Pressure aging vessel, the long-term aging step in binder grading. RTFO residue is spread thin in steel pans and held for 20 hours under 2.1 MPa of air pressure at an elevated temperature, usually 100 C, to represent roughly 5 to 10 years of oxidation in the pavement. The aged binder then goes to the DSR fatigue check and the BBR, which is why the PAV run sets how fast a full PG certification comes back.
PAV won't come out till tomorrow morning, so no BBR numbers on that sample till lunch at the earliest.
Also heard as
- pressure aging vessel
Related terms
RTFO
Rolling thin-film oven: the short-term aging test that mimics what plant mixing and paving do to a binder.
BBR
Bending beam rheometer: the test that checks how stiff and brittle a binder gets at low temperature.
DSR
Dynamic shear rheometer: the instrument that measures a binder's stiffness and elasticity by twisting a thin disk of it.
PG
Performance Grade: the binder rating that names the hottest and coldest pavement temperatures a binder can handle.