Abstract

There are three major types of asphalt surfacing, characterized by a mixture of bitumen and stone aggregate. These are: Dense Graded asphalt (DGA); Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) and Open Graded Asphalt (OGA).Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) is a gap graded mix, characterized by high coarse aggregates, high asphalt contents and polymer or fiber additives as stabilizers. In comparison to dense graded mixtures SMA has higher proportion of coarse aggregate, lower proportion of middle size aggregate and higher proportion of mineral filler. It resists permanent deformation and has the potential for long term performance and durability. Four of different aggregate gradations with two types of fillers, such as Bamboo Fibre and Cellulose Fibre have been tried for preparation of mixes. About 2450 gm of sample aggregates were taken and kept in oven until it dried. Heating of aggregates was done up to 135oC before the addition of bitumen. Bitumen mix was added varying from 3 to 7% at an increment of 1%. Also the fillers, bamboo fiber and artificial stabilizer- Topcel cellulose were mixed as per design. 1.0