Pavement materials: Bitumen

1 Overview
Bituminous materials or asphalts are extensively used for roadway
construction, primarily because of their excellent binding
characteristics and water proofing properties and relatively low cost.
Bituminous materials consists of bitumen which is a black or dark
coloured solid or viscous cementitious substances consists chiefly
high molecular weight hydrocarbons derived from distillation of
petroleum or natural asphalt, has adhesive properties, and is
soluble in carbon disulphide. Tars are residues from the destructive
distillation of organic substances such as coal, wood, or petroleum
and are temperature sensitive than bitumen. Bitumen will be
dissolved in petroleum oils where unlike tar.

1.1 Production of Bitumen

bitumen is the residue or by-product when the crude petrolium is

refined. A wide variety of refinery processes, such as the straight
distillation process, solvent extraction process etc. may be used to
produce bitumen of different consistency and other desirable
properties. Depending on the sources and characteristics of the
crude oils and on the properties of bitumen required, more than one
processing method may be employed.

1.2 Vacuum steam distillation of petroleum oils

In the vacuum-steam distillation process the crude oil is heated and

is introduced into a large cylindrical still. Steam is introduced into
the still to aid in the vapourisation of the more volatile constituents
of the petroleum and to minimise decomposition of the distillates
and residues. The volatile constituents are collected, condensed,
and the various fractions stored for further refining, if needed. The
residues from this distillation are then fed into a vacuum distillation
unit, where residue pressure and steam will further separate out
heavier gas oils. The bottom fraction from this unit is the vacuum-
steam-refined asphalt cement. The consistency of asphalt cement
from this process can be controlled by the amount of heavy gas oil
removed. Normally, asphalt produced by this process is softer. As
the asphalt cools down to room temperature, it becomes a semi
solid viscous material.

2 Different forms of bitumen

2.1 Cutback bitumen

Normal practice is to heat bitumen to reduce its viscosity. In some

situations preference is given to use liquid binders such as cutback
bitumen. In cutback bitumen suitable solvent is used to lower the
viscosity of the bitumen. From the environmental point of view also
cutback bitumen is preferred. The solvent from the bituminous
material will evaporate and the bitumen will bind the aggregate.
Cutback bitumen is used for cold weather bituminous road
construction and maintenance. The distillates used for preparation
of cutback bitumen are naphtha, kerosene, diesel oil, and furnace
oil. There are different types of cutback bitumen like rapid curing
(RC), medium curing (MC), and slow curing (SC). RC is
recommended for surface dressing and patchwork. MC is
recommended for premix with less quantity of fine aggregates. SC
is used for premix with appreciable quantity of fine aggregates.

2.2 Bitumen Emulsion

Bitumen emulsion is a liquid product in which bitumen is suspended

in a finely divided condition in an aqueous medium and stabilised by
suitable material. Normally cationic type emulsions are used in
India. The bitumen content in the emulsion is around 60% and the
remaining is water. When the emulsion is applied on the road it
breaks down resulting in release of water and the mix starts to set.
The time of setting depends upon the grade of bitumen. The
viscosity of bituminous emulsions can be measured as per IS: 8887-
1995. Three types of bituminous emulsions are available, which are
Rapid setting (RS), Medium setting (MS), and Slow setting (SC).
Bitumen emulsions are ideal binders for hill road construction.
Where heating of bitumen or aggregates are difficult. Rapid setting
emulsions are used for surface dressing work. Medium setting
emulsions are preferred for premix jobs and patch repairs work.
Slow setting emulsions are preferred in rainy season.

2.3 Bituminous primers

In bituminous primer the distillate is absorbed by the road surface

on which it is spread. The absorption therefore depends on the
porosity of the surface. Bitumen primers are useful on the stabilised
surfaces and water bound macadam base courses. Bituminous
primers are generally prepared on road sites by mixing penetration
bitumen with petroleum distillate.

2.4 Modified Bitumen

Certain additives or blend of additives called as bitumen modifiers

can improve properties of Bitumen and bituminous mixes. Bitumen
treated with these modifiers is known as modified bitumen. Polymer
modified bitumen (PMB)/ crumb rubber modified bitumen (CRMB)
should be used only in wearing course depending upon the
requirements of extreme climatic variations. The detailed
specifications for modified bitumen have been issued by IRC: SP:
53-1999. It must be noted that the performance of PMB and CRMB
is dependent on strict control on temperature during construction.
The advantages of using modified bitumen are as follows

 Lower susceptibility to daily and seasonal temperature

variations
 Higher resistance to deformation at high pavement
temperature
 Better age resistance properties
 Higher fatigue life for mixes
 Better adhesion between aggregates and binder
 Prevention of cracking and reflective cracking
3 Requirements of Bitumen
The desirable properties of bitumen depend on the mix type and
construction. In general, Bitumen should posses following desirable
properties.

 The bitumen should not be highly temperature susceptible:

during the hottest weather the mix should not become too soft
or unstable, and during cold weather the mix should not
become too brittle causing cracks.
 The viscosity of the bitumen at the time of mixing and
compaction should be adequate. This can be achieved by use
of cutbacks or emulsions of suitable grades or by heating the
bitumen and aggregates prior to mixing.
 There should be adequate affinity and adhesion between the
bitumen and aggregates used in the mix.

4 Tests on bitumen
There are a number of tests to assess the properties of bituminous
materials. The following tests are usually conducted to evaluate
different properties of bituminous materials.

1. Penetration test
2. Ductility test
3. Softening point test
4. Specific gravity test
5. Viscosity test
6. Flash and Fire point test
7. Float test
8. Water content test
9. Loss on heating test

4.1 Penetration test

It measures the hardness or softness of bitumen by measuring the

depth in tenths of a millimeter to which a standard loaded needle
 will penetrate vertically in 5 seconds. BIS had standardised the
equipment and test procedure. The penetrometer consists of a
needle assembly with a total weight of 100g and a device for
releasing and locking in any position. The bitumen is softened to a
pouring consistency, stirred thoroughly and poured into containers
at a depth at least 15 mm in excess of the expected penetration.
The test should be conducted at a specified temperature of 25 C. It
o

may be noted that penetration value is largely influenced by any

inaccuracy with regards to pouring temperature, size of the needle,
weight placed on the needle and the test temperature. A grade of
40/50 bitumen means the penetration value is in the range 40 to 50
at standard test conditions. In hot climates, a lower penetration
grade is preferred. The Figure 4.1 shows a schematic Penetration
Test setup.

Figure 1: Penetration Test Setup

4.2 Ductility test

Ductility is the property of bitumen that permits it to undergo great

deformation or elongation. Ductility is defined as the distance in cm,
to which a standard sample or briquette of the material will be
elongated without breaking. Dimension of the briquette thus formed
is exactly 1 cm square. The bitumen sample is heated and poured
in the mould assembly placed on a plate. These samples with
moulds are cooled in the air and then in water bath at 27 C o

temperature. The excess bitumen is cut and the surface is leveled

 using a hot knife. Then the mould with assembly containing sample
is kept in water bath of the ductility machine for about 90 minutes.
The sides of the moulds are removed, the clips are hooked on the
machine and the machine is operated. The distance up to the point
of breaking of thread is the ductility value which is reported in cm.
The ductility value gets affected by factors such as pouring
temperature, test temperature, rate of pulling etc. A minimum
ductility value of 75 cm has been specified by the BIS.
Figure 4.2 shows ductility moulds to be filled with bitumen.

Figure 2: Ductility Test

4.3 Softening point test

Softening point denotes the temperature at which the bitumen

attains a particular degree of softening under the specifications of
test. The test is conducted by using Ring and Ball apparatus. A
brass ring containing test sample of bitumen is suspended in liquid
like water or glycerin at a given temperature. A steel ball is placed
upon the bitumen sample and the liquid medium is heated at a rate
of 5 C per minute. Temperature is noted when the softened
o

bitumen touches the metal plate which is at a specified distance

below. Generally, higher softening point indicates lower temperature
susceptibility and is preferred in hot climates. Figure 4.3 shows
Softening Point test setup.
Figure 3: Softening Point Test Setup

4.4 Specific gravity test

In paving jobs, to classify a binder, density property is of great use.

In most cases bitumen is weighed, but when used with aggregates,
the bitumen is converted to volume using density values. The
density of bitumen is greatly influenced by its chemical composition.
Increase in aromatic type mineral impurities cause an increase in
specific gravity.

The specific gravity of bitumen is defined as the ratio of mass of

given volume of bitumen of known content to the mass of equal
volume of water at 27 C. The specific gravity can be measured
o

using either pycnometer or preparing a cube specimen of bitumen in

semi solid or solid state. The specific gravity of bitumen varies from
0.97 to 1.02.

4.5 Viscosity test

Viscosity denotes the fluid property of bituminous material and it is a

measure of resistance to flow. At the application temperature, this
characteristic greatly influences the strength of resulting paving
mixes. Low or high viscosity during compaction or mixing has been
observed to result in lower stability values. At high viscosity, it resist
the compactive effort and thereby resulting mix is heterogeneous,
 hence low stability values. And at low viscosity instead of providing
a uniform film over aggregates, it will lubricate the aggregate
particles. Orifice type viscometers are used to indirectly find the
viscosity of liquid binders like cutbacks and emulsions. The viscosity
expressed in seconds is the time taken by the 50 ml bitumen
material to pass through the orifice of a cup, under standard test
conditions and specified temperature. Viscosity of a cutback can be
measured with either 4.0 mm orifice at 25 C or 10 mm orifice at 25
o

or 40 C.
o

Figure 4: Viscosity Test

4.6 Flash and fire point test

At high temperatures depending upon the grades of bitumen

materials leave out volatiles. And these volatiles catches fire which
is very hazardous and therefore it is essential to qualify this
temperature for each bitumen grade. BIS defined the flash point as
the temperature at which the vapour of bitumen momentarily
catches fire in the form of flash under specified test conditions. The
fire point is defined as the lowest temperature under specified test
conditions at which the bituminous material gets ignited and burns.