Flash Point
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Checked against its sources by licensed professional engineers on the previous site, where reviewers weren’t recorded by name.
A typical flash point test involves heating a small sample of asphalt binder in a test cup. The temperature of the sample is increased and at specified intervals a test flame is passed across the cup. The flash point is the lowest liquid temperature at which application of the test flame causes the vapors of the sample to ignite. The test can be continued up to the fire point – the point at which the test flame causes the sample to ignite and remain burning for at least 5 seconds.
Standard Test Methods
- AASHTO T 48 and ASTM D 92: Flash and Fire Points by Cleveland Open Cup (more common for asphalt cement used in HMA)
- AASHTO T 73 and ASTM D 93: Flash-Point by Pensky-Martens Closed Cup Tester
Teaching this? Figures and worked examples are free to use with credit. Course reading lists
Cite this page
APA
Pavement Interactive. (2026, November 1). Flash point. HeadLight. Retrieved [the date you read it], from https://pavementinteractive.org/reference-desk/testing/asphalt-tests/flash-point/
ASCE
Pavement Interactive. (2026). “Flash Point.” HeadLight, <https://pavementinteractive.org/reference-desk/testing/asphalt-tests/flash-point/> ([the date you read it]).
BibTeX
@misc{pavint-flash-point,
author = {{Pavement Interactive}},
title = {Flash Point},
year = {2026},
publisher = {HeadLight},
howpublished = {\url{https://pavementinteractive.org/reference-desk/testing/asphalt-tests/flash-point/}},
note = {Accessed [date]}
}