Cement and Construction Applications

Road Construction and Asphalt

Without modern engineering, roads would not take us very far. In road construction, large quantities of various materials, additives and fillers are used to make roads more resilient and safer. Learn more about Bruker's tools for bitumen and asphalt analysis.
Industrial Applications of FT-IR

Quality testing of bitumen/asphalt by FT-IR spectroscopy

The conditions on road construction sites can be hard and dirty. However, especially those "dirty" construction materials need crystal-clear quality control.

FT-IR spectrometers are ideal for detecting even small amounts of impurities in bitumen. The measurement takes place directly with the smoking hot asphalt.

The raw materials for road construction can thus be checked quickly and easily for their correctness or possible impurities. Watch our series of application videos on bitumen analysis, or contact an FT-IR expert!

Watch how FT-IR spectroscopy is used in asphalt quality control.
Cement and Construction Applications of FT-IR

Quantification of TPO in a limestone / bitumen formulation via FT-IR

Thermoplastic olefin (TPO) resins are used in building and construction e.g. for bitumen modification. FT-IR spectroscopy can easily determine the amount of TPO in a formulation of bitumen with limestone.

Such calibrations are easily created and the actual measurement only takes a few seconds to quantify the TPO with high precision. In this case,  double measurements of each sample were performed to verify the reproducibility of the analysis.

Compact FT-IR spectrometers are very rugged and can be easily moved to and from construction sites, enabling on-site analysis and reducing time spent sending samples to labs.