High Quality Anti Stripping Agents For The Asphalt Industry

Anti stripping agents are used during the road construction with traditional hot mixing surfacing. An anti stripping agent reduces the water caused damage to pavements which have bitumen and extends the life of the pavement. It also helps in reducing the dosage of bitumen in asphalt related work. Anti stripping agents are high in demand in the market. The most common problem with bituminous pavements is premature failure due to water and is the main problem causing distress to pavements. Commonly the improper adhesion between bitumen and the other aggregates, salt contamination or water or soil and water drainage problems cause this kind of distress. These problems are prevalent worldwide and hence anti stripping agents are also used all over the world.

Moisture damage in bituminous pavements can result in shoving, rutting, bleeding, raveling, cracking and formation of potholes. Even more important is that it can cause loss of chippings from the surface dressing or chip sealing and can cause freeze thaw damage in snow bound areas. The main cause of this problem is the loss of adhesion between bitumen and the other aggregates. Very few aggregates can actually resist the action of water because water can seep into the pavement in a large number of methods:

• Wet bitumen-aggregate on aggregate has not dried properly
• Rain water seeping in through cracks and pores, shoulders, ground or sub-surface water moving inside the bitumen layer due to hydrostatic action.
• Capillary water sucked up and expelled from the sub or top grade
• Hot weather resulting in the formation of water vapor in the sub grade

Chemicals can be added to bitumen and aggregate mixture in order to improve the affinity between them. These chemicals change the nature of the aggregates or bitumen to make them have more affinity for each other. These chemicals are the high quality anti stripping agents that we are discussing and are also known as adhesion promoters.

The stability of the bituminous pavement greatly depends on the adhesion between the bitumen and aggregates. This is why the ionic nature of the aggregate is important in explaining the problem of stripping which is different for different aggregates. This also explains why a stable bond is unable to form in bituminous pavement construction. For improving this adhesion between bitumen and aggregates and creating a stable bond between them, anti stripping agents belonging to the Fatty Polyamine group of chemicals are used. These fatty polyamines even in small doses are highly effective.

Novamen Inc. is a privately held company and was started in 2010. With over 30 years of combined knowledge and experience in these markets. Visit http://novamen.ca/