*Article* **Impacts of Aggregate Gradation on the Volumetric Parameters and Rutting Performance of Asphalt Concrete Mixtures**

**Weihua Li <sup>1</sup> , Weidong Cao 2,\*, Xianfu Ren <sup>1</sup> , Shurong Lou <sup>1</sup> , Shutang Liu 2,\* and Jizhe Zhang <sup>2</sup>**


**Abstract:** The main objective of this study was to determine the effect of aggregate gradation (AG) on the volumetric parameters (VPs) and rutting performance (RP) of asphalt concrete (AC) mixtures. The boundary sieve (BS) between fine and coarse aggregates was 2.36 mm size, and 15 gradation curves of three nominal maximum aggregate sizes (13.2, 19.0, and 26.5 mm) were designed based on the percentage passing of the BS. A vibrating compaction test of coarse aggregates, Marshall compaction and wheel-tracking tests of AC mixtures with various gradations were conducted. It was found that AG had crucial effects on the VPs and RP of AC mixtures. The AC mixture can be designed as a skeletal dense structure provided that the percentage passing of the BS is appropriate. More notably, AC mixtures with a skeletal dense structure showed the best rutting resistance performance. Therefore, it is important to optimize AG for enhancing the high-temperature RP of AC mixtures.

**Keywords:** aggregate gradation; asphalt concrete mixture; volumetric parameters; rutting performance; skeletal dense structure
