Asphalt & Bitumen Testing

Bituminous materials consist primarily of aggregates and binders and they are the major materials used in road construction. Asphalt is a generic name used to describe bituminous materials.

  • Binder Extraction
  • Marshall Stability
  • Specific Gravity
  • Flash & Fire Point
  • Softening Point
  • Penetration
  • Coring

 

BINDER EXTRACTION

The centrifuge extractor is used to determine the quantity of binder of bitumen in bituminous paving mixtures

Figure 37: Centrifugal extractor

 

 

MARSHALL STABILITY

This test determines the stability and flow parameter in asphalt mix design.

Figure 38: Marshall Test machine

 

 

SPECIFIC GRAVITY

The vacuum pyknometer is used to determine the specific gravity of bituminous

Figure 39: Vacuum Pyknometer

 

 

FLASH & FIRE POINT

The Cleveland flashpoint apparatus is used to test cutback bitumen and sometimes penetration grade bitumen

Figure 40: Cleveland open cup flash point tester

 

SOFTENING POINT

The ring and ball test set is used to determine the softening point of bituminous materials

Figure 41: Ring & Ball test apparatus

 

PENETRATION

The semi-automatic penetrometer is used to perform penetration test for asphalt/bituminous materials

Figure 42: Semi-automatic penetrometer

 

CORING

The compact core drilling machine is used for the extraction of asphalt pavement samples

Figure 43: Compact core drill – vertical drill