FOAMED ASPHALT MIX

PRESENTED BY
ARINDAM DEY & PRADIPTA KUNDU

HISTORY OF FOAMED ASPHALT

In 1889, Nebraska, USA, in full depth repairs, bitumen was added to base
course materials to improve the bearing capacity
In 1928, August Jacobi from Darmstadt, Germany, produced and
patented the first hot bitumen foaming system
In 1957, Prof. Ladis Casanyi of Iowa State University, demonstrated the
addition of foamed bitumen to marginal quality aggregates
In 1971, Mobil Oil Corporation patented their foaming system in Australia
In 1991, new foaming systems were developed worldwide
In 1994, Scandinavian system, Nesotec OY was developed by Nestor
Salminen; followed by Salvaco Sweden and other Home-made systems
Recent researches are going on in the countries of South Africa,
Australia, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Middle East and the Scandinavian
countries

WHAT IS FOAMED ASPHALT MIX

Foamed asphalt mix refers to a mixture

of pavement construction aggregates
and foamed bitumen

WHAT IS FOAMED BITUMEN

Produced by a process in which water
(typically 2 %) is injected into the hot
bitumen, resulting in spontaneous
foaming and temporary alteration of
physical properties of bitumen
Water, on contact with hot bitumen is
turned into vapour, which is trapped in
thousands of tiny bitumen bubbles
Foam dissipates in a very short time in
less than a minute and the original
properties of bitumen are regained
Incorporating foamed bitumen into the
aggregates produces foamed asphalt mix

TECHNIQUES OF FOAMED BITUMEN PRODUCTION

Steam foaming system

Process of injecting steam into
hot bitumen
Convenient for asphalt plants
where steam is readily
available
Impractical for in-situ foaming
operations, as it requires
special equipments as steam
boilers etc.
Cold foaming system
Patented by Mobil Oil
Corporation, Australia
Addition of cold water into hot
bitumen
Practical and economical

HOW FOAMING OF BITUMEN TAKES PLACE

The moment a cold water droplet (at

ambient temperature) makes contact with
the following chain of events occur:
The bitumen exchanges energy with the
surface of the water droplet, heating it to
a temp. of 100C and cooling the bitumen
This transferred exceeds the latent
energy of steam resulting in explosive
expansion and generation of steam, in
the expansion chamber
Encapsulated steam from the nozzle
expands until a thin film of bitumen
holds it intact through surface tension
Surface tension of bitumen film
counteracts the everdiminishing steam
pressure, until a stable equilibrium is
reached
Due to low thermal conductivity of
bitumen, bubble remain stable over a
measurable time

APPROPRIATE SITUATIONS OF USING FOAMED ASPHALT

Situations that should trigger the consideration of the use of foamed bitumen
technology include the following ::
A pavement has been repeatedly patched to the extent that pavement repairs
are no longer cost effective
A weak granular base overlies a reasonably strong subgrade
Granular base too thin to consider using cementitious binders
Conventional reseals or thin asphalt overlays can no longer correct flushing
problems
An alternative to full depth asphalt in moderate to high traffic roads
The unfavourable wet cyclic conditions unsuitable for granular construction
Situations where an overlay is not possible due to site constraints e.g..
entries to adjacent properties and flood prone areas
A requirement to complete the rehabilitation quickly to prevent disruption to
business or residents

OBJECTIVE OF FOAMED ASPHALT MIX DESIGN

Select mix proportions in order to achieve
Optimum values for laboratory measured properties
Structural and functional requirements of the in-service mix
Retention of the relevant engineering properties at in-service
conditions of temperature, moisture and loading conditions

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

BITUMEN PROPERTIES
AGGREGATE PROPERTIES
MOISTURE CONDITIONS
CURING CONDITIONS
TEMPARATURE CONDITIONS
ENGINEERING PROPERTIES

BITUMEN PROPERTIES
Foamed bitumen is
characterised by ::

Expansion ratio (ER) Ratio

between the maximum volume
achieved in the foam state and
the final volume of the binder
once the foam has dissipated

Half life (1/2) Time, in seconds,

between the moment the foam
achieves maximum volume and
the time it dissipates to half of
the maximum volume

DECAY CURVE OF FOAMED BITUMEN

FOAMED BITUMEN DECAY

DECAY CURVE
Decay curve defines the rate at which a foam collapses
It gives an indication of the time available for mixing
Area under the decay curve gives the FOAM INDEX of the particular
foamed bitumen
FACTORS INFLUENCING DECAY
Reduction in the temperature of the steam due to contact of the bitumen
films with ambient air (and vessel) at lower temperature
This occurs with the bubbles at the frontier of the colloid mass
Larger bubbles experience higher rate of reduction of temperature
due to greater exposed surface area, and thus collapses earlier
Exceedance of the elongation limit of the bitumen film
Polydiverse colloidal mass consisting of bitumen bubbles of various
sizes

FOAMING POTENTIAL

An important consideration during the mixing stage of foamed asphalt production

Maximised expansion ratios and half lives promote binder dispersion within the mix
Bitumen, irrespective of grade or origin, can be foamed with an appropriate combination of
nozzle type, water, air and bitumen injection pressure (Castedo Franco & Wood, 1983)
According to Abel (1978)
Bitumen with silicones have reduced foaming abilities
Bitumen with lower viscosity foams more readily and has higher foam ratios and half
lives than bitumen with higher viscosity
Anti-stripping agents intensifies the foaming ability of bitumen
Above 149C, acceptable foaming is achieved
Half-life and expansion ratio of the foam produced is affected by the volume of the foam,
quantity of water used and temperature at which the foam is produced (Brennen et al, 1983)
Cohesion and compressive strength are significantly greater for high expansion (15:1)
foamed bitumen (Bowering & Martin, 1976)
Certain surface active additives produce highly expanded and stable foamed bitumen with
ER>15 and 1/2>60 sec and resulted in improved aggregate coating (Maccarrone, 1994)

GRADE OF BITUMEN

No appreciable differences between the

measured properties of foamed asphalt mixes
with different grades of bitumen (Lee, 1981)
Load-rate and temperature dependent behaviour
are indicative of visco-elastic binder activity
Needs further investigation

FOAMED BITUMEN CONTENT

Optimum bitumen cannot be

clearly determined
Upper range of binder
content is governed by the
loss in stability of the mix
and lower range by the water
susceptibility
Mix stability is governed by
the (binder content):(fines
content) i.e. the viscosity of
the binder-fines mortar

AGGREGATE PROPERTY

Wide range of aggregates may be

used with foamed bitumen
Certain soils may require limetreatment and grading adjustments
Fines content of the aggregate
should be above 5% (Ruckel et al,
1982)
Resultant filler (mix of bitumen and
fines) acts as a mortar between the
coarse aggregate and increase the
strength of the mix
Excess bitumen tends to act as a
lubricant, resulting in loss of
strength and stability

MOISTURE CONDITION
Moisture softens and breakdowns agglomerations in the aggregates to
aid bitumen dispersion
Insufficient water reduces the workability of the mix & results in
inadequate dispersion of the binder
Excess water lengthens the curing time, reduces the strength and
density of the compacted mix
OMC depends on the optimisation of the mix properties (strength,
density, water absorption & swelling)
OMC lies at the fluff point of the aggregate i.e., the MC at which the
aggregates have maximum loose bulk volume (Mobil Oil, Australia)
Best compactive moisture condition occurs when the total fluid
content (moisture + bitumen) OMC (Castedo Franco & Wood, 1983)
Higher the bitumen content, lower the compaction moisture content

CURING CONDITIONS

Curing is the process whereby the foamed asphalt gradually gain

strength over time accompanied by a reduction in MC
MC during curing period affects the ultimate strength of the mix
(Ruckel et al, 1982)
Curing of foamed asphalt mixes in the field occurs over several
months, hence an accelerated laboratory curing procedure is required
to correlate the field behaviour
Lab tests required 3-days oven curing at 60C, resulting in moisture
content stabilisation at about (0-4)%, which represents the driest state
achievable in the field
Represents the in-service state approximately a year after
construction

TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS
Optimum mixing temperature of the aggregates lies in the range of (13-23)C, depending on the
type of aggregate
Temperature below this range result in poor quality mixes (Bowering & Martin, 1976)

ENGINEERING PROPERTIES
Most common method to select the design binder content is to optimise the Marshall stability &
minimise the loss in stability under soaked moisture condition
The different engineering properties which affect the foamed asphalt mix design are ::

MOISTURE SUSCEPTIBILITY
TEMPERATURE SUSCEPTIBLITY
UNCONFINED COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH
TENSILE STRENGTH
STIFFNESS RESILIENT MODULUS
ABRASION RESISTANCE
DENSITY AND VOLUMETRICS
FATIGUE RESISTANCE

MOISTURE SUSCEPTIBILITY
Strength characteristics of foamed asphalt are highly moisture
dependant, due to relatively low binder and high cement contents
Additives such as lime, cement etc reduce the moisture susceptibility of
the mix (Castedo Franco et al, 1983)
Higher bitumen content reduce moisture susceptibility as higher
densities are achievable, leading to lower permeabilities, lower void
contents, and increased coating of the moisture sensitive fines with
binder

TEMPERATURE SUSCEPTIBILITY
Both the tensile strength and modulus decrease with the temperature
Coarse aggregates are not affected by higher temperatures
Stability and viscosity of the bitumen fines decrease with increasing
temperatures, resulting in loss of strength

UCS & TENSILE STRENGTH

Mixes used as a base course under thin surface treatments/seals have UCS criteria as 0.5MPa (4
day soaked) & 0.7MPa (3 day cured at 60C) (Bowering, 1970)
UCS of foamed asphalt lies between (1.8 - 5.4) MPa and estimated tensile strength lie between (0.2
0.55) Mpa (Bowering & Martin, 1976)
Cured foamed asphalt samples should have minimum ITS 100 kPa & 200 kPa for soaked and dry
conditions resp. (Macarrone, 1998)

STIFFNESS RESILIENT MODULUS

Depends on loading rate, stress level and temperature
Stiffness increase with increase in fines content
Can have high stiffness with added advantage of flexibility & fatigue resistance (Fernando &
Ramanujam, 1997)

ABRASION RESISTANCE
Lack resistance to abrasion and ravelling
Not suitable for friction / wearing courses applications

DENSITY AND VOLUMETRICS

Density increases and void ratio decreases with the gradual increase of
binder content
Strength of the mix depends largely on the density of the compacted mix

FATIGUE RESISTANCE
Governs structural capacity of foamed asphalt pavement layers
Mechanical characteristics of foamed bitumen fall between a cemented
and a granular structure
Controversy exist over the fatigue properties of foamed asphalt
Fatigue property will be inferior to to that HMA (Bissada, 1987)
Fatigue property will be superior to that of HMA (Little et al, 1983)
Fatigue property is similar to those of HMA (Macarrone et al, 1993)
Needs further investigation

MIX DESIGN PROCEDURE

GENERAL
NO STANDARDISED MIX DESIGN PROCEDURE IS AVAILABLE
The most common mix-design method is based on Marshall stabilities
and densities
Marshall stability of foamed asphalt mixes tends to increase to a
maximum as the binder content is increased
Optimum Binder content (OBC) is determined when the ratio between
wet and dry stabilities is at a maximum i.e., bitumen content at which
the mix retains most of its strength when soaked
OBC is selected based on highest resilient modulus value, obtained
from Dynamic Creep Test & Indirect Tensile Test (Lancaster et al,
1994; Lewis, 1998)

BASIC STEPS IN MIX DESIGN

The basic steps in foamed asphalt mix design are

Binder characterisation and preparation

Aggregate characterisation and preparation
Binder content for trial mixes
Moisture content
Mixing and compaction
Curing, testing and design binder content determination

BINDER CHARACTERISATION AND PREPARATION

Foaming characteristics of bitumen
needs to be optimised for producing
foamed asphalt mixes
Optimisation can be achieved with
trial tests (generally 5) by measuring
the 1/2 & ER, using various
percentages of water
Temperature of the bitumen before
foaming should be in range of (180200)C
By recommendation, for foamed
bitumen

1/2 > 12 sec

ER > 10:1

Additives may be used to catalyse

the foaming, but has a significant
cost implication

AGGREGATE CHARACTERISATION AND PREPARATION

Aggregates are characterised by the

grading and the PI
Grading is adjusted, if required, by
adding fine or coarse materials so
that the conforms to the standard
grading envelope
Materials with PI>12 should be
treated with lime to reduce the PI
Addition of 1-2% of cement to the mix
aids bitumen adhesion (Lewis, 1998)
The oven dried aggregate are riffled
into 5 batches of 10kg each

BINDER CONTENT FOR TRIAL MIXES

Appropriate range of foamed

bitumen contents is selected
for the trial mixes using the
Table (Ruckel et al , 1982)
Five batches of trial mixes are
prepared at binder contents
differing by 1%

MOISTURE CONTENT
A crucial mix design parameter
Recommended MC for mixing and compaction is the greater of (OMC BC) &
the fluff point of the aggregate

MIXING AND COMPACTION

Each 10 kg sample and reqd mass of foamed bitumen are mixed in the
mechanical mixer at prescribed MC
Foamed asphalt is stored in sealed containers to prevent moisture loss
Duplicate samples from each batch are tested for determination of MC & BC
From each batch, 6 samples are prepared for
Indirect Tensile Test & 2 for Volumetric Evaluation
Specimens are prepared for standard Marshall Test

CURING,TESTING AND DESIGN

BINDER CONTENT DETERMINETION
Samples are subjected for accelerated curing procedure
Indirect Tensile Strength Test is conducted to determine the ultimate
strengths of both dry and soaked samples
Recommended values of ITS for dry and soaked samples are greater
than 200kPa & 100 kPa resp. (Macarrone, 1997)
Design BC is selected at maximum soaked ITS
For resilient modulus testing, loading time of 50ms (25C) is
recommended, the acceptance criteria being at least 1500MPa &
6000MPa for soaked and dry samples resp. (Lancaster et al, 1994)
Dynamic creep testing evaluates the permanent deformation
characteristics of the mix, with a minimum dynamic creep modulus of
20MPa

ADVANTAGES OF FOAMED ASPHALT MIX

Foamed binder increases strength and reduces moisture susceptibility
of granular materials
Flexible and fatigue resistant
Foam treatment can be used with wider range of aggregates
Reduces binder and transportation costs
Time saving
Conserves energy
No environmental side effects
No risk of binder runoff or leaching from stockpiles
Can be constructed even in some adverse weather conditions
Easy to apply
Rapid strength gain

DISADVANTAGES OF FOAMED ASPHALT MIX

Cost Relatively more expensive as

compared to other forms of
stabilisation
Sealing Work Seal design requires
special attention due to the pertinent
stripping problems
Bitumen Temperature The process
requires hot bitumen (180C) for the
successful foaming action, thus
initiating a risk of burning
Grading Very sensitive to the
grading of the host material,
requires imported material to mix
with the existing material to achieve
the grading requirement
Purpose built foamed bitumen
stabilising equipment is required

RELATIVE COST OF STABILISTAION

(KENDALL ET AL, 2000)
TREATMENT

COST ($/m2)

2-3% LIME / FLYASH

(200 mm)
BITUMEN 2%
EMULSION / CEMENT
2% (200mm)
Ad BASE 4 / CEMENT
(175 mm)

$12 - $14

FOAMED BITUMEN
(250 mm)

$13 - $15

$6 - $9

$12 - $14

FOAMED BITUMEN TESTING MACHINE

Laboratory unit for

producing foamed
bitumen, capable of
varying different
parameters such as for
example the bitumen
temperature, water content
or air pressure during the
injection process. Series
of measurements
designed to determine the
foamed bitumen properties
can be easily carried out
with the aid of this system.

CONCLUSION
Foamed asphalt mixes is gaining popularity owing to their good
performance, ease of construction and compatibility with a wide range of
aggregate types
Mix design can be accomplished by simple test procedures and by
adhering to certain restrictions with respect to the materials used
The mix design is carried out to optimize the mix strength characteristics
at the worst-case operating environment i.e., under soaked condition
Simple tests such as ITS & Marshall Test can be conveniently used to
determine the optimum binder content
Other tests such as Resilient Modulus, Dynamic Creep & Mix Volumetrics
can be conducted to ensure the adequate performance of the selected
optimum mix
More development and research is still required

REFERENCES
Muthen K.M :: Foamed Asphalt Mixes Mix Design Procedure
:: Contract Report CR-98/077 ; June 1999 ; CSIR Transportek ;
www.asphalt.csir.co.za/Farefs/Muthen
Jenkins K.J.,Van de Ven MFC., De Groot JLA :: Characterisation of
Foamed Bitumen :: 7th Conference on Asphalt Pavements for Southern
Africa ; www.asphalt.csir.co.za/capsa
Mr. Nicol Van der Walt et al :: The Use of Foamed Bitumen in Full-depth
in-place Recycling of Pavement Layers illustrating the basic concept of
water saturation in the foam process :: 7th Conference on Asphalt
Pavements for Southern Africa ; www.asphalt.csir.co.za/capsa
Kendall M., Ramanujam J. et al :: Foamed Bitumen Stabilisation ::
Southern Region Symposium, 1999 ; www.flexi.net.au/~mkendall
www.auststab.com.au
http://dev.wirtgenamerica.com/fa/aboutfa.html

THANK YOU