EFFECT OF PLUNGER AREA, THICKNESS AND AREA OF SPECIMEN ON COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF BITUMINOUS MIXES.

Abstract

Most of the empirical methods of mix design do not consider various factors such as area of plunger, thickness and area of specimen which affect the stability of the bituminious mix seriously. This study has been conducted with the idea of deter-mining the effect of stability by varying these factors. This investigation is concerned with the determination of the strength or load carrying capacity of thin slab of bituminious concrete when loaded over an area that was large with respect to specimen area. The salient aspect, thus, being the determination of a combination of specimen area and loaded area such that the strength of the specimen is independent of its area. Specimens of different sizes and thicknesses were tested because these factors affect stability as said above.