Bitumen and bituminous binders - Determination of the resistance to hardening under influence of heat and air - Part 1: RTFOT method

This part of EN 12607 specifies a method for measuring the combined effects of heat and air on a thin moving film of bitumen or bituminous binder simulating the hardening which most bituminous binders undergo during mixing in an asphalt mixing plant. The method described is not applicable to some modified binders or to those where the viscosity is too high to provide a moving film. In some cases the sample may creep out of the glass container and flow on the heating elements of the oven during testing. The method is suitable for other bituminous binders than paving grade bitumen, but the reference temperature might give excessive hardening that do not resemble real conditions during mixing at the plant. The method may not represent the hardening that occurs during mixing of warm mix binders. The method is referred to as RTFOT, i.e. Rolling Thin Film Oven Test.