5.

1 Introduction

Hot mixed asphalt (HMA) consists of asphalt binder, aggregates, and additives. Asphalt binder is a blend
of hydrocarbons of different molecular weights. It is the product of distillation of crude oil.

5.2 Chemical Composition of Asphalt Binders

At the molecular level asphalt consist hydrocarbon, made of hydrogen and carbon. Asphalt molecule
have:

a. An aliphatic structure of straight or branched chain

b. An unsaturated ring or aromatic structure
c. Saturated ring

The atoms within asphalt molecules are held together by strong covalent bonds. In addition of
hydrocarbon asphalt include heteroatoms (nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, metal).