The design and testing of bituminous mixtures includes various laboratory tests such as the Marshall stability (EN 12697-34), Gyratory compaction (EN 12697-31), Slabs laboratory compaction (EN 12697-33) to prepare specimens for Wheel tracking (EN 12697-22) and Determination of stiffness including Beam fatigue testing (EN 12697-26, EN 13108).
To produce samples for performing the above tests, it is essential that the preparation of a bituminous mixture is carried out at a reference temperature and a limited time period in order to reduce mechanical degradation of the aggregates. The mixer shall also be capable of entirely coating all mineral substances in not more than 5 minutes as stated by EN 12697-35.
The mixer consists essentially in a horizontal stainless steel mixing container with helical mixing shaft. The container is thermally insulated and comes complete with heating element and probe sensor which provide uniform temperature control. The container can be easily tilted by the electric motor for the unloading operation.
The control panel includes: a digital display to monitor mixing temperature, a digital thermo-regulator, a mixing speed controller and various commands.
The Bitumix mixer can be used as part of your Superpave performance based testing program