Bitumen adhesion test

Bitumen adhesion test

Bitumen adheres well to all normal types of road aggregates provided they are dry and free from dust. In the absence of water there is practically no adhesion problem of bituminous construction. Adhesion problem occurs when the aggregate is wet and cold. This problem can be dealt with by removing moisture from the aggregate by drying and increasing the mixing temperature. Further, the presence of water causes stripping of binder from the coated aggregates. This problems occur when bitumen mixture is permeable to water. Several laboratory tests are conducted to arbitrarily determine the adhesion of bitumen binder to an aggregate in the presence of water. Static immersion test is one specified by IRC and is quite simple. The principle of the test is by immersing aggregate fully coated with binder in water maintained at 40⁰C temperature for 24 hours.

IRC has specified maximum stripping value of aggregates should not exceed 5%.