Chapter 8

Chapter 8
• Bituminous Materials
Introduction
• Bituminous material (or bitumen) is a solid, semisolid, or

viscous cementations material (i.e., binder) natural or
manufactured, and composed of “hydrocarbons” Bitumen are
usually fairly hard at normal temperatures. When heated, they
soften and flow.
• Bitumen's possess a number of properties that make them
useful in the construction industry When mixed with
aggregates in their hot fluid state, and then allowed to cool,
they solidify and bind the aggregates together, forming a
pavement surface.
• The most common bituminous materials are, as follows: –
Asphalts (available as natural deposits or are produced from
petroleum processing) –Tars (obtained through the destructive
distillation of materials such as wood, coal, and shale, i.e., by
heating wood or coal or shale in absence of air)
• Asphalt : available as natural deposits or are
produced from petroleum processing
• Tars : obtained from through the destructive
distillation of material such as wood, coal,
i.e. by heating wood or coal or shale in
absence of air
• Pitches : obtained further process of tars
Natural deposits
• Asphalts are the most common and most widely used
bituminous materials The term “asphalt” refers to a black
cementations' material which varies widely in consistency
from solid to semisolid at normal temperatures Asphalts are
found as natural deposits or are produced from petroleum
crude.
Natural deposits
• The classification of asphalts is already presented in the
previous slide Natural Rock asphalts are rock deposits
containing bituminous materials which have been used for
road surfaces in localities where they occur Native asphalts are
obtained from asphalt lakes in Trinidad and other Caribbean
areas,
PETROLEUM ASPHALTS
• Petroleum asphalts are produced from the residual matter (i.e.,
impurities) present in the crude oil Higher-grade crude oil (i.e.,
crude oil with less residual matter) may contain as little as
10% asphalt, whereas lower-grade crude oil (i.e., crude oil
with more residual matter) may contain as much as 90%
asphalt A flow chart showing production of different types of
asphalts are shown in the adjoining figure.
• TYPES OF PETROLEUM ASPHALTS Following types of
petroleum asphalts are used in pavement construction:
• –Asphalt cement
• –Emulsified asphalt
• –Liquid or cutback asphalt

Asphalt cement
• Asphalt cement (also called paving asphalt) are the primary
asphalt products produced by the distillation of crude oil. At
ambient temperatures asphalt cement is a black, sticky,
semisolid and a highly viscous material It is strong and
durable cement with excellent adhesive and waterproofing
characteristics.
• It is also highly resistant to the action of most
acids, alkalis and salts The largest use of
asphalt cement is in the production of asphalt
concrete, which is primarily used in the
construction of flexible pavements throughout
the world The asphalt cement can readily be
liquefied by applying heat for mixing with
mineral aggregates to produce asphalt
concrete
Emulsified asphalt
• Emulsified asphalt (also simply called emulsion) is a mixture
of asphalt cement, water, and emulsifying agent Because the
asphalt cement will not dissolve in water, asphalt cement and
water exist in separate phases as shown in the following
figure: To mix the asphalt cement with water, an emulsifying
agent (usually a type of soap) is added
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.
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
• 8. Water content test
• 9. Loss on heating test
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
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
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
Water content test
• It is desirable that the bitumen contains minimum
water content to prevent foaming of the bitumen
when it is heated above the boiling point of water.
The water in a bitumen is determined by mixing
known weight of specimen in a pure petroleum
distillate free from water, heating and distilling of the
water. The weight of the water condensed and
collected is expressed as percentage by weight of the
original sample. The allowable maximum water
content should not be more than 0.2% by weight
Loss on heating test
• When the bitumen is heated it loses the volatility and
gets hardened. About 50gm of the sample is weighed
and heated to a temperature of 1630C for 5hours in a
specified oven designed for this test. The sample
specimen is weighed again after the heating period
and loss in weight is expressed as percentage by
weight of the original sample. Bitumen used in
pavement mixes should not indicate more than 1%
loss in weight, but for bitumen having penetration
values 150-200 up to 2% loss in weight is allowed

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Chapter 8

• Bituminous material (or bitumen) is a solid, semisolid, or

• –Liquid or cutback asphalt

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