TITLE: MARSHAL STABILITY TEST

OBJECTIVE:
To design the required bitumen mix and to find the optimum bitumen content.
APPARATUS REQUIRED:
a) Mould assembly:
Cylindrical moulds of 10 cm dia. and 7.5 cm height are required. It further consists of a base
plate and collar extension. They are designed to be interchangeable with either end of cylindrical
mould.
b) Sample extractor:
For extruding the compacted specimen from the mould, an extractor suitably fitted with a jack or
compression machine.
c) Compaction Pedestal and hammer:
It consists of a wooden block capped with M.S. plate to hold the mould assembly in position
during compaction. The compaction hammer consists of a flat circular tamping face 8.8 cm dia.
and equipped with a 4.5 kg weight constructed to provide a free fall of 45.7 cm. And the no. of
free fall is 50 blows on both sides of specimen. Mould holder is provided consisting of spring
tension device designed to hold compaction mould in place on the compaction Pedestal.
d) Breaking Head:
It consists of upper and lower cylindrical segments or test heads having an inside radius of
curvature of 5 cm. The lower segment is mounted on a base having two vertical guide rods,
which facilitate insertion in the holes of upper test head.
e) Loading Machine:
The loading machine is provided with a gear system to lift the base in upward direction. On the
upper end of the machine, a pre-calibrated proving ring of 5 ton capacity is fixed. In between the
base and the proving ring, the specimen contained in test head is placed. The loading machine
produces a movement at the rate of 5 cm per min. Machine is capable of reversing its movement
downward also. This facilitates adequate space for placing test head system after one specimen
has been tested.
f) Flow meter:
One dial gauge fixed to the guide rods of a testing machine can serve the purpose. Least count of
0.25 mm is adequate. The flow value refers to the total vertical upward movement from the
initial position at zero loads to a value at maximum load. The dial gauge for the flowmeter
should be able to measure accurately the total vertical movement upward.

THEORY:
Bruce Marshal, a bituminous engineer formulated the method for determining the bitumen
mixes. Generally, this stability test is applicable to hot mix design using bitumen and aggregates
with maximum size of 25 mm.
The Marshal stability of the mix is defined as a maximum load carried by a compacted specimen
at a standard test temperature at 60oc. The flow value is the deformation the
Marshal test specimen undergoes during the loading upto the maximum load, in 0.25 mm units.In
this test an attempt is made to obtain optimum binder content for the type of aggregate mix and
traffic intensity. The proposed design steps for the design of bituminous mix are as follows:
i) Select grading to be used.
ii) Selects aggregates to be employed in the mix.
iii) Determine the proportion of each aggregate required to produce the design grading.
iv) Determine the specific gravity of the aggregate combination and of the asphalt cement.
v) Make up trial specimens with varying asphalt contents.
vi) Determine the specific gravity of each compacted specimens.
vii) Make stability tests on the specimens.
viii) Calculate the percentage of voids, VMA and the percent voids filled with bitumen in
each
specimen.
ix) Select the optimum bitumen content from the data obtained.
x) Check the values of Marshal Stability, Flow, Voids in total mix and Voids filled with Bitumen
obtained the optimum bitumen content, with the design requirements. The design may be
repeated if necessary after altering the gradation so as to fulfill the design requirements.
CALCULATIONS:
I.

DENSITY AND VOID ANALYSIS:

i.
Voids in Mineral Aggregates (VMA):
VMA =Vv + Vb
Where, Vv =Volume of air voids in compacted mass
Vb =Volume of the bitumen in compacted mass
ii.

Voids Filled with Bitumen (VFB):

Vb
VFB in percentage = VMA

x 100

Vb
VFB in percentage = Vv +Vb

II.

x 100

SPECIFIC GRAVITY:
i.

Bulk Specific Gravity of Bituminous mix(Gb):

Weight Air
Gb = Weight airWeight Water

ii.

Theoretical Specific Gravity of Bituminous mix(Gt):

100
Gt = W 1 + W 2 + W 3 + W 4
G1 G2 G3 G 4

Where, G1, G2, G3, G4 are apparent specific gravity of coarse aggregates, fine aggregate,
filler, and bituminous binder respectively.
Where, W1, W2, W3, W4 are percent by weight of coarse aggregate, fine aggregate, filler and
bituminous binder respectively.
III.

VOLUME:
i.

Volume of Air Voids (Vv):

Vv =

ii.

Gb

x100

Volume of Bitumen (Vb):

Vb =

W4
G4

x Gb

OPTIMUM BITUMEN CONTENT (OBC)

The optimum bitumen content (OBC) for the mix design is found by taking the average
value of the following three bitumen contents found from the graphs of the rest results.
1. Bitumen content corresponding to maximum stability.
2. Bitumen content corresponding to maximum unit weight.

3. Bitumen content corresponding to the median of designed limits of percent air

voids in total mix (5%)
The Marshall Stability value, Flow value and percent voids filled with Bitumen at the
average value of bitumen content are checked with the Marshall Stability design
criteria/specification.
Let the bitumen contents corresponding to maximum density be B 1, corresponding to the
maximum stability be B2 and that corresponding to the specified voids content Vv(4% in the case
of dense AC mix) be B3. Then the optimum bitumen content(OBC) for mix design is given by;
B0 = (B1 + B2 + b3)/3
The value of flow and VFB are found from the graphs, corresponding to bitumen content B 0. All
the designed values of Marshall stability, flow, voids and VFB are checked at the OBC B0; with
the specified design requirements of the mix.
TEST PROCEDURE:
1) The coarse aggregates, fine aggregates and the filler material are proportioned and mixed in a
such way that final gradation of the mixture is within the range specified for the type of
bituminous mix.
2) Approximately 1200 gm. of the mixed aggregates and the filler are taken and heated to a
temperature of 175 to 190 C
.
3) The bitumen is heated to a temperature of 121 to 145 C
.
4) The required quantity of the first trial percentage of bitumen (say, 3.5 or 4.0 percent by
weight of aggregates) is added to the heated aggregates.
5) It is thoroughly mixed at the desired temperature of 154 to 160 C
.
6) The mix is placed in a preheated mould and compacted by a rammer (4.54 kg) with 75
blows on either side at temperature of 138 to 149 C

7) Three or four specimens may be prepared using each trial bitumen content.
8) The compacted specimens are cooled to room temperature in the mould and then removed
from the molds using a specimen extractor.
9) The diameter and mean height of the specimen are measured.
10) The weight of each specimen in air and suspended in water is determined.
11) The specimens are kept immersed in water in a thermostatically controlled water bath at 60
10 C
for 30 to 40 minutes.
12) The specimens are taken out one by one.
13) The specimen is placed in the Marshall Test head.
14) It is then tested to determine Marshall Stability Value which is the maximum load before
failure and the Flow value which is the deformation of the specimen up to the maximum
load.
15) The corrected Marshall Stability value of each specimen is determined by multiplying the
proving ring reading with its constant.
16) If the average thickness of the specimen is not exactly 63.5 mm, a suitable correction factor is
applied.
17) The above procedure is repeated on specimens prepared with other values of bitumen
contents in suitable increments; say 0.5 percent, up to about 7.5 or 8.0 percent.

18) If the average thickness of the specimen is not exactly 63.5 mm, a suitable correction factor is
applied.
Similarly
specimen of 6% and 7%
of bitumen were also
prepared.

MARSHALL STABILITY TEST MACHINE