MAIN PROPERTIES

OF BITUMEN
& AGGREGATE

Importance and background of Bituminous Material

Bitumen is an essential component of any pavement and is used widely throughout the
world. It can be termed as the building block of the pavements without which all the
pavement materials would behave independently and thus will be deemed useless.
Almost ninety percent of bitumen is used in road construction. It is usually available in
dark colors ranging from brown to black. The main purpose of bitumen in flexible
pavements is to strongly bind and hold the other pavement components together and
provide a smooth and leveled surface for the moving vehicles. Bitumen is a naturally
occurring material and is found in large quantities in the solid or semi solid forms of
petroleum. It is also manufactured artificially in vast amounts globally.
Bitumen mixed with some other materials has always been used as a sealant and
adhesive material over the ages. It was also widely used in the water proofing of boats
and ships as it is insoluble in water. Highest applications of bitumen are found in the
construction filed for the construction of roads, airports etc., in the hydraulic field for the
construction of water tanks, dams, bridges etc., is also used in battery making, tyre
making and for the thermal and acoustic insulation purposes.

Types of Bituminous Materials:

Depending upon the temperature and other factors various types of
bitumen are found and used throughout the world.
Cutback Bitumen: Cut-back bitumen's are those which are prepared
with the addition of a volatile to reduce the thickness of the binder.
Fluxed Bitumen: Fluxed bitumen's are those bitumen which are
prepared by the addition of relatively non volatile oils to reduce the
viscosity of the binder
Modified Bitumen: Modified bituminous binder are those whose
properties such as cohesive strength, adhesive property, elasticity or
viscosity have been modified by the use of one or combined chemical
agents

Bitumen has the following five properties.

1. Bitumen Adheres:- Binds together all the components without bringing about any
positive or negative changes in their properties.
2. Bitumen is Water proof:- Bitumen is insoluble in water and can serve as an
effective sealant
3. Bitumen is Strong :- Though the coarse aggregates are the main load bearing
component in a pavement, bitumen or asphalt also play a vital role in distributing
the traffic loads to the layers beneath
4. Bitumen Durable:- Bitumen lives up to twenty years if maintained properly
throughout the pavement life.
5. Bitumen Versatile:- Bitumen is a relatively easy to use material because of its
thermoplastic property. It can be spread easily along the underlying pavement
layers as it liquefier when heated making the job easier and hardens in a solid mass
when cooled.
6. Bitumen is Economical:- It is available in cheaper rates almost all over the world

The following tests are usually conducted to evaluate different

properties of bituminous materials

Penetration test
Ductility test
Softening point test
Specific gravity test
Viscosity test
Flash and Fire point test
Float test
Water content test
Loss on heating test

 PROPERTIES OF AGGREGATES

Aggregates form the major portion of the pavement

structure. Bear stresses occurring on the roads and have
to resist wear due to abrasive action of traffic.
Aggregates are also used in flexible as well as in rigid
pavements. Therefore, the properties of aggregates are
of considerable importance to highway.

highway Aggregate has the following five characteristic properties.

1. Strength
2. Hardness
3. Toughness
4. Durability
5. Shape of aggregates
6. Adhesion with bitumen

1. Strength
The aggregates to be used in road construction, particularly the aggregates used
in the wearing course of the pavement should be sufficiently strong/ resistant to
crushing to withstand the high stresses induced due to heavy traffic wheel loads .

2. Hardness
The aggregates used in the surface course are subjected to constant rubbing or
abrasion due to moving traffic. Abrasive action may be increased due to the
presence of abrasion material like sand between the tyres of vehicle and the
aggregates exposed to the top surface. Thus, they should be hard enough to resist
the wear due to abrasive action of traffic

3. Toughness

Aggregates in the pavement are also subjected to impact due to moving wheel loads.
The magnitude of impact increase with roughness of road and speed of vehicle.
Severe impact is common when heavily loaded steel tyred vehicles move on WBM.
The resistance to impact or toughness is thus another desirable property of
aggregates.

4. Durability

The aggregates are subjected to physical and chemical actions of rains and ground water, the impurities in
them and that of atmosphere. Thus it is desirable that the road stones used in the construction should be
sound enough to withstand the weathering action. The property of aggregates to withstand the adverse
actions of weather may be called soundness.

5. Shape of Aggregate
Aggregates may be rounded, angular, flaky or elongated. Flaky and elongated particles have
less strength than rounded and cubical particles. Thus, too flaky and too much elongated
particles should be avoided.

6. Adhesion with bitumen

The aggregates in bituminous pavements should have less affinity with water when compared with bitumen,
otherwise the bituminous coating on the aggregates will be stripped off in presence of water.

Tests for Road Aggregates

Crushing test
Abrasion test
Impact test
Soundness test
Bitumen adhesion test
Shape test
Specific gravity and water absorption test

Thanks you