A study of the laboratory polishing behavior of granite as road surfacing aggregate

•We determined skid resistance and abrasion in process of polishing test of the granites.•The aggregates with the same skid resistance/polishing resistance may exhibit different wear resistances.•The change of the texture was taken as a link between the polishing effect and the skid resistance development course.•We related the polishing/wearing behavior to the mineralogical composition and structure of the granites. Four sources of granite aggregates with different mineralogical properties were investigated. They were formed into test plates with a flat surface and polished with the Aachen Polishing Machine using quartz powder and quartz sand as the polishing agent respectively. Changes of the texture were studied on the basis of both texture measurements and skid resistance measurements measured by the Pendulum Test and the Wehner/Schulze device. By comparison of the four granites, the influence of mineral composition and crystal size on micro-texture and skid resistance changes of the aggregates is determined. The polishing and wearing resistance can be described with functions of the mineralogical parameters.