Asphalt The Bottom of the Barrel Sponsored by: Minnesota LTAP Center Presented by: Michael Marti, P.E. SRF Consulting Group, Inc. Dan Wegman, P.E. SemMaterials
Crude Oil Distillation % Volume Boiled Off Butanes & Lighter Gasoline Naphtha Kerosene/Jet Fuel/Diesel Gas Oils Atmospheric Light Vacuum Heavy Vacuum Resid
Asphalt Cement (AC) End product - crude oil distillation Chemistry –crude source –refining method Chemistry Physical Properties Performance
Primary use of AC Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) Aggregate AC Mix Plant Paving
AC Quality Three major failure modes: –Rutting (AC too soft at high temperatures; aggregate structure not strong enough) –Thermal cracking (AC too hard/brittle at low temperatures) –Fatigue cracking (AC ages and eventually “wears out”) Grade & Quality of AC determines resistance to failure Chemistry determines AC quality
Asphalt Cement - Penetration Asphalts originally “penetration graded” –Penetration at 25°C (77°F) “ambient temperature” –Softer (higher pen) - colder climates –Harder (lower pen) - hotter climates –85/100, 120/150, 200/ g penetration 0 sec 5 sec
Asphalt Cement - Viscosity Later, “Viscosity graded” Viscosity = Resistance to flow –Absolute Viscosity at 60°C (140°F) - Summer pavement temperature AC-20 = 2000 ±20% ( ) poise AC-10 = p AC-5 = p –Softer (lower viscosity) - colder climates vacuum
Performance Graded Asphalts –Performance at high and low temperatures –SHRP Super Pave PG (Performance Grades) –PG Grading system based on: Climate (Temperatures in ºC) Risk (Reliability Factor) Traffic speed and load (Grade “Bumping”) –PG day High Pavement Temp, 64 °C = 147 °F Single day Coldest Air Temp, -28°C = -18 °F