Moisture Conditioning Process for Large-Sized Prismatic Straight Beam Specimens of Bituminous Concrete
Utsav Vishal1, Venkaiah Chowdary2
1Utsav Vishal, Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Warangal (Telangana), India
2Venkaiah Chowdaryis, Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Warangal (Telangana), India
Manuscript received on 05 December 2018 | Revised Manuscript received on 19 December 2018 | Manuscript published on 30 December 2018 | PP: 117-122 | Volume-8 Issue-2C, December 2018 | Retrieval Number: 100.1/ijeat.ICID-2018_TE_226
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: This study proposesa moisture conditioning process for large-size dprismatic beam specimens of bituminous concrete. Such beams are required for evaluating the fatigue characteristics of bituminous mixtures in a four-point beam bending test. The current moisture conditioning protocols are aimed at cylindrical specimen only, and no guidelines are available for prismatic beams; especially when these beams are compacted to lower air voids content. In this study, prismatic beam specimens of bituminous concrete mixed with VG-30 and CRMB-60 binderwere prepared. In addition to the control samples, warm mix asphalt and lime additive added samples were also produced. Warm mix asphalt was produced using a surfactant based warm mix additive. Lime was added to both hot mix and warm bituminous mixtures. Prismatic beams with target air voids of 4 ± 0.5% and with dimensions of 0.38 ± 0.006 m (length) × 0.050 ± 0.002 m (width) × 0.063 ± 0.002 m (height) were produced. These specimens were subjected to partial vacuum saturation by submerging completely in water. The vacuum pressures and durations were adjusted such that the desired saturation could be achieved. The saturated bituminous concrete beam specimens were mechanically weakened through the freeze-thaw conditioning. It is observed that the binder type plays a significant role in the degree of saturation whereas the influence of additives is negligible on the degree of saturation.
Keywords: Air Voids, Degree of Saturation, Lime, Moisture Conditioning, Prismatic Straight Beam, Vacuum Saturation, WMA Additive.
Scope of the Article: Concrete Structures