Investigating the Effects of Curing Methods on the Compressive Strength of Bitublock
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 22, Issue 3
Abstract
A novel construction unit (Bitublock) composed entirely of recycled and waste aggregates and bound with bituminous binders is currently being developed. At present, the manufacturing process requires the new units to be heat cured to convert the bitumen binder from a viscoelastic material into an elastic-brittle material (known as hardening or bitumen aging). The paper investigates the effect of aging and curing processes on the compressive strength of Bitublocks. In this investigation, samples were compacted at pressures of between 8 and 20 MPa and cured at temperatures of between 60 and for up to 48 h. Compressive strengths approaching 45 MPa were achieved. The range of compressive strengths achieved indicated that the behavior of the bituminous binder during heat curing significantly influences the performance of the Bitublocks and suggested that bitumen hardening is highly influenced by the curing temperature. Oxidation as opposed to polymerization and loss of volatiles was confirmed to be the key role in the bitumen hardening process (only approximately 7% of the total long-term hardening was due to volatilization). The oxidation process can be directly linked to the compressive strength development of Bitublock.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Abraham, H. (1945). “Asphalt and allied substances.” Methods of testing, bibliography and references, Vol. 2, D. van Nostrand, New York.
ASTM. (1987). “Standard test method for effect of heat and air on asphaltic materials.” D1754-87, West Conshohocken, Pa.
ASTM. (1988). “Standard test method for effect of heat and air on a moving film of asphalt.” D2872-88, West Conshohocken, Pa.
Barth, E. J. (1962). Asphalt—Science and technology, Gordon Breach, New York.
Bell, C. A., Wieder, A. J., and Fellin, M. J. (1994a). “Selection of laboratory aging procedures for asphalt-aggregate mixtures.” Rep. No. SHRP-A-383, Strategic Highway Research Program National Research Council, Washington, D.C.
Bell, C. A., Wieder, A. J., and Fellin, M. J. (1994b). “Laboratory aging of asphalt-aggregate mixtures: Field validation.” Rep. No. SHRP-A-390, Strategic Highway Research Program National Research Council, Washington, D.C.
British Standards Institution (BSI). (1996). “Eurocode 6—Design of masonry structures. General rules for reinforced and unreinforced masonry structures.” BS EN 1996-1-1:2005, London.
Dao, V. D. (2006). “The development of a novel masonry unit composed entirely of recycled and waste aggregates bound with bituminous binders.” Ph.D. thesis, School of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Leeds, Leeds, U.K.
Dept. for Communities and Local Government. (2007). “Homes for the future; more affordable, more sustainable—Housing green paper.” ⟨http://www.communities.gov.uk⟩ (Aug. 4, 2008).
Department of Science and Industrial Research (DSIR). (1962). Bituminous materials in road construction, HMSO, London.
Forth, J. P., Zoorob, S. E., and Dao, V. D. (2004). “The development of a masonry unit composed entirely of recycled and waste aggregates.” Proc., Use of Recycled Materials in Buildings and Structures, Vol. 1, RILEM, Barcelona, Spain, 341–350.
Forth, J. P., Zoorob, S. E., and Thanaya, N. A. (2006). “Development of bitumen-bound waste aggregate building block.” Proc., Construction Materials, Vol. 159, ICE, London, 23–32.
Jacson, N. (1976). Civil engineering materials, Macmillan, London, 207.
Kuszewski, J. R., Gorman, W. B., and Kane, E. G. (1997). “Characterisation of asphalt volatility using TGA and Iatroscan analyses.” Proc., Roofing Tech, NRCA, Rosemont, Ill., 285–291.
Lee, D. Y. (1973). “Asphalt durability correlation in Iowa.” Highway Research Board, 468, 43–60.
Marais, C. P. (1974). “Gap-graded asphalt surfacings—The South African scene.” Proc., 2nd Conf. on Asphalt Paving for South Africa, Vol. 3, National Institute for Road Research, Pretoria, South Africa.
McCafferty, P. W. (1998). Aquatic entomology: Fishermen's and ecologists' illustrated guide to insects and their relatives, Jones and Bartlett, Boston.
Ramachandran, V. S., Paroli, R. M., Beaudoin, J. J., and Delgado, A. H. (2003). Handbook of thermal analysis of construction materials, Noyes/William Andrew, Norwick, N.Y.
Shell Bitumen. (2003). The Shell Bitumen handbook, Thomas Telford, London.
Sosnovske, D. A., Abwahab, Y., and Bell, C. A. (1993). “Role of asphalt and aggregate in the aging of bituminous mixtures.” Transp. Res. Rec., 1386, 10–20.
Stupak, S. V., Gureev, A. A., and Kononov, V. N. (1989). “Phase transitions in bitumen during aging in asphalt concrete.” J. Chem. Tech. of Fuels and Oils, 25(1), 59–62.
Zoorob, S. E. (1995). “The effect of pulverised fuel ash on the properties and performance of hot rolled asphalt.” Ph.D. thesis, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Leeds, Leeds, U.K.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 22 • Issue 3 • March 2010
Pages: 207 - 213
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jun 28, 2007
Accepted: Oct 16, 2009
Published online: Feb 12, 2010
Published in print: Mar 2010
Notes
Note. Associate Editor: Hilary I. Inyang
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.