Rolling thin-film oven, the conditioning procedure that ages binder the way a hot plant and haul do. Glass bottles holding 35 grams of binder each rotate in an oven at 163 C for 85 minutes while hot air blows across the thin coating inside. The aged residue goes to the DSR for the high-temperature check and on to the PAV, and the mass change during the run, held to 1 percent or less, flags binder that is too volatile.
RTFO's got another forty minutes, then I'll pour the residue into the PAV pans and let it run overnight.
Also heard as
- rolling thin-film oven
- RTFOT
Related terms
PAV
Pressure aging vessel: the test that ages binder under heat and pressure to simulate years of service on the road.
DSR
Dynamic shear rheometer: the instrument that measures a binder's stiffness and elasticity by twisting a thin disk of it.
MSCR
Multiple stress creep recovery: a high-temperature binder test measuring how much of a deformation the binder recovers.
PG
Performance Grade: the binder rating that names the hottest and coldest pavement temperatures a binder can handle.