# Toughness and Abrasion Resistance

Aggregates undergo substantial wear and tear throughout their life.

- Canonical URL: https://pavementinteractive.org/reference-desk/materials/aggregate/toughness-and-abrasion-resistance/
- Last updated: 2018-09-18
- Review: reviewed by licensed professional engineers on the previous Pavement Interactive site, where reviewers were not recorded by name

[Aggregates](https://pavementinteractive.org/reference-desk/materials/aggregate/introduction/) undergo substantial wear and tear throughout their life. In general, they should be hard and tough enough to resist crushing, degradation and disintegration from any associated activities including manufacturing, stockpiling, production, placing, compaction (in the case of HMA) and consolidation (in the case of PCC) (Roberts et al., 1996[^1]). Furthermore, they must be able to adequately transmit [loads](https://pavementinteractive.org/reference-desk/design/design-parameters/loads/) from the pavement surface to the underlying layers (and eventually the subgrade). Aggregates not adequately resistant to abrasion and polishing will cause premature structural failure and/or a loss of [skid resistance](https://pavementinteractive.org/reference-desk/pavement-management/pavement-evaluation/skid-resistance/).

## Related Tests

- [Los Angeles Abrasion (LA Abrasion)](https://pavementinteractive.org/reference-desk/testing/aggregate-tests/los-angeles-abrasion/)

## Sources

[^1]: Roberts, F.L.; Kandhal, P.S.; Brown, E.R.; Lee, D.Y. and Kennedy, T.W. (1996). Hot Mix Asphalt Materials, Mixture Design, and Construction. National Asphalt Pavement Association Education Foundation. Lanham, MD.