This study characterized the morphology, high-temperature property, rheological property, adhesion, cohesion, and chemical component of asphalt binder under aqueous solutions of different pH values. Then the physicochemical properties of asphalt binder were comprehensively evaluated by the improved radar chart. The properties of asphalt binder stripped layer-by-layer were explored to elucidate its gradient damage behaviors. The results indicate that the pH 3 solution reveals the greatest impact on the morphology of 90 asphalt (90 A) and styrene-butadiene-styrene modified asphalt (SBS MA), leading to the wide cracks on 90 A and the network cracks on SBS MA. The comprehensive assessment index of 90 A exposed to pH 3, pH 5, pH 7, pH 9, and pH 11 solutions can be reduced by 20.8%, 20.2%, 1.5%, 14.0%, and 25.5%, respectively. While for SBS MA, its corresponding values variation are 23.2%, 17.7%, 4.6%, 8.7%, and 13.0%, respectively. The acid solutions significantly affect the comprehensive properties of 90 A, but their pH value has little effect. 90 A exposure to the higher pH value of alkali solution reveals the worse comprehensive properties. Acid solute and alkali solute can aggravate the effect of aqueous solution on the comprehensive properties of SBS MA, and the degree of aggravation increases with the increase of solute concentration. The properties of asphalt binders exhibit varied gradient damage behaviors under different solute environments. The most serious damage occurs at 25–50 µm of 90 A and 0–50 µm of SBS MA. This study facilitates an accurate understanding of the mechanism of pavement distresses and composition design and construction utilization of asphalt binders.

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The rapid development of economy has led to an increase of acid rain that can react with the bitumen physically and chemically, causing further damage to the bitumen properties. Therefore, the effects of acid rain on the chemical composition and rheological properties of bitumen at different depths were investigated in this study. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and dynamic shear rheometer tests were performed on the bitumen samples after immersion in acid rain. The results show that in the early stage of immersion, acid rain leads to carbonyl dissolution, reduction of complex modulus, increase of phase angle, and softening of bitumen, thus improving the fatigue cracking resistance. In the late stage of immersion, bitumen is gradually oxidized to form carbonyl group. The change degree of complex modulus and phase angle decreases, and the fatigue cracking resistance is weakened with time. The effect of acid rain on the fatigue cracking resistance fluctuates more for bitumen at 0~50 μm and is more stable for bitumen at 50~100 μm.

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As the main waste product of iron and steel industry, steel slag possesses considerable cementitious activity, making it a promising alternative to cement in Cement Stabilized Macadam (CSM). However, CSM was inevitably exposed to groundwater and rainwater when served as the pavement base course, leading to concerns over poor early strength and potential pollutant leakage, which are the main factors that may hinder the widespread utilization of steel slag in CSM base. To address these issues, this study investigated the feasibility of using steel slag powder to produce CSM. Steel Slag Powder-Cement Stabilized Macadam (SSCSM) samples were prepared and the hydration products, microstructure, mechanical properties, water damage resistance and heavy metal ions leaching behavior were investigated. The results show that the nucleation effect of steel slag powder accelerates the early hydration, but the C-S-H produced by hydration is not sufficient to form a stable hydration product network, so the microstructure of SSCSM is looser than that of CSM. The addition of steel slag powder improved the shrinkage performance of SSCSM, and the mechanical properties and heavy metal ion leaching concentration of SSCSM meet the engineering application requirements when the steel slag powder replacement level does not exceed 30 %. It was also found that the addition of steel slag powder promoted the development of pores in SSCSM samples after dry-wet cycles, resulting in the reduction of water damage resistance. Compared with conventional CSM, the use of SSCSM can not only reduce 4 % of raw material cost and 23.5 % of equivalent CO₂ emission, but also mitigate the heavy metal ions leaching risk associated with steel slag, making it an effective and sustainable solution for steel slag recycling.

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Generally, rejuvenators are used to supply missing components of aged asphalt, reverse the aging process, and are widely used in asphalt maintenance and recycling. However, compared with traditional rejuvenators, bio-oil rejuvenators are environmentally friendly, economical and efficient. This study looks into the effect of the three different bio-oils, namely sunflower oil, soybean oil, and palm oil, on the physical properties, rheological properties and chemical components of aged asphalt at different dosages. The asphalt physical properties and Dynamic Shear Rheological (DSR) test results show that with the increase in bio-oil, the physical properties and rheological properties of rejuvenated asphalt are close to those of virgin asphalt, but the high-temperature rutting resistance needs to be further improved. The results of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) show that the carbonyl and sulfoxide indices of rejuvenated asphalt are much lower than those of aged asphalt. Moreover, the rejuvenation efficiency of aged asphalt mixed with sunflower oil is better than that with soybean oil and palm oil at the same dosage. @en

Aimed to address the low utilization rate of steel slag (SS) and its challenge in resource utilization in China, this study developed ternary geopolymers made by high-content (50%) SS together with fly ash (FA) and granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS). The effects of GBFS content (0–40%) and curing methods (water curing, standard curing, sealed curing, and heat curing) on the working performance and microstructure of geopolymers were investigated. Microscopic analysis such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTG), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were utilized to investigate the hydration process and products of geopolymers under different curing conditions and GBFS content. The results indicated that when the GBFS content increased from 0% to 40%, the fluidity of the mixture decreased by 11.7%, the initial setting time of the geopolymer slurry decreased by 76%, and the geopolymer mortar's 28d compressive strength increased from 31.9 MPa to 60.6 MPa. At room temperature, the geopolymer mortar's 28d compressive strength was higher under standard curing (70.8 MPa) compared to water curing (57.5 MPa) and sealed curing (68 MPa). The geopolymer mortar cured at 60 °C for 24 h exhibited the highest 28d compressive strength (76.3 MPa). However, excessively high curing temperatures or prolonged durations led to more shrinkage cracks and reduced the compressive strength. The microscopic analysis revealed that the main gel products of ternary geopolymer were C-(A)-S-H gel. The amount of gel products is directly related to the strength of geopolymers. The developed ternary geopolymer has the potential to promote the large-scale utilization of SS in the concrete industry, making a significant contribution to sustainable development.

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Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) can shield polymeric materials from UV light, which allows reducing material aging and erosion damage of bituminous pavement under physical and chemical action. In this study, the physicochemical properties, aging resistance, and erosion resistance to the aqueous solution of LDHs modified bitumen mastic (BM) were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, basic physical tests, viscosity tests, a dynamic shear rheometer, and a bending beam rheometer. The results show that few chemical reactions occurred between LDHs and BM, indicating that a physical mechanism underlay the modification of BM by LDHs. Moreover, LDHs could increase the flow activation energy of BM by 0.12%, increase the high failure temperature from 69.07 °C to 71.07 °C, and decrease the low failure temperature from −10.50 °C to −12.39 °C. Therefore, LDHs could slightly reduce the temperature sensitivity of BM, while slightly enhancing the high and low-temperature rheological properties of BM. Compared with short-term aging and long-term aging, LDHs could significantly improve the UV aging resistance of BM. The above results are consistent with previous studies of LDHs-modified bitumen. Furthermore, water and pH 3 acidic solutions had the greatest degree of erosion to BM, and LDHs could improve the resistance to aqueous solutions. Overall, this study can help to investigate the effects of various environmental factors on the performance of LDHs modified bitumen pavements during long-term use.@en

Moisture erosion is one of the key factors leading to asphalt pavement damage, and the erosion depth indicates the moisture damage level but it is usually neglected. In order to study the moisture erosion and the erosion depth, this study characterized the chemical structure, rheological property and adhesion property of asphalt at different depths after immersion for different periods. To further explore the diffusion mechanism of eroded asphalt, a Log-log numerical model was established based on the Fick's second law to calculate the diffusion coefficient throughout the depth. The results indicate that it takes just four hours for water to penetrate a 25 μm asphalt film. The relation between erosion depth and immersion period presents three stages, and the process can be fitted with a polynomial model. At the macroscopic level, there is a lag between the changes in adhesion property with chemical structure and rheological property. Additionally, the periodicity of moisture erosion process was verified by the calculation of diffusion factor. In summary, the diffusion mechanism of eroded asphalt by moisture can provide a theoretical basis for the development of laboratory moisture erosion test specification, thus avoiding the waste of raw materials.

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Self-healing is a biological phenomenon in which living organism responds to the suffered damage in a complex way. Inspired by the self-healing phenomenon in nature, various biomimetic healing methods rooted in intrinsic or extrinsic healing mechanisms have been explored. Research on novel self-healing asphalt materials with intelligent response is at the cutting-edge of materials science and offers a potential strategy for building long-life and low-carbon asphalt concrete infrastructure. This paper describes the progress of research on extrinsic self-healing asphalt materials and makes a clear distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic self-healing. The asphalt self-healing mechanism is interpreted by capillary flow theory, phase field theory, molecular diffusion theory and surface energy theory form various perspective. The extrinsic self-healing strategies including thermal induced healing and rejuvenator induced healing are proposed to enhance the healing level of cracked asphalt materials. A brief review of the methods including fracture-healing test and fatigue-healing test for assessing the efficacy of different extrinsic healing methods is presented. The thermal induced healing method bring high crack repair efficiency for asphalt concrete and the rejuvenator induced healing strategy not only improve the healing ratio of cracked asphalt concrete but also regenerate the ageing asphalt in situ. Important lessons for prospective research on the creation of novel self-healing asphalt materials are highlighted.

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A self-compacting steel slag epoxy resin concrete (SERC) was designed with steel slag as aggregate and epoxy resin as binder for rapid repair of road expansion joints and pavement. At the same time, a group of self-compacting basalt epoxy resin concrete (BERC) with basalt as coarse aggregate and limestone as fine aggregate was set up as the control group. The element analysis and micro morphology of SERC and BERC were studied by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) to reveal the strength-forming mechanism of the two epoxy resin concretes. The cube compression test and Marshall stability test were used to study the effect of the strength formation rate and temperature of SERC and BERC on the strength. In addition, the high-temperature stability, low-temperature crack resistance, water damage resistance, fatigue resistance and interlayer bonding properties of SERC and BERC were also studied. The results showed that both SERC and BERC have good mechanical properties, high temperature properties and good bonding properties, and the low-temperature crack resistance and fatigue properties of SERC are better than that of BERC. According to the verification of the actual project that has been in service for one year, SERC can be perfectly used for road expansion joints.

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Traditional asphalt mixtures can't absorb microwave energy efficiently, which limits the development of microwave heating technology in the field of road maintenance. Based on the microwave heating characteristics of basalt aggregates, the overall microwave self-healing rate of the asphalt mixture can be enhanced. The basalt was tested by XRF, XPS, XRD and electromagnetic parameters to reveal its microwave heating mechanism. Through the heating rate test, SCB test and fatigue test of asphalt mixture, its heating characteristics, flexural strength, fatigue resistance and self-healing performance were studied. The results showed that the excellent wave-absorbing properties of basalt are highly correlated with the elements of Si, Fe and Al. Its TanδM was slightly larger than TanδE, which indicated that basalt can absorb microwave energy through dielectric loss and magnetic loss. The aggregate type and particle size both affected the microwave heating rate of the aggregates. After microwave heating, the flexural strength and fatigue resistance of asphalt mixture with basalt and limestone aggregates can recover at least 65% and 23% respectively.@en

To meet the needs of the road industry for maintenance operations, a new cement emulsified bitumen mixture (CEBM) with early-strength, self-compacting, and room-temperature construction characteristics was designed. The strength formation mechanism of CEBM was revealed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the surface free energy (SFE) theory. The mechanical properties and road performance of the CEBM were investigated extensively. The results show that before the demulsification of emulsified bitumen, the SFE of the bitumen–aggregate–water three-phase system was reduced due to the replacement of the bitumen–aggregate interface with water. The adhesion work between the emulsified bitumen and the aggregate is negative, which means the adhesion between the emulsified bitumen and the aggregate will not occur spontaneously due to the existence of water. The liquid emulsified bitumen improves the workability of the mixture and ensures that the mixture can be evenly mixed and self-compacted. After demulsification, the work of adhesion between the residual bitumen and the aggregate is positive, which means residual bitumen and aggregate can bond spontaneously. In addition, the hydration products of cement and aggregate form a skeleton, and the emulsified bitumen film wraps and bonds the cement and aggregate together, creating strength. The emulsified bitumen, cement content, and curing conditions have significant effects on the stability of CEBM. The recommended dosage of emulsified bitumen and cement is 8% and 8–10%, respectively. This material integrates the hardening effect of cement and the viscoelastic performance of bitumen and has good workability, mechanical properties, and road performance. Therefore, the CEBM is technically feasible for application to bitumen pavement.

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Conventional asphalt mixture has poor microwave absorbing performance and microwave heating efficiency. Based on the characteristics of dielectric loss of scrap tire pyrolysis carbon black (PCB), it is proposed to improve the microwave absorbing performance and self-healing rate of bitumen. The phase composition and electromagnetic parameters of PCB were tested to reveal its microwave heating mechanism. The preparation parameters, heating characteristics and self-healing properties of PCB modified bitumen were studied through the dispersion uniformity test, microwave heating test and SCB test. The main phases of PCB are microwave absorbing carbon and silicon, indicating that PCB is a good electric loss microwave absorbing material. 40 min is the recommended mixing time of 15% PCB modified bitumen. PCB's dosage, microwave frequency and microwave heating time have significant effects on the microwave heating characteristics of PCB modified bitumen. PCB can improve high-temperature stability, thermal conductance, heat storage capacity and self-healing rate of bitumen.

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During the service period, asphalt materials are affected by various natural factors, including heat, ultraviolet light, oxygen and moisture, etc., resulting in the reduction of pavement performance, the increase of pavement distress and shortening of service life. This study aims to investigate the aging performance of asphalt under multiple aging conditions of heat, UV and aqueous solution. Thermal-oxygen aging, UV aging and hydrostatic erosion tests were carried out sequentially on asphalt. The rheological properties, chemical structure and element composition of asphalt were characterized before and after aging, and the effect mechanism of multiple conditions was discussed. The results show that the multiple conditions of heat and UV can increase the rutting resistance and weaken the cracking resistance of asphalt. However, the effect degree of UV decreases gradually with the deepening of aging degree. Additionally, the effect of water on the physicochemical properties is less than that of UV; however, water can increase the sensitivity of physicochemical properties to UV. In summary, this study explored the short-term cycling effect of heat, light and water on asphalt and provided an idea for simulation test of asphalt under multiple aging condition.

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In this paper, a method to predict the healing effect of induction heating asphalt concrete at vertical depths was proposed and verified. At first, AH-70 asphalt concrete and SBS modified asphalt concrete of AC-13 gradation were designed and prepared. R-DT (Relationship of Depth and Temperature) was quantified through induction heating test. R-HT (Relationship of Healing rate and Temperature) was quantified through fracture-healing–fracture test and X-ray micro computed tomography test with oven heating. Then, linear regression was used to verify the rationality of R-HT compared with the pre-relationship in previous studies. Finally, R-DH (Relationship of Depth and Healing rate) was predicted by fitting approach. It was found that R-DT and R-HT presented significant linearity, the existence of which was independent from the type of asphalt materials. While, more sensitive of SBS modified asphalt concrete showed that the response to gradient characteristics of R-DT was related to the higher overall temperature. Additionally, R Square-values = 0.963 of linear regression proved the oven heating method was suitable for the quantification and prediction of gradient characteristics. Furthermore, the prediction of R-DH was obtained successfully, which established the continuous distribution of the healing effect at vertical depths and revealed the linear relationship of the continuous distribution.

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Remarkable variances were observed in permanent deformation curves of a dense asphalt mixture captured in triaxial repeated load permanent deformation (TRLPD) tests. In order to explore the causes of such variances, each permanent deformation curve was characterized firstly by an indicator (B) of the permanent deformation rate at a steady state stage. Meanwhile, a linear relationship was found between the values of indicator B and the resilient moduli of specimens after 1000 load repetitions. Secondly, a profound discussion on the potential relationship between resilient moduli and air voids content was performed. The discussion showed that air voids content appears to have no contributions to the observed variances. Nevertheless, three failure modes, tension failure, shear failure and shear failure with barreling, were observed in the X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) images of failed specimens subjected to triaxial compressive stresses. Furthermore, a significant correlation between failure modes and the resilient moduli was found by means of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Moreover, it was found that the internal weak zones observed in the CT images of intact specimens dominate the behavior of the permanent deformation of asphalt mixture and the internal structure is the essential cause of such variances in the case of this study. This exploration highlights the influence of the internal structure on the mechanical performance of asphalt materials and thus recommends that considerable attention should be paid on the internal structure other than the volumetric properties when selecting test specimens.

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In this paper, the induction healing behaviors of both warm mix asphalt and hot mix asphalt were investigated and compared through damage-healing-damage test. The steel fibers used for making asphalt mixture conductive were first optimized according to the thermal conductivity and induction heating speed of the mixture. Then, the gradient induction heating characteristics, cracking and fatigue resistance, and self-healing ratios of both warm mix asphalt and hot mix asphalt were studied. It is found that warm mix asphalt and hot mix asphalt have similar induction heating speed. The Aspha-Min based warm mix asphalt shows slightly higher fatigue resistance but slightly lower self-healing ratios than hot mix asphalt mixture. Both warm and hot mix asphalt mixtures have very high fatigue life ratios with induction heating, which means that induction heating can improve the durability of WMA. The optimal induction heating temperature of warm mix asphalt is slight lower than that of hot mix asphalt due to the remaining active ingredient, which also deceases the healing ratio slightly. It is also found that the healing ratios of both warm and hot mix asphalt mixtures are highly strain-dependent and the mixtures obtained best healing behaviors at medium microstrain amplitudes.

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In this paper, steel slag/steel fiber composite asphalt mixture were prepared. The effects of the addition of steel slag and/or steel fibers on the mechanical, thermal, induction heating and healing properties of asphalt mixture were investigated. The results showed that adding steel slag and/or steel fibers improves the water stability, particle loss resistance and fracture energy of asphalt mixtures. The addition of steel fibers increased the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusion of the asphalt mixture, and steel slag showed a reverse effect. Steel slag asphalt mixture cooled more slowly than steel fiber asphalt mixture, which is beneficial to crack healing of asphalt mixture. The composite of steel fibers and steel slag can enhance the induction heating speed, heating homogeneity and thus enhance the induction healing ratio of asphalt mixture. It is concluded that steel slag/steel fibers composite asphalt mixture achieves good mechanical and induction healing properties.

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A preventive maintenance strategy of spraying rejuvenators on asphalt pavement surfaces is being considered as a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable option to extend the service life of existing asphalt concrete pavements. Rejuvenators might penetrate into the asphalt concrete and soften (rejuvenate) the bituminous binder. In this paper, the rejuvenation effectiveness of two rejuvenators on an artificially aged mortar is assessed. Cylindrical mortar specimens were prepared from the artificially aged mortar and then treated by the rejuvenators. The rheological and shear fatigue properties of the reference and treated mortar specimens were measured using dynamic shear tests. Meantime, a three-dimensional column model was created to investigate the dynamic shear test's capability of detecting the rheological properties of a composite column with a soft material in its outer part and a stiff material in its inner part. From finite-element modeling, it is found that the shear modulus of the composite column is higher than that of the soft material and lower than that of the stiff material. However, the results of the dynamic shear tests show that the two rejuvenators did not decrease the complex shear modulus of the artificially aged mortar. In addition, the two rejuvenators did not change the shear fatigue life of the artificially aged mortar.

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Ceramic fiber, with a major composition of Al₂O₃ and SiO₂, has advantages of stability at relatively high temperature, big specific surface area and resistance to external mechanical vibration. It has the potential contribution of improving the rutting resistance and temperature sensitivity of modified asphalt binder by proper modification design. In this research, ceramic fiber was introduced into both pen 60/80 and pen 80/100 asphalt binder by different weight ratios. An asphalt penetration test, softening point test, ductility test and dynamic viscoelastic behavior were conducted to characterize and predict the ceramic fiber modified asphalt mortar (CFAM). Research results indicated that the ceramic fiber has a great effect on reinforcement of asphalt, which makes the asphalt stiffer so that the asphalt can only undertake less strain under the same stress. The heat insulation effect of the ceramic fiber will improve the temperature stability. Complex modulus and phase angle results indicate that the ceramic fiber can significantly enhance the high temperature resistance of soft binder.

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Porous asphalt concrete is widely used as a surfacing layer on highways in the Netherlands because of its benefit that it is effective in reducing traffic noise. However, the service life of porous asphalt wearing courses is limited due to the fact that it is vulnerable to raveling. A preventive maintenance strategy using surface treatment material is being considered as a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable option to extend the service life of existing porous asphalt wearing courses. In this paper, the effect of a surface treatment to porous asphalt wearing courses is discussed. A surface treatment material was sprayed on the porous asphalt pavement surfaces in two field trials. Computed Tomography (CT) scans were performed on the porous asphalt concrete cores from the field trials to measure their volumetric properties. The rotating surface abrasion tests were used to determine the raveling resistance of the porous asphalt concrete samples. Finite element models with a realistic structure of the porous asphalt concrete were created for analyzing the stresses and strains as a result of traffic loads in the pavement surface with the surface treatment material. It is found that the effect of the surface treatment is positive.

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