Asphalt mixtures with high shear strength have great capability to resist perpetual deformation under high temperatures. We used a single penetration test to analyze the material design indexes for high performance asphalt mixtures. The test results show that the performance of the asphalt binder and the performance of the coarse aggregate

especially the fine aggregate

greatly affect the shear strength of asphalt mixtures. We also suggest that the coarse aggregate with a high aggregate particle index

fine aggregate with high angularity

and asphalt with high viscosity can increase sharply the shear strength of an asphalt mixture. Furthermore

the degree of compaction of an asphalt mixture should be controlled to guarantee excellent longterm performance of asphalt pavement.