Laboratory comparison study for the use of stone matrix asphalt in hot weather climates

Stone matrix asphalt (SMA) is a hot mixture asphalt consisting of a coarse aggregate skeleton and a high binder content mortar. It was developed in Germany during the mid-1960s and it has been used in Europe for more than 20 years to provide better rutting resistance and to resist studded tyre wear. The main objective of this research study was to compare the performance of the normally used dense graded asphalt mixtures, named in this research as control mixtures, and SMA mixtures. Samples from both mixtures were fabricated at their optimum asphalt contents that were 5.3% for control mixtures and 6.9% for SMA mixtures. Comparison performance tests that included Marshall stability, loss of Marshall stability, split tensile strength, loss of split tensile strength, resilient modulus, fatigue, and rutting testing were performed on both mixtures. Test results showed that although the control mixtures have higher compressive and tensile strengths, SMA mixtures have higher durability and resilience properties. In addition, although the research could not prove the superiority of SMA in rutting resistance because of the limited sample sizes, field performance of SMA mixtures proves its superiority. Therefore, especially in hot weather climates, these properties, (durability, resilience and rutting resistance) give SMA mixtures advantages over dense graded mixtures.