Institute of Technology of Cambodia Road design II (TP)

Water tank Thermometer Heat-resistant gloves Oven

4. Precautions
To ensure the test is done safely, avoiding any risks, and to achieve reliable results, some
safety precautions are done, such as:
- Wear heat-resistant gloves when handling hot bitumen to prevent burns.
- Ensure proper ventilation in the testing area to avoid inhaling bitumen fumes, especially
when heating the sample.
- Never leave the heating source or testing equipment unattended while in operation.

5. Procedure
1) Heat the bitumen sample in 100°C in the drying oven. Then pour the molten bitumen into
the sample container, ensuring it’s free of air bubbles.
2) Allow the sample to cool down to room temperature for 30 minutes. In this step, we should
wear a gloves and mask before taking the sample out of the oven to avoid from any risks.
3) Place that sample in a water tank or water bath in typically temperature 25°C for 30 minutes.
4) Setup the penetrometer by securing the sample container on the penetrometer’s base then
clean the penetration needle before mounting onto the penetrometer. Attach a 50 grams
weight on the top of needle for a total of 100g and secure it.

Figure 1: Heat the Figure 2: Take the Figure 3: Allow it to Figure 4: Soak in
sample sample out cool down water

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 Institute of Technology of Cambodia Road design II (TP)

5) After that lower the needle gradually until it touches the bitumen sample’s surface. Click
the circle button to drop the weight and allow the needle to make contact with the sample
surface. Take note of the first penetration depth, 𝑑0 . Maintain the applied load for 5
seconds. Record the penetration depth after 5 seconds, 𝑑1 .
6) We can determine the penetration depth

7) Perform this experiment three times in different locations with 10mm apart.

Figure 5: Place sample Figure 6: adjust needle Figure 7: Drop the Figure 8: Penetration
in Penetrometer to the sample’s surface applied load depth after 5 seconds

6. Data and Calculation

Table 2: Data and Calculation

Test 1 Test 2 Test 3

Remark: 1° = 0.1𝑚𝑚
Therefore, the average depth of penetration:

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