The Rheological Properties of Bitumen Emulsions Part II—Experimental Characterization
Résumé
This article is the second of a series of two that presents a comparison between the rheological properties of bitumen emulsions as measured either by means of efflux time viscometers (NF T66-020 and prEN 12846) or by more fundamental methods using a constant-rate rheometer. In this part, it is shown that bitumen emulsions behave as Casson fluids, described by only two parameters: a (very low) yield stress and a high-shear limiting viscosity. Thus, it was possible to superpose all rheograms for all emulsions on a single master curve of reduced stress (stress divided by yield stress) versus reduced strain rate (strain rate multiplied by high-shear viscosity and divided by yield stress). Comparison between efflux times calculated using the theoretical results derived in part one of the paper, and measured one, showed that reasonable estimates of the efflux times of bitumen emulsions are obtained neglecting their yielding behaviour. Finally, efflux times of bitumen emulsions in standard geometries typically measure their high shear limiting viscosity which is representative of industrial phenomena such as pumping, but do not give information about the behaviour at low strain-rates under static conditions like those found in the coating or drainage processes. Therefore, they remain good quality control tools, but it must be kept in mind that they only characterize part of the rheological behaviour of a bitumen emulsion.