Things you should know about the ductility test of bitumen!
Bitumen or the asphalt is the semi solid, sticky black material which is used to lay the roads. A lot of tests are run on that before the final product is used for building or constructing purposes. One such test is the ductility test of bitumen.
This test is conducted so that the property of required which is to elongate when there is traffic load goes well. Also this property of elongation should not crack while constructing the roads. Also, in the pavement design, it is necessary for a ductile film to be formed.
Also the ductility test measures the distance of elongation of the bitumen before breaking. Let us discuss the procedure of the ductility test.
To do this test, we require apparatus, briquette mold, water bath, testing machine and a thermometer.
Here is the Procedure of the Ductility Test which is followed:
~ Firstly, melt the bitumen material until the temperature reaches around 80 degrees Celsius.
~ You should wait until it becomes completely fluid.
~ Then, after it becomes a fluid, you need to strain the fluid bitumen through a sieve.
~ After sieving it, you need to stir it. Then whatever remnantfluids there, you need to send it through mold assembly. ~ Coat the surface of the mold withthings like mercury or dextrin so that the material doesn’t stick.
~ Then keep the sample in the water bath.
~ You should make sure that you keep the sample in the bath after around 40-45 minutes.
~ Then the sample should remain in the water bath for around half hour at a certain temperature. The temperature should be maintained at exactly 27 degrees Celsius.
~ Once it is cooled, remove it from the water bath and level the surface.
~ Again replace the mold assembly for 1-1.5 hours in the water bath.
~ Then after this, remove the mold sides.
~ Now you have to use the machine without causing any stress.
~ Start the machine and note the distance at which the bitumen thread of the sample breaks.
Thus this is how you do the ductility test of bitumen before using it for the construction purposes.