Bitumen spreading on calcareous aggregates at high temperature

• Published in: Journal of materials science 2014-11, Vol.49 (22), p.7723-7729
• Main Authors: Guerrero-Barba, Felipe, Cabrerizo-Vílchez, Miguel A., Rodríguez-Valverde, Miguel A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aggregates; Asphalt; Bitumens; Bituminous materials; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemical bonds; Chemical properties; Chemistry and Materials Science; Classical Mechanics; Contact angle; Crystallography and Scattering Methods; High temperature; Materials Science; Organic chemistry; Original Paper; Polymer Sciences; Solid Mechanics; Spreading; Substrates; Surface tension; Wettability; Wetting
• ISSN: 0022-2461; 1573-4803
• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-014-8482-y

In hot asphalt applications, the adhesion between bitumen and mineral aggregate is usually described in terms of bitumen surface tension and contact angle of the bitumen over the aggregate. However, the quantification of the physico-chemical bond between bitumen and aggregate under realistic conditions is a nontrivial task. In this work, we designed a high-temperature goniometer to measure the contact angle of liquid bitumen on mineral aggregate substrates. The drop deposition was conducted once the thermal equilibrium between liquid bitumen and aggregate was attained. We monitored the spreading of sessile drops of viscous naphthenic bitumen and asphaltic bitumen on polished sheets of calcareous aggregates at high temperature (70–100 °C). A near complete wetting with very low contact angles (13– 24 ∘ ) was reproduced regardless of the bitumen origin and temperature. Furthermore, the coating degree of the naphthenic and asphaltic bitumens on the calcareous aggregates at high temperature was apparently similar. We found that the bitumen-aggregate adhesion is adequately described by dynamic spreading rather than by equilibrium wettability. Spreading kinetics was ruled by the particular properties of each bitumen such as viscosity and acid index. We found evidences of acid etching of the naphthenic bitumen on the calcareous aggregates during spreading at high temperature.