The Differences Between Asphalt and Bitumen
In this text, that we provided for you, we want to show “the differences between asphalt and bitumen”. in order to avoid using them incorrectly. Hence, we explain each of them separately.
Asphalt:
In the asphalt, aggregates, bitumen, and additives are gathered together with the purpose of covering the surface of the road. The aggregates made up about 95% of the mass of asphalt and the rest 5% is bitumen which plays a role of a binder. So, most of the properties of asphalt depend on these aggregates which have three types: natural, manufactured, and recycled aggregates. Moreover, there are two points about aggregates. First, they should be hard, clean, and highly durable in variable situations. Second, If the aggregates have high porosity and the bitumen has a high ability to seep, the brittleness of asphalt will increase.
* Note that the viscoelastic properties of asphalt are due to the bitumen inside it.
Bitumen:
As we mentioned in the previous paragraphs, bitumen is one of the important parts of asphalt. As a matter of fact, the high adhesive strength of bitumen makes the materials and aggregates stay together. In addition, more than 80% of bitumen is utilized in that for the construction of roads and streets.
To explain more, it is one of the products that we can obtain from refining crude oil. the following definitions relate to bitumen:
- A liquid with high viscosity
- Whenever it gets warm, it becomes soft, and on the contrary, lowering the temperature causes it to harden.
- High adhesive strength
- Since it is a petroleum product, most of its constituent elements are hydrogen and carbon.
- Containing asphaltene and resin, which are heavy components
One of the other differences between those is that most of the time bitumen includes heavy components, however, asphalt contains light ones. Accordingly, it will lose a lot of its mass when it heats up.
All in all, They both are black or dark in color and usually, we use them as surface dressing materials. But it doesn’t mean that they are the same.
In this article, we tried to summarize the difference between asphalt and bitumen and present it to you dear readers.
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