes 42
times per min at the center of specimen. The wheel tracking
tests were conducted for 1 h at a temperature of 60 C to
evaluate the permanent deformation characteristics of
asphalt mixtures. Test results are expressed as the change
of surface deformation with variation of time. The relative
deformation (RD) is defined as a slope between deforma-
tions at 45 and 60 min test times. Dynamic stability is cal-
culated by the number of passes times reverse of unit
deformation, meaning the number of passes when 1 mm
of surface deformation occurs.
4. Test results and review
4.1. Marshall stability
Fig. 4 shows the Marshall stability values for asphalt
concretes with different waste lime mix ratios. Although
there are some differences in the Marshall stabilities of each
sample, all of the mixtures pass the standard criterion
3000
2500
Marshall Stability (kg)
2000
1500
1000
500
0
WL25
Fig. 4. Marshall stability for asphalt concretes with variations of mix ratio.
195
(750 kg). It is also found that the waste lime (WL) samples
show the higher stability values than those of control and
hydrate lime (HL) samples, and the maximum difference
in Marshall stability among WL samples is 9.5%.
4.2. Indirect tensile test
The indirect tensile strength values were plotted against
the test temperatures for the test samples (Fig. 5). As can
be seen in this figure, most of the samples show the similar
indirect tensile strength values at a temperature of 25 C
ranging from 8 to 12 kg/cm2. However, when the test
temperatures are below 0 C, the WL samples show higher
strengths than other samples. At a temperature of 20 C,
the WL75 sample has an approximately 40% higher indi-
rect tensile strength than the control sample. It proves that
the use of waste lime can reduce the low temperature crack-
ing potential of asphalt concrete.
Fig. 6 presents a plot of the modulus values versus the
test temperatures for the control, hydrate lime, and four
waste lime samples. The WL samples have higher resilient
moduli at the high temperature region and lower resilient
moduli at the low temperature region. The change in resil-
ient modulus with variation in the temperature of the con-
trol and HL samples is found to be greater than that of the
WL samples. This result indicates that the WL samples
show a lower susceptibility against temperature than the
control and HL 50 samples, and proves that waste lime is
very effective in reducing the temperature cracking of
asphalt concrete.
4.3. Moisture susceptibility
Figs. 7 and 8 show the MSR and TSR values for the
moisture susceptibility of asphalt concrete. The HL50 sam-
ple has the highest MSR and TSR values, indicating that
WL50 WL75 WL100 Control HL50
Test Sample
196 H. Sung Do et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 191–199

80
Control
70 WL25

Indirect Tensile Strength (kg/cm )

2
WL50
60
WL75
WL100
50
HL50
40

30

20

10

0
-20 -10 0 25
Test Temperature (˚C)

Fig. 5. Indirect tensile strength for asphalt concretes with variations of mix ratio.

1.E+06 samples show lower MSR and TSR than HL50. However,
Control
WL25
they have higher MSR and TSR values than a control sam-
WL50 ple, ranging from 60% to 73% of MSR and 57% to 85% of
WL75
1.E+05 WL100
TSR. This result indicates that the use of waste lime can
MR (kg/cm )

improve the resistance against the stripping of asphalt

2

HL50

concrete.
1.E+04
4.4. Repeated load indirect tensile test

Based on the results of repeated load indirect tensile

1.E+03
-20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
tests, the number of load repetitions to failure was deter-
Test Temperature (˚C) mined for evaluating the resistance to fatigue cracking.
Fig. 9 shows the change in tensile strain as a function of
Fig. 6. Resilient modulus for asphalt concretes with variations of mix
number of load repetitions. The control sample begins to
ratio.
fail at 6500 load cycles. The WL samples have a higher
number of cycles to failure than the control sample. It is
the hydrate lime is a very good anti-stripping agent. Due to also found from this figure that the number of load cycles
the change of waste lime composition and decrease of a cal- to failure increases as the amount of waste lime in the filler
cium compound in the production of soda ash, the WL increases. Therefore, the waste lime is considered to

100

80

60
MSR (%)

40

20

0
Control WL25 WL50 WL75 WL100 HL50
Test Sample

Fig. 7. MSR (%) for asphalt concretes with variations of mix ratio.
 H. Sung Do et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 191–199 197

100

80

60
TSR (%)

40

20

0
Control WL25 WL50 WL75 WL100 HL50
Test Sample

Fig. 8. TSR (%) for asphalt concretes with variations of mix ratio.

0 perature condition. A similar trend is observed in the plot

of displacement versus number of load cycles.

5. Conclusions
1
strain (mm)

The objectives of this study were to assess the feasibility

of using waste lime as mineral filler in asphalt concrete.
2 Various laboratory tests were used to evaluate the charac-
Control teristics of asphalt concrete by varying the content of waste
WL25
lime. From the analysis of the laboratory test data, the fol-
WL50
WL75 lowing conclusions can be drawn:
3 WL100
HL50
 At a normal temperature (25 C), there is not much dif-
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 ference in the tensile strength of the WL sample com-
Cycle Number pared to that of the control sample and the HL50
Fig. 9. Repeated load indirect tensile test for asphalt concretes with
sample. However, the tensile strength of the WL samples
variations of mix ratio. was higher than the other samples under low tempera-
tures (20 C–0 C). It indicates that the waste lime
can be used to improve the resistance to low tempera-
improve the fatigue cracking resistance of asphalt concrete ture cracking of asphalt concrete.
at room temperature (25 C).  In the resilient modulus test to check the possibility of
temperature cracking, the WL samples had a lower tem-
4.5. Wheel tracking test perature sensitivity compared to the control sample and
the HL 50 sample.
The dynamic stability and relative deformation were cal-  To evaluate the resistance to stripping of asphalt con-
culated from the wheel tracking test results and presented crete, the Marshall remaining stability test and the Lott-
in Fig. 10. Fig. 11 shows the surface displacement as a man test were conducted. Test results showed that the
function of number of load cycles. The WL samples show WL samples have a lower capacity of anti-stripping than
a much higher dynamic stability than the control sample the HL sample, but much higher anti-stripping charac-
in this figure. The dynamic stability of the WL samples is teristics than the control sample.
a maximum of 4219 cycles/min (WL100) and a minimum  As fatigue cracking resistance is evaluated by the indi-
of 2598 cycles/min (WL50), which is 2.8–4.5 times higher rect tensile repeated load test, the WL samples showed
than the control sample. It is also observed that the more much higher fatigue cracking resistance than the control
waste lime, the higher the dynamic stability, indicating that sample and the HL50 sample. It was also found that the
the waste lime is an effective filler component to improve higher the ratio of waste lime, the higher the fatigue
the rutting resistance of asphalt concrete under a high tem- cracking resistance.
198 H. Sung Do et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 191–199

4500 0.050

DS 0.045
4000
RD
0.040
Dynamic stability, DS (cycle/mm)
3500

Relative deformation, RD (mm/min)

0.035
3000
0.030
2500
0.025
2000
0.020

1500
0.015

1000
0.010

500 0.005

0 0.000
Control WL25 WL50 WL75 WL100 HL50
Asphalt concrete

Fig. 10. Dynamic stability and RD for asphalt concretes with variations of mix ratio.

5
Control
WL25
WL50
4
WL75
Displacement (mm)

WL100
HL50
3

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
Number of cycle

Fig. 11. Displacement versus cycle number for asphalt concretes with variations of mix ratio.

 The dynamic stability of the WL samples was 2.8–4.5 conducting field tests for application of waste lime in
times higher than the control sample at a high tempera- asphalt concrete.
ture (60 C), and it was 1.5 times higher than the HL50
sample. Since it was shown that the higher the ratio of References
waste lime, the higher the dynamic stability, it is consid-
ered that the WL samples improve the rutting resistance Kandhal, P.S., 1992. Moisture susceptibility of HMA mixes: identification
in high temperatures. of problem and recommended solutions. National Asphalt Pavement
Association Quality Improvement Publication (QIP), p. 119.
Kennedy, T.W., Ping, W.V., 1991. An evaluation of effectiveness of
As you can see from the above listed results, there is a antistripping additives in protecting asphalt mixtures from moisture
high possibility for waste lime to be used for fillers in damage. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association of
asphalt concrete, and there should be further studies by Asphalt Paving Technologist, March 4–6.
 H. Sung Do et al. / Waste Management 28 (2008) 191–199 199

Kennedy, T.W., Roberts, F.L., Lee, K.W., 1982. Evaluation of moisture
susceptibility of asphalt mixtures using the texas freeze-thaw pedestal
test. In: AAPT Proceeding 51, pp. 327–341.
Little, D.N., Epps, J., 2001. The benefits of hydrated lime in hot mix asphalt.
National Lime Association. <http://www.lime.org/Abenefit.pdf>.
Lottman, R.P., 1982. Predicting moisture-induced damage to asphaltic
concrete-field evaluation. Transportation Research Record, NCHRP
Report 246.
Roque, R., Buttlar, W.G., 1992. The development of a measurement
and analysis system to accurately determine asphalt concrete
properties using the indirect tensile mode. In: AAPT Proceeding
61.
Sin Eun Chul, 1996. The study on the road filler and supplement filler by
using dreg, Incheon University.