Abstract

CAMPAGNOLI-MARTINEZ, Sandra Ximena; ESTUPINAN-ESCALANTE, Enrique  and  SOTO-VARGAS, Javier Evandro. Foamed Bitumen Characterization Techniques. Cienc. Ing. Neogranad. [online]. 2019, vol.29, n.1, pp.153-165. ISSN 0124-8170.  https://doi.org/10.18359/rcin.3424.

In soil stabilization and pavement recycling, the expansion ratio and half-life parameters have been considered to define foamed bitumen quality relatively well. However, when applying foamed bitumen technology in the production of warm mixtures, these properties are determined to be insufficient to characterize the foam and guarantee complete aggregate coverage from the bitumen, adequate workability, and easy mixture compaction, together with appropriate mixture behavior in service. This has led to conclusive studies on the need to establish, along with the expansion and half-life relation, the collapse curve and bubble size distribution in foamed bitumen. Several studies also recommend safer and more reliable techniques for measuring foam properties. Additionally, we summarize the techniques currently being explored by the testing laboratories at the Julio Garavito Colombian School of Engineering to characterize foamed bitumen produced in the WLE-10S laboratory foamed bitumen plant. These techniques include invasive measures, such as the calibrated dipstick and the foamed bitumen collapse test, along with non-invasive measures, such as image processing and using infrared sensors. Finally, the paper denotes the potential of each technique by revealing some results from the measurements obtained through their application.

Keywords : Foamed Bitumen; Expansion Ratio; Half-Life; Collapse Curve; Foam Bubbles; Warm Mixtures.

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