Bituminous Blends for Different Coating Applications

Bitumen is a very important component of anti-corrosion coatings and water proofing membranes which has found many applications. Depending on the application, bitumens have different compositions and physico-chemical properties. Softer bitumen is usually air-blown to adjust the physical properties of the final bitumen. Here, preparation of 60/70, 85/25 and 90/15 bitumens was achieved via physical mixing of air-blown 110/10 bitumen with 85/100 penetration grade and heavy-vacuum slops (HVS) cut. The softening point of the resulting bitumen changes with the asphaltenes’ content, whereas its penetration varies exponentially. This difference in behavior was attributed to the shear forces applied during the tests and was account for via the bitumen viscosity and cohesive energy acting between asphaltenes. Finally, some formulations for the target bitumens were reported via mixing of the above-mentioned rawmaterials. J. Color Sci. Tech. 1(2007), 7-18. © Institute for Colorants, Paint and Coatings.