Tack Coat

Description
A tack coat is a thin bituminous liquid asphalt, emulsion or cutback layer applied between HMA pavement lifts to promote bonding. Adequate bonding between construction lifts and especially between the existing road surface and an overlay is critical in order for the completed pavement structure to behave as a single unit and provide adequate strength. If ad acent layers do not bond to one another they essentially behave as multiple independent thin layers ! none of which are designed to accommodate the anticipated traffic!imposed bending stresses. Inadequate bonding between layers can result in delamination "debonding# followed by longitudinal wheel path cracking, alligator cracking, potholes, and other distresses such as rutting that greatly reduce pavement life. "$#

Application
%ack coats should be applied uniformly across the entire pavement surface and result in about &' percent surface coverage. (igure $ "right#) *oor tack coat "shown in the left half of the photo# vs. a good tack coat "shown in the right half of the photo#. %he pavement surface receiving the tack coat should be clean and dry to promote maximum bonding.

+ationic bituminous emulsion shall be applied at such rates as to leave a residual bitumen content of not less than ',$' liters - m. nor more than ',/0 liters - m. "&# %able $) 1ecommended 2mulsion %ack +oat Application 1ates from (lexible *avements of 3hio ".''$# "$'# Application Rate in liters/m2 Existing Pavement Condition Residual Undiluted Diluted 1:1 with ater! 4ew HMA '.$5 ! '.$6 '../ ! './. '.50 7 '.0& 3xidi8ed HMA '.$6 ! '..9 './. ! '.50 '.0& ! '.&$ Milled HMA:: '..9 ! './; '.50 ! '.0& '.&$ ! $...
1esiduals) %he application rate of ust the asphalt binder content of the emulsion <ndiluted) %he application rate of the undiluted emulsion =iluted $)$ with >ater) %he application rate of an emulsion diluted $)$ with water : ?ometimes emulsified asphalt tack coats are diluted with water to achieve a more uniform application without applying excessive amounts of asphalt binder. @efore attempting dilution other methods such as ad usting no88le opening si8e or tack coat application pressure should be investigated. If dilution must be done, the (ollowings are recomended) dilution should be done on a $)$ basisA dilute only by adding water to the emulsion and not vice versa, which could cause the tack to breakA dilution will increase emulsion break and set time. It should be noted that beginning with the .''5 standard specifications, %x=3% no longer allows the practice of diluting emulsions for use as tack coat. Barious problems have resulted from improperly diluting emulsion. (or example) If the supplier knew the material was going to be used for tack coat, they would often dilute the emulsion at a ratio of $)$ with water. %his result was an emulsion that was 9' percent water and /' percent residual binder. (urthermore, if the contractor did not know

that the emulsion had already been diluted, they would often add even more water. %he result was often a residual asphalt cement percentage that was way too low. :: 1ough surfaces require more tack coat than smooth surfaces. (or instance, milling produces a rough surface, which will increase the existing pavement surface area typically in the range of .' to /' percent, which requires a corresponding increase in tack coat ".' to /' percent more# when compared to an unmilled surface.

(igure .) 2ssentially the no88le patterns, spray bar height and distribution pressure must work together to produce uniform tack coat application. Cenerally, the best applications results from a Ddouble lapD or Dtriple lapD coverage. %emperature within the distributor should be maintained between about .5 o+ and 05 o+. 2xcessive heating may cause the emulsion to break while still in the distributor. A tack coat should be allowed enough time to break and set "emulsion# or cure "cutback# before applying the next layer of HMA. %he brown color indicates that the freshly placed emulsion tack coat has not yet broken. Although cutback asphalts are still used as tack coat in some areas, the use of cutback asphalts is greatly restricted because of environmental concerns and restrictions in non!attainment areas. 4eat asphalt cements such as A+ 0, A+ $' and their performance grade equivalents "example) *C 06! $;#, are sometimes used for tack coatA however, emulsified asphalts such as +1?!$ and +??$h make up the vast ma ority of the asphalts used for tack coat. "5#

Emulsions
@itumen emulsions can be devided into four classes. %he first two are widely used) cationic emulsions, anionic emulsions, non!ionic emulsions, clay stabili8ed emulsions. +ationic emulsifiers are most popular because of their affinity to many solid surface. %his is an important property in road construction because good adhesion of bitumen to different types of mineral aggregate is essential. In cationic emulsifiers, general represantion is 1!4H/E+l!, polar head group is positively charged and imparts a positive charge to the surface of the bitumen droplets. %he 1 stands for long chain hydrocarbon consisting of 6 to .. carbon atoms derived from natural fats and oils.";# Most important properties of emulsions are) stability, viscosity, breaking, adhesivity. 1apid ?etting emulsion used for tack coats are 1?$, 1?., +1?$, +1?., +1?! .*, +1?!.1. 1apid! setting emulsions, already containing a maximum of /0 percent water. ?low!setting grades of emulsion used for tack coats are ??$, ??$h, +??$, and +??$h. %he original slow!setting emulsion, already containing a maximum of 5/ percent water "0#

%he following notations are typically used for identification of the different emulsion grades) + +ationic "E# emulsified asphalt particles. If there is no + at the beginning of the emulsion grade then the emulsified asphalt particles are anionic "!#. ?? ?low setting 1? 1apid setting F? Fuick setting GM Gatex modified H( High float *M *olymer modified $ Gow viscosity . High viscosity h Hard grade asphalt "low penetration#

Quality Control
@itumen emulsions are sub ect to their own test procedures. ?ome of the tests used for determining their properties are as follows) "6# Consistency: Also known as the Saybolt Furol Viscosity test, this measures the rate of flow of the bitumen emulsion at .0H+. Water Content test: determines the weight percent of water in an emulsion. Sedimentation test: indicates the extent to which the components of an emulsion sample will separate during storage. ?amples are taken from the top and bottom of a 0''mG sample that has stood undisturbed for three days. %he samples are tested for water content. %he difference between the water content of each sample is an indication of the degree to which sedimentation has taken place. Stone Coating Ability and Water Resistance test: it is essential that a bitumen emulsion stands up to the action of being mixed with aggregates, coat them as completely as possible and not be washed off by any water that may fall on it once the mixing is completed. %his test shows the extent to which a sample meets these requirements. It involves coating a sample of aggregate with emulsion, spraying it with water until the water coming from it is clear. %he coating on the sample is assessed. Particle Charge test: identifies the charge on the bitumen particles in an emulsion. A positive and a negative electrode are left in a sample of emulsion for half an hour. If there is bitumen deposited on the negative electrode at the end of the test the emulsion is cationicA if bitumen is deposited on the positive electrode, the emulsion is anionic. ?ieve 1esidue test) shows the presence of coarse binder particles in the emulsion. %hese particles may be in the form of relatively large globules or strings and may indicate instability or result in poor coating performance or clogging of equipment. %he sample is strained through a $0'Im sieve and the percentage mass of emulsion retained on the sieve is calculated and reported as sieve residue.

1esidue from 2vaporation test) indicates the percentage mass of binder present in an emulsion. An emulsion sample is heated so that water and other volatile components are evaporated. 1esidue from evaporation is calculated from the mass of the sample and residue after evaporation.

Related Standarts:
?tandart ?pecification for 1oad and @ridges ?2+%I34 16@ @ituminous %ack +oat A?%M =.55 ! ?tandard %est Methods for 2mulsified Asphalts A?%M =0!'0 ?tandard %est Method for *enetration of @ituminous Materials A?%M =.'5. ! ?tandard %est Method for ?olubility of Asphalt Materials in %richloroethylene AA?H%3 %0& ! ?tandard Method of %est for %esting 2mulsified Asphalts AA?H%3 M.'6 ! ?tandard ?pecification for +ationic 2mulsified Asphalt A?%M =./&9 ! ?tandard ?pecification for +ationic 2mulsified Asphalt ?tandart ?pecification for 1oad and @ridges ?2+%I34 16@ @ituminous %ack +oat %? $'6. JKol Lst KapMlarMnda NullanMlan Asfalt 2mOlsiyonlarM %able .)

Resources:
$. %he >ashington ?tate =epartment of %ransportationPs *avement Cuide Interactive, Module 9. +onstruction!tack coat http)--classes.engr.oregonstate.edu-cce-winter.'$.-ce5&.-Modules-'9Qconstruction-tackQcoa ts.htm .. Technical Advisory: Proper se o! Tac" Coat . %echnical Advisory .''$!$. %exas =epartment of %ransportation. Austin, %R. https)--ftp.dot.state.tx.us-pub-txdot!info-cst-tips-tackQcoat.pdf /. %ack +oat Cuidelines, =ivision of +onstruction. +alifornia =epartment of %ransportation. ?tate of +alifornia. April .''& http)--www.dot.ca.gov-hq-construc-publications-tackcoatguidelines.pdf 5. Technical Advisory: Proper se o! Tac" Coat . %echnical Advisory .''$!$. %exas =epartment of %ransportation. Austin, %R. https)--ftp.dot.state.tx.us-pub-txdot!info-cst-tips-tackQcoat.pdf 0. %ack +oats) How and what to applyS, %he Asphalt 1A* Bolume $$ Issue /, +olorado Asphalt *avement Association http)--www.co!asphalt.com-documents-%heQAsphaltQ1A*-%ackT.'+oats.pdf ;. ?hell @itumen Handbook, 0th ed., ?hell <N 3il *roducts Gimited 9. http)--www.ben8eneinternational.com-emulsionQbitumen.html 6. @itumen 2mulsions %est *rocedures http)--www.bp.com-sectiongenericarticle.doUcategoryIdV&'.90$;WcontentIdV9'0''6$ &. ?tandart ?pecification for 1oad and @ridges ?2+%I34 16@ @ituminous %ack +oat $'. (lexible *avements of 3hio. "May .''$#. %echnical @ulletin) *roper %ack +oat Application. (lexible *avements of 3hio. +olumbus, 3H.