Mechanical characterization of environmentally friendly mixtures

Nowadays, road traffic is the main cause of urban pollution. Owing to the primary importance of this problem two different environmentally friendly mixtures were considered: the first to reduce traffic noise and the second to mitigate atmospheric pollution. The anti-noise mixture is a dense-graded HMA in which 27% volume of mineral aggregates was replaced with expanded clay. The second mixture, which should mitigate air pollution, is an open-graded asphalt concrete partially filled with a cement mortar containing a photocatalytic agent (titanium dioxide). In order to properly use these mixes for road applications the evaluation of specific mechanical performance is required. In particular, the Authors show the laboratory characterization of the mixtures in terms of stiffness modulus, fatigue life and rutting comparing them with dense-graded and open-graded wearing courses, respectively.