Ring and ball test - LAB REPORT FOR RING AND BALL TEST IN HIGHWAY ENGINEERING PDF

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LAB REPORT FOR RING AND BALL TEST IN HIGHWAY ENGINEERING...

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PREAMBLE…………………………………………………………………1 PROBLEM STATEMENT………….……………………………………….2 WAYS AND MEANS……………….……………………………………….2-3 RESULTS…………………………………………………………….…….4-5 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………...….6 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………...6

PREAMBLE INTRODUCTION Unlike some substances bituminous materials do not have a definite melting point. Instead, as the temperature rises, these materials slowly change from brittle or very thick and slowflowing materials to softer and less viscous liquids. For this reason, the determination of 'softening point' must be made by a fixed, arbitrary and closely defined method if results are to be comparable. Being very simple in concept and equipment, the Ring-and-Ball Test has remained a valuable consistency test for control in refining operations, particularly in the production of air-blown bitumen. It is also an indirect measure of viscosity or, rather, the temperature at which a given viscosity is evident. The softening point value has particular significance for materials, which are to be used as thick films, such as joint and crack fillers and roofing materials. A high softening point ensures that they will not flow in service. For a bitumen of a given penetration (determined at 25˚C), the higher the softening point the lower the temperature sensitivity. Research has shown that, for conventional paving grade bitumen, the Ring and Ball softening point temperature is the same as that which would give a penetration of 800 d-mm. This, together with the penetration at 25˚C, can be used to compute the Penetration Index.

OBJECTIVE This laboratory is to determine the quality of bitumen used in flexible pavement.

LEARNING OUTCOMES At the end of this open-ended lab, the students should be able to: 1. To determine the softening point of bitumen using Ring-and-Ball apparatus. 2. To examine the consistency of a sample of bitumen by determining the distance in tenths of a millimetre that a standard needle vertically penetrates the bitumen specimen under known conditions of loading, time and temperature.

PROBLEM STATEMENT Your firm has given a task to design a new asphalt road connecting to a new building complex in the campus. One of the tasks required is to make sure that the material to be used shall conform to the requirement in the standard given by the Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR). Your team is required to take few samples of bitumen to the laboratory and to determine the softening point of the sample using Ring-and-Ball apparatus and the Penetration Index of the sample.

WAYS & MEANS APPARATUS 1. 2 brass rings 2. 2 steel balls 3. Support with ball guide and suspension for thermometer 4. Thermometer 5. Beaker 6. Ice 7. Distilled water 8. Magnetic stirrer 9. Hot plate

PROCEDURES 1. Heat the sample to a temperature between 75 and 100°C above the approximate softening point until it is completely fluid. 2. Place the sample in the brass ring and suspend the in the water at a given temperature. 3. Place a steel ball on the sample and heat the water such that the water temperature increases by 5°C per minute. 4. Take the temperature reading when the softened sample touches the metal plate. The noted temperature is the softening point of the bitumen.

RESULTS Time (minute)

Temperature (ºC) Steel ball A

Steel ball B

1

6.0

6.0

2

7.0

7.0

3

10.0

10.0

4

12.5

12.5

5

15.0

15.0

6

17.5

17.5

7

21.0

21.0

8

24.0

24.0

9

27.5

27.5

10

31.0

31.0

11

35.0

35.0

12

38.5

38.5

13

42.0

42.0

14

46.0

46.0

15

50.0

50.0

16

53.0

53.0

17

57.0

57.0

18

60.0

60.0

Softening point temperature =

.. 

= 60.0˚C

The bituminous specimen reaches its softening point at the temperature of 60˚C at the 18th minute.

DISCUSSION Bitumen is a highly viscous liquid or a semi-solid form of petroleum. Softening point of bitumen is known as the mean temperature when the bitumen softens and sags downward. To determine the softening point of the bitumen, a Ring-and-Ball test is done in this experiment. Based on the experiment that has been done, the softening point of bitumen is at 60˚C at the 18th minute. In the experiment, the softening point is being determined when the bitumen sample started to touch the steel plate. Both samples should at most have 1˚C differences or the experiment will be considered as fail. The theoretical value according to Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) standard is between 48˚C to 52˚C. The value is slightly higher than the standards set. This may be due to errors during the experiment. The errors that might have occurred are that the water bath does not have a constant temperature for 5 minutes before the water bath is heated, the surrounding room temperature might have an effect on the experiment and also the error when taking the reading on the thermometer. To obtain a more accurate results, the experiment needed to be done cautiously to avoid any slight changes.

CONCLUSION The softening point of bitumen may vary from samples to samples based on how the bitumen is prepared. However, for the Malaysian climate, a range of standard temperature is set by JKR as a guideline for the pavement construction in Malaysia. From the experiment, the softening point of the bitumen is 60˚C at the 18th minute. Higher softening point will ensure that the bitumen used will not easily flow when in use.

APPENDICES

Apparatus set up

Observing the temperature rise of the experiment

REFERENCES 1. http://www.utest.com.tr/en/23279/Ring-and-Ball-Test-Sets 2. https://theconstructor.org/practical-guide/ring-ball-softening-point-bitumen-asphalttar/2571/ 3. https://wecivilengineers.wordpress.com/2018/01/22/softening-point-test-on-bitumen/...