MCM 8115-Construction Materials

and Laboratory
Lecture 7
H.K. Werku (Ph.D.)

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 BITUMINOUS
MATERIALS

1 H.K Werku
 Bitumen
■ Binder: A material used to hold solid particles
together, i.e. bitumen or tar.
■  Bitumen: is a sticky dark viscous liquid obtained
from a heavy fraction from oil distillation (also
occurs as part of natural deposits).
■  Tar: A viscous liquid obtained from distillation of
coal or wood. Rarely used in construction
currently in the UK.

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 Bitumen
■ Chemical Composition of Bitumen:
Elementally,
Carbon 82 - 88 %
Hydrogen 8 - 11 %
Sulphur 0 - 6 %
Oxygen 0 - 1.5 %
Nitrogen 0 - 1%

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 Blown asphalt is completely water
resistant, making it well suited to a
variety of sealant and joint filling
compounds

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 Bitumen
Native asphalt

Natural Rock Asphalt

TRINIDAD-LAKE-ASPHALT

5 6 Blown asphalt
 What is the difference between Bitumen and
Tar?

Characteristics Bitumen TAR

Source Derived from sources associated with

Oil and Coal Can be derived from petroleum/coal/wood

Occurrence Occurs in solid form & viscous liquid Usually occurs only as a viscous liquid
Nature Can be naturally occurring Usually need to be distilled
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 Production Process
Produced by fractional distillation of Crude oil.
1. Crude Oil heated to 300 – 350OC in distillation column.
2. Lighter fractions separated at different column heights.
3. Bottom product called long residue.
4. Long residue heated up to 450OC in Vacuum distillation column.
5. Bottom residue (short residue) used for manufacturing Bitumen.
6. Hot air is blown through short residue OR blended with superior quality

bottom products to achieve desired consistency / penetration.

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 Advantages of Bituminous Roads
 Initial saving : fast construction + low cost.
 Ageless – rehabilitation is inexpensive.
 Stage Construction - in ribbons, not in slabs.
 Safe: High skid resistance + Good Visibility
 Better riding quality
 Less wear & tear of vehicle, Low noise while cruising
 Can be fully recycled.
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 Uses of Bitumen’s

Asphalt pavement
 Asphalt cutbacks and emulsions have their greatest use in road construction
 Asphalts in pavements acts as a binder for the aggregates, in this capacity as a
cement, the asphalts are usually semisolid
 Before it can be mixed with the aggregate the asphalt must be made liquid by
heating, and cutting with solvent or by emulsifying with water
Waterproof coating and membranes
 Used to provide a waterproof coating for walls and to make waterproof
membranes in buildings
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 Engineering Properties of Bitumen
• A visco-elastic material : Deformation under stress a function
of temperature & loading time.
• At high temperature & loading it behaves as viscous liquids,
whereas at very low temperature or low loading it behaves as
elastic solids.
• In the intermediate range of temperatures / pressure, more
typical of the conditions in road service, bitumen has visco-
elastic behaviour.

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 Property test of Bitumen
Conventional tests
1. The penetration test
2. Softening point test
3. Ductility Test
4. Viscosity Tests Advanced Bitumen tests
1. Rolling Thin-film Oven Test (RTFOT)
5. Flash Point Test
2. Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR),
6. Thin Film Oven Test
3. Bending Beam Rheometer (BBR) And
4. Pressure Ageing Vessel (PAV),

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 Penetration test
Measures the depth of penetration in tenths of millimeters of a weight
needle into a bitumen during a period of time at a given temp.
Aim
The main aim is to determine the penetration of bitumen.

𝑻 =𝟐𝟓 𝟎 𝑪

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 Penetration test
Aim
The main aim is to determine the penetration of bitumen.
objective
 Penetration value test on bitumen is measure of hardness or consistency of
bituminous material. A 80/100 GRADE BITUMEN indicate that its
penetration value is lies between 80 & 100mm

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 Penetration Grade of asphalt cement

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 Viscosity Tests
Viscosity is a measure of a material’s resistance to flow when
subjected to a load.
It is expressed as the ratio of shear stress (t) to shear rate

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 Viscosity Tests
Are used to determine the flow characteristics of asphalts in the range
of temperatures used during application.

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 Viscosity Tests
.

Temperature Susceptibility
is a measure of the change
in viscosity with change in
temperature.

For best durability, asphalts used in climates with wide variations in

temperature should have low temperature susceptibility
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 Asphalt Grading Systems

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 Asphalt Grading Systems

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 Ductility Test
Are conducted to determine the amount a bitumen will stretch at
temperatures below its softening point.

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 Softening point test
 Measures the temperature degrees Celsius at which a steel ball falls
a known distance through the bitumen.
 The determination of softening point helps to know the temperature up to
which a bituminous binder should be heated for various road use applications.
3.5 gm steel ball
3.5 GM STEEL BALL
PLACED ON SAMPLE
OF BITUMEN IN BRASS
RING
BATH TEMP RAISED AT
5 DEGREES PER
MINUTE

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 Flash Point Test
Indicates the temperature to which asphalt cement can be safely
heated without danger of flash.

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 Flash Point Test
Indicates the temperature to which asphalt cement can be safely
heated without danger of flash.

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 Thin Film Oven Test
Test is used to obtain a general indication of the amount of
hardening which may be expected to occur in an asphalt cement
during the plant operation.

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 Properties of Asphalt
Important properties of asphalt include:
• Adhesion
• Viscosity
• Specific Gravity
• Durability
• Rate of curing
• Ductility
• Aging and hardening
• Resistance to reaction with water
• Temperature Susceptibility

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 Thank you!

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