HIGHWAY & TRAFFIC ENGINEERING LABORAT0RY JOURNAL

RING AND BALL TEST (SOFTENING POINT TEST)

Muhammad Farhan Bin Ibrahim, Muhammad Efendi Bin Asmat, Mohamad Adlan Bin Zamri,
Muhammad Afif Rusydi Bin Md Khalil, Nur Izzati Emalia Bt Azhar, Erin Marissa Bt Ramlan ,
Maizatul Aqmar Bt Yusup, Zaila Maizuroh Bt Abd Muin

Abstract

The morphology of this test is that softening point is the temperature at which the
substance achieve a specific degree of softening under specified condition of the
test.The Softening Point of bitumen is the temperature at which the substance achieve
specific of softening. When heated under water at specified condition and specific
temperature in C at which a standard ball passes through a sample of mould and falls
through a height of 2.5 cm. The purpose of softening point helps to know the
temperature up to which a bituminous binder should be heated for different road use
application.The ring and ball apparatus determine the softening point .

Keywords:softening point,temperature,bitumen,degree of softening,ring and balls

INTRODUCTION

The ring and ball test is for determining

the softening point of bitumen.
Softening point can be defined as the
temperature at which a substance
achieve a specific degree of softness
under specified condition test. The
softening point is useful in the
classification of bitumen.
The ring and ball softening point test
involve heating two small samples of the
bitumen in a container of water.The ring
is immersed to a depth such that its
bottom is exactly 25mm(1in) above the
bottom of the bath. The temperature of
the bath is then gradually
increased,causing the bitumen to soften
and permitting the ball to sink
eventually to the bottom of the bath. A
metal ball is placed on top of each ring
sample.
The temperature at which each ball
touches a bar near the bottom is called
the softening point. A high softening
point is preferable to a low one. In
addition, if the two balls drop at
temperatures more than 2 degrees apart,
the test is invalidated and must be
repeated.The ring and ball test is
important for testing the bitumen
material for road/highway project.Being
very simple in concept and equipment
the ring and bell has remained a valuable
consistency test for control in refining
operations particularly in the production
of air blown bitumen. It is also an
indirect measure of viscosity is evident.
The softening point value has particular
significance for materials which are to
be used as thick films such as joint and
crack filters and roofing material. A high
softening point ensures that they will not
flow in services. For bitumen of a given
penetration determined at 25C the
higher the softening point the lower the
temperature sensitivity.
 HIGHWAY & TRAFFIC ENGINEERING LABORAT0RY JOURNAL

OBJECTIVE

To determine the Softening Point of

Bitumen by ring and ball method.
The temperature which the bitumen
achieve consistent under the specified
condition of the test is called softening
point of bitumen.At give the temperature
at which the bitumen plastic state to PROCEDURE
liquid state.

Apparatus 1. The bitumen was melted and the

liquid was poured into a pair of ring
placed on plate.
1. Standard ring-and-ball test
apparatus 2. Some water was in a beaker to
prepare a water bath.The magnetic
stirrer was put in the beaker.Some
2. Thermometer ice cubes were put in the beaker.

3. Bath 3. After the bath had cold,ring was

suspended in the distilled water in
the beaker at 5C 2C.The
4. Bath liquid (water) temperature is measured by
thermometer.
5. Stirrer
4. Bath temperature is maintained for
15 minutes.
6. Heater
5. The steel ball were put on the
7. Stopwatch surface of the bitumen in the ring

6. The bath liquid was stirred and

heated for 5C 2C per minutes.

7. The temperature just noted just after

the ball was passed and dropped
into the base plate

RESULT

The result which obtained from the test

is as follow:For bitumen grade 80/100

Instant Softening
Ring No. Temperature, Point,
C Average C
A 60
B 52 56
Figure 1:Ring and Ball softening point
apparatus

2
Example calculation =56 C

Average = ball 1 + ball 2 DISCUSSION

2
=60C + 52C
 HIGHWAY & TRAFFIC ENGINEERING LABORAT0RY JOURNAL
Based on the result that we obtained
from the experiment, the temperature for
the bitumen to be soft for test number 1
(ball 1) is 60C while for the test number
2 (ball 2) is 52C. Besides that, the
average temperature of softening point
that we calculated is 56C. The
theoretical value of the optimum
temperature of bitumen softening point
is between 48C to 52C according to
Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) standard. The
temperature we recorded is 56C which
is not situated in theoretical standard.
Cause and error during the experiment:
i. The bath temperature is not
maintained for 15 minutes
ii. The bath temperature is not in the
5C 2C range.
iii. The brass ring is not placed
correctly in the center of the plate.
iv. The stirrer is not function correctly
v. Surrounding temperature may affect
the temperature..
While doing the temperature, some
safety measures has to be follow. Be
alert and make sure your hand doesnt
touch the heater while taking the
readings as it may cause severe burn.
After the experiment, the apparatus are
washed thoroughly with clean water or
using hazard chemical.
RECOMMENDATION
Bituminous materials do not have a
melting point.Softening point specify the
temperatures at which binders posses the
same viscosity. Rather, the change of
state from solid to liquid is slowly over a
wide range of temperature. Softening
point has certain importance for
materials to be used as joint and crack
fillers.The higher the softening point ,
the lesser the temperature susceptibility.
Higher softening point ensures that they
will not flow during service. Bitumen
with higher softening point is preferred
in warmer places .
CONCLUSION
To conclude, the final temperature of
the softening point is 56C which does
not match the theoretical standard which
is 48C to 52C. The objective of the
experiment is not achieved. During
conducting the experiment, some errors
that occurs will affects the final result.
Before doing the experiment, make sure
the ring ball does not hold the ball guide
in stationary. Adjust the ring until the
ball can pass through freely. In addition,
to get good result, ensure you conduct
the experiment in room temperature
condition. The purpose of this test in the
industry is to estimate the viscoelastic
properties of both bitumen and paving
mixture especially in road design. This
is to test the consistency of bitumen.
REFERENCE
B.L. Pearce, Comparison of
Temperature Variations For
Softening Point Apparatus With
Varying Filler: Binder Ratio, Cape
Technikon, Department of Civil
Engineering PO Box 652, Cape
Town,8000
ASTM(1998).D26-95 Standard test
method for softening point of
bitumen(Ring-and-Ball Apparatus)
 HIGHWAY & TRAFFIC ENGINEERING LABORAT0RY JOURNAL
1998 Annual Books of ASTM
Standards, Volume V04.04,
American Society for Testing and
Materials, Philadelphia, PA 19103-
1187.
ASTM (1978): Standard Tests
Method for Resistance to Plastic
Flow of Bituminous Mixtures using
Marshall Apparatus. Annual Book
of ASTM Standards, Part 15, pp.425
-433.
Penetration is related to viscosity and
empirical relationship have been developed
for Newtonian materials. If penetration is
measured over a range of temperatures, the
temperature susceptibility of the bitumen can
be established. The nomograph as given in
Table 1 enables the PI to be deduced
approximately from the penetration at 25C
and the softening point temperature. Typical
values of PI are
Bitumen Type PI
Blown Bitumen >2
Conventional Paving Bitumen -2 to +2
Temperature Susceptible Bitumen <-2
Table 1
PI values can be used to determine the
stiffness (modulus) of bitumen at any
temperature and loading time. It can also, to a
limited extent, be used to identify a particular
type of bituminous material. One drawback
of the PI system is that it uses the change in
bitumen properties over a relatively small
range of temperatures to charactize bitumen;
extrapolations to extreme of the behavior can
be sometimes be misleading.
As we have done the both test, When the ring
and ball test is compared to the penetration
test, the value of penetration index (PI) is
almost zero (refer to appendix) it means
-2<PI<+2. So from the Table 1 we can say
that the bitumen will classify as Conventional
Paving Bitumen .