Evaluation of Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) For Airfield Pavements
Stone Matrix Asphalt (SMA) was developed in Germany over 30 years ago. Its success has led to its usage throughout Europe on both highway and airfield pavements. In 1990, an American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) led European Asphalt Study Tour introduced SMA to the United States (U.S.) SMA has demonstrated good performance on highway pavements in the U.S., but has seen little use on airfields. Recently, there has been resurgence in interest in SMA in the U.S. as a more durable paving option than Superpave or other dense-graded mixes. SMA is a gap-graded asphalt mixture with a high percentage (> 70 percent) of coarse aggregate. Gap-graded refers to the fact that SMA mixtures typically have very little material retained on the sand size sieves (e.g. between 2.36 mm and 0.075 mm). SMA is differentiated from dense-graded mixes by its coarse aggregate skeleton, consisting of a limited number of particle sizes, which carries the load. Mastic, consisting of mineral filler, fibers, and asphalt binder, fills the voids between the coarse aggregate skeleton. The percentage by weight passing the 0.075 mm sieve is typically greater than 8 percent. Asphalt contents range from 6 to 7.5 percent by weight of total mix. Fiber, either cellulose or mineral, is generally added to prevent draindown of the binder during construction. SMA has been used extensively on airfields in both China and Norway. Additionally, airfields have been constructed using SMA in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Mexico, and the United States (U.S.). Additional details on specifications and individual projects are provided in reference. The U.S. Air Force constructed SMA runways in Germany and Italy.
- Record URL:
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Corporate Authors:
Federal Aviation Administration
800 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC United States 20591 -
Authors:
- Prowell, Brian D
- Watson, Donald E
- Hurley, Graham C
- Brown, E Ray
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Conference:
- 2010 FAA Worldwide Airport Technology Transfer Conference
- Location: Atlantic City New Jersey, United States
- Date: 2010-4-20 to 2010-4-22
- Publication Date: 2010
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 16p
- Monograph Title: 2010 FAA Worldwide Airport Technology Transfer Conference: Next Generation of Airport Technology
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Air voids; Airport runways; Binders; Coarse aggregates; Pavement performance; Stone matrix asphalt; Superpave
- Geographic Terms: Australia; Belgium; China; Germany; Italy; Mexico; Norway; United States
- Subject Areas: Aviation; Pavements;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01608140
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
- Created Date: Aug 29 2016 11:08AM