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 2-3% LIME / FLYASH (200 mm) BITUMEN 2% EMULSION / CEMENT 2% (200mm) Ad BASE 4 / CEMENT (175 mm) FOAMED BITUMEN (250 mm) COST ($/m2) $6 - $9 $12 - $14 $12 - $14 $13 - $15

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

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