Identification of Suitable Parameters for Quantitative Comparison of Bitumen with Similar Grades
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36, Issue 12
Abstract
With India importing more than 35% of its bitumen demand, there is a significant variation in the cost of bitumen in the international market. There is a need to identify suitable parameters that can help in selecting the right bitumen for a given viscosity grade (VG). In this study, the physical, rheological, and chemical characteristics of bitumen(s) acquired from different sources and falling under the same viscosity grade were explored under unaged, short-term aged, and long-term aged conditions. Two grades of bitumen (VG30 and VG40) obtained from three sources (P1,J1,I1 and P2,J2,I2) were evaluated. Though the binders obtained from different sources were found to satisfy the criterion as per Indian specification, they showed dissimilar short- and long-term characteristics. The bitumen(s) had unique temperature susceptibility and aging indices, which revealed the effect of the source on the performance of the binders. The difference in short- and long-term aging indices obtained from rheological data was in agreement with the FTIR results and asphaltene–maltene ratio(s). This study recommends using the short-term aging index (STAI) and long-term aging index (LTAI) obtained from frequency sweep data for selecting the appropriate source of bitumen. Aging indices at lower loading frequency and high in-service temperature should be selected for comparing the binders. Future study should focus on establishing limits of aging indices for characterization and selection of bitumen for practical conditions.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank GR Infraprojects Limited, India, for supporting this study.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36 • Issue 12 • December 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 9, 2023
Accepted: Apr 26, 2024
Published online: Sep 20, 2024
Published in print: Dec 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Feb 20, 2025
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Aging (material)
- Asphalts
- Binders (material)
- Continuum mechanics
- Deterioration
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Engineering mechanics
- Fluid mechanics
- Hydraulic engineering
- Hydrologic engineering
- Material mechanics
- Material properties
- Materials characterization
- Materials engineering
- Mathematics
- Measurement (by type)
- Parameters (statistics)
- Rheology
- Statistics
- Temperature (by type)
- Temperature effects
- Temperature measurement
- Thermal properties
- Thermodynamics
- Viscosity
- Water and water resources
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