FACULTY OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

HIGHWAY TECHNOLOGY AND TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT LABORATORY

LABORATORY INSTRUCTION SHEETS

COURSE CODE BNP 20303

EXPERIMENT CODE EXPERIMENT 1

EXPERIMENT TITLE SOFTENING POINT

DATE 14TH MARCH 2017

GROUP NO. 3

(1) DR AGUS SULAEMAN

LECTURER/ INSTRUCTOR

DATE OF REPORT SUBMISSION 18TH APRIL 2017

RECEIVED DATE AND STAMP

COMMENTS:

TOTAL MARK (FROM RUBRIC

ASSESSMENT)
 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

HIGHWAY TECHNOLOGY AND TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT LABORATORY

LABORATORY RUBRIC ASSESSMENT

1. CLO: Organize comprehensive design and execution procedures for highway as well as
highway and traffic laboratory and in situ measurements with practical considerations (PLO2-
P,P5; Project);

(PLO2- P4) 10%

Level of Achievement

Excellen
Very Weak Weak Modest Good
Elements t
1 2 3 4 Level Weight Score
5
Equipment
/ Tools
Major Minor No mistakes Students are
Mishand-
mistakes mistakes while using comfortable P1 P4 /20
ling the
Choose the while using while using equipment/ with the
equipment/
suitable equipment/ equipment / tools, but not equipment/
tools
equipment/ tools tools comfortable tool s
tool s
Experiment

Display a good Most of the

All Major Some Procedures P4 5 /25
handling and procedures
procedure procedures procedures are followed
understanding are followed
s are are missing are missing correctly
of Experiment correctly
missing
Measurement
Most data All data are
Measure and All data Most data are correctly taken but
taken, no minor data All data are P4 5 /25
taking data are are missing
missing are incorrect correctly
with efficiency missing or or incorrect
data taken
incorrect

Respond to
Able to
Q&A respond and
Minimum Limited Able to Unable to
Respond and ability to ability to answer respond and respond
constructivel P3 3 /15
answer to the respond answer and answer and answer
question and answer sometimes y most of the constructivel to the
accordingly. to the do not match time. y at all question
question. the question. times. accordingly.
Disciplines

Show the good

discipline by
follows the Major flaws Minor flaws Minor flaws Conform to Conform to
rules below; to criteria, to criteria, 5 to dress code dress code, all criteria
10 minutes minutes late and safety minor flaw P2 3 /15
-Dress Code late to safety

-Lab
Regulations &
Safety
 STUDENT CODE OF ETHICS

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

I hereby declare that I have prepared this report with my own efforts. I also admit to not accept or

provide any assistance in preparing this report and anything that is in it is true.

1) Group Leader
Name : MUHAMAD HANAFI BIN SAMSURI
Matrix No. : AN150021

2) Group Member 1
Name : NURULAINE BT ABDULLAH
Matrix No : AN150284

3) Group Member 2
Name : NUR SHAMILA BT NORIZAM
Matrix No. : AN150310

4) Group Member 3
Name : NURUL SYAHIRAH BT NASRUDIN
Matrix No. : AN150281

5) Group Member 4
Name : AZLLINA BINTI ANUAR
Matrix No. : AN150037

6) Group Member 5
Name : NURHANIS BINTI MOHD BASIR RUDDIN
Matrix No. : AN150221
1.0 OBJECTIVES
 To determine the softening point of bitumen within the range 30 to 157 C by means of The
Ring-and-Ball apparatus.

2.0 INTRODUCTION
Unlike some substances (e.g. water which changes from solid to liquid at 0 C bituminous materials do
nothave a definite melting point. Instead, as the temperature rises, these materials slowly change from
brittle orvery thick and slow-flowing materials to softer and less viscous liquids. For this reason, the
determination of'softening point' must be made by a fixed, arbitrary and closely defined method if results
are to becomparable.
Being very simple in concept and equipment, the Ring-and-Ball Test has remained a valuable
consistency test for control in refining operations, particularly in the production of air-blown bitumens. It
is also an indirect measure of viscosity or, rather, the temperature at which a given viscosity is evident.
The softening point value has particular significance for materials which are to be used as thick films,
such as joint and crack fillers and roofing materials. A high softening point ensures that they will not
flow in service. For a bitumen of a given penetration (determined at 25 C), the higher the softening
point the lower the temperature sensitivity
Research has shown that, for conventional paving grade bitumens, the Ring-and-Ball softening point
temperature is the same as that which would give a penetration of 800 d-mm. This, together with the
penetration at 25 C, can be used to compute the Penetration Index.
3.0 INSTRUMENTS /APPARATUS / CHEMICAL / REAGENTS

Beaker
Brass Ring
Steel Ball
Ball Guide
Ring Holder
Magnetic
Stirr Thermometer

Apparatus for the Bitumen Softening Point Test (Millard, 1993)

4.0 PROCEDURE

1. The bituminous was heated and stirred until it reached it softening point for not more
than 30 minutes. Any air bubble on the heated samples was avoided.
2. The brass ring was heated and were placed on flat plate that been poured with talc.
3. The samples were poured on the each of brass ring until full and leave it cooled in
room temperature for 30 minutes.
4. The top of brass ring was flattened by using spatula that been heated.
5. The brass rings, ball guide, ring holder and
thermometer were placed in the beaker in
depth of 102mm till 108mm or 50mm above
the brass ring surface.
6. The temperature of water in the beaker was monitored constantly at 5 for 15 minutes
by using ice. The steel ball was place at the centre of the ring by using holder.
7. The water temperature rose at rate
5 +/- 0.5C per minute by heated the
water and the stirrer was switched on.
8. The water was keep heated until the bitumen softens and the steel ball fell at
the bottom of ring holder plate.
9 The temperatures when the
bitumen sagged and the bitumen
softens are taken noted
5.0 RESULTS
 TableA.1 : Softening Point Test (ASTM D36)

Number of test Softening Point (0C)

1 42

2 42

Average 42
Table A.2 : Value of Penetration Index (PI)

PI Bitumen type
-2.9660 Temperature Susceptible Bitumen
(Tars)
 - 2.9660

The bitumen tested has penetration index of -2.9660

The type of Bitumen is Temperature Susceptible Bitumen (Tars) because the
penetration is <-2
6.0 DISCUSSION

1. Bitumens are viscoelastic materials without defined melting points and they gradually
become softer and less viscous as temperature rises. Thus, softening point must be
determined to be used in classification in establishing uniformity of shipments or
sources of supply.
2. The bath liquid used in this experiment is tap water.
3. The lower the softening points the lower the temperature in which the bitumen can be
used in.
4. The higher the temperature the lesser the susceptibility. Therefore, countries like
Malaysia need bitumen with higher softening points as the weather is very hot and
humid. Bitumen with lower softening point will have problems during transporting
and service.
 5. According to our group results, the softening point of this bitumen sample A and B are
the same which are 420C. This means the bitumen will start to melt and flow at this
particular temperature.

Modifications:
1. No parallax error during the experiment.
2. The bulb of the thermometer is the same level as the rings to ensure accurate
temperature.
3. No vibrations should be added to the table during conducting of the experiment.
4. The temperature should be ensured that the increase of temperature must be
within 50C per minute. The apparatus should be adjusted if the temperature rises too
quickly or slowly.
Reliability:

1. Parallax error:
Students might overlook the temperature of the thermometer during the experiment.
During the 15 minutes of maintaining the temperature below 5 0C, students might not
 look properly at the thermometer. The position of the eye should be perpendicular to
the apparatus.

2. Human error:
Students might have different interpretation with one another. Softening point of
reading A is not the same as reading B.
The bulb of the thermometer should be maintained at the same level as the rings. It
might have fallen out of the position.
7.0 CONCLUSION
 The objective of this experiment is to determine the softening point of bitumen within
the range 300C to 1570C by means of the Ring and Ball apparatus.

Form the result of the softening and penetration of bitumen, we can conclude that the
grade of bitumen is conventional paving bitumen as the penetration was -2.9660 which is
between -2 to 2. When the penetration index is low, they become very brittle at low
temperature and behaves like Newtonian fluids. In a meanwhile, when the penetration
index is high, the resistance to permanent deformation is improved.
 Based on the experiment, the softening point for first test and second test were the
same which was 420C respectively. So, the average softening point between two test was
420C.

This study was carried out to design a cost effective and efficient softening point tester
to classify bitumen into grades and the bitumen grades predicted based on Malaysia
standard requirement. The grade bitumen is important to determine the durability or
failure or the road.
8.0 REFERENCES
ASTM (1998). ASTM D36-95 Standard test method for softening point of bitumen (Ring and Ball
Apparatus). 1998 Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Volume 04.04, American Society for Testing and
Materials, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1187

Millard, R.S. (1993). Road building in the tropics. Transport Research Laboratory State-of-the-art Review 9,
HMSO, London
 The Constructor, Softening Point of Bituminous Material. (2015). Retrieved from
https://theconstructor.org/practical-guide/softening-point-of-biuminous-material/2571/

Civil Engineering Portal, Determining Softening Point Of Bitumen. (2007). Retrieved from
HTTP://WWW.ENGINEERINGCIVIL.COM/DETERMINING-SOFTENING-POINT-OF-
BITUMEN.HTML
Dr., West Conshohocken, Standard Test Method for Softening Point of Bitumen (Ring and Ball
Apparatus). (2014). Retrieved from http://www.shxf17.com/pdf/astmd3695.pdf