Atlantic Canadian highways are vulnerable to impacts of climate change, including more frequent cycles of both wetting and drying, and freezing and thawing. These climate impacts coupled with continued increases in truck traffic can cause more severe and premature permanent deformation at high service temperature, fatigue and thermal cracking at low service temperatures, surface wear resistance, and ageing of the pavement. Such negative impacts can be mitigated with changes to the binder. However, replacing a local binder with a different imported binder can increase construction costs and cause supply problems. Alternatively, modifying agents can be used to adjust binder properties as required, but can also cause an increase in construction costs mainly due to their high cost and the need for highly specialized production techniques. The objective of this research project was to investigate the feasibility of utilizing underutilized household and packaging recycled plastics, that are generated in Atlantic Canada, as more cost effective alternatives or as co-modifiers to displace the amount of virgin modifiers used in hot mix asphalt application. The research study entailed analyzing physical characteristics of an array of modified binders and hot mix asphalt mixtures containing recycled low-density polyethylene, recycled polystyrene and the typical engineered virgin modifier (styrene-butadiene-styrene). The analysis included tests used commonly in pavement engineering to evaluate binders and asphalt mixtures. Results of this study suggests that these recycled plastics can be successfully utilized in asphalt binder as modifiers to enhance the functional properties of the mixture and reduce construction costs, thus creating an engineered value-added application of these underutilized resources as opposed to a disposal mechanism.

The ability of an asphalt mix to heal is an important property that influences the overall fatigue performance of the mix in the field. Micro damage healing in an asphalt mix is a function of several factors such as the physical and chemical properties of the binder, properties of the mixture, level of damage prior to the rest period during which healing occurs, duration of the rest period, temperature, and pressure. This thesis presents details from a two-part study that addresses the following aspects. In the first part of this study, a DSR based test method was developed to measure inherent healing in asphalt binder and a modified form of the Avrami equation was used to model it. In the second part of this study, an experimental and analytical method based on viscoelastic continuum damage theory was developed to characterize the healing in an asphalt composite (fine aggregate matrix) as a function of the level of damage prior to the rest period and the duration of the rest period. The intrinsic healing of three different asphalt binders was measured at three different temperatures and two aging conditions and it was further demonstrated to be the sum of two components: instantaneous strength gain immediately upon wetting and time dependent strength gain. The intrinsic healing results obtained from the DSR tests were demonstrated to be in agreement with the hypothesis that time dependent intrinsic healing increases with an increase in temperature and decreases with aging of the asphalt binder. The overall healing was measured in four different fine aggregate matrix (FAM) asphalt mixes and various tests were performed to quantify overall healing at isothermal and short term aged test conditions. Additionally two different verification tests were also conducted to demonstrate that the percentage healing measured using the proposed method are independent of the sequence of loading or rest periods. Finally, the overall healing results were demonstrated to support the hypothesis that the healing characteristics determined using the proposed test method can be treated as a characteristic material property. / text

abstract: ABSTRACT Pre-treated crumb rubber technologies are emerging as a new method to produce asphalt rubber mixtures in the field. A new crumb rubber modifier industrially known as "RuBind" is one such technology. RuBindTM is a "Reacted and Activated Rubber" (RAR) that acts like an elastomeric asphalt extender to improve the engineering properties of the binder and mixtures. It is intended to be used in a dry mixing process with the purpose of simplifying mixing at the asphalt plant. The objectives of this research study were to evaluate the rheological and aging properties of binders modified with RuBindTM and its compatibility with warm mix technology. Two binders were used for this study: Performance Grade (PG) 70-10 and PG 64-22, both modified with 25% by weight of asphalt binder. Laboratory test included: penetration, softening point, viscosity, Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) and Bending Beam Rheometer (BBR). Tests were conducted under original, short and long -term aging conditions. Observations from the test results indicated that there is a better improvement when RuBindTM is added to a softer binder, in this case a PG 64-22. For short-term aging, the modified binder showed a similar aging index compared to the control. However, long term aging was favorable for the modified binders. The DSR results showed that the PG 64-22 binder high temperature would increase to 82 °C, and PG 70-10 would be increased to 76 °C, both favorable results. The intermediate temperatures also showed an improvement in fatigue resistance (as measured by the Superpave PG grading parameter |G*|sinä). Test results at low temperatures did not show a substantial improvement, but the results were favorable showing reduced stiffness with the addition of RuBindTM. The evaluation of warm mix additive using EvothermTM confirmed the manufacturer information that the product should have no negative effects on the binder properties; that is the modified binder can be used in a warm mix process. These results were encouraging and the recommendation was to continue with a follow up study with mixture tests using the RuBindTM modified binders. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering 2014

The mechanical performance evaluation of asphalt binder has always been a challenging issue for pavement engineers. Recently, the Phase Field Method (PFM) has emerged as a powerful computational tool to simulate the microstructure evolution of asphalt binder. PFM analyzes the structure from the free energy aspect and can provide a view of the whole microstructure evolution process. In this dissertation, asphalt binder performance is analyzed by PFM in three aspects: first, the relationship between asphalt chemistry and performance is investigated. The components of asphalt are simplified to three: asphaltene, resin and oil. Simulation results show that phase separation will occur under certain thermal conditions and result in an uneven distribution of residual thermal stress. Second, asphalt cracking is analyzed by PFM. The traditional approach to analyze crack propagation is Classic Fracture Mechanics first proposed by Griffith, which needs to clearly depict the crack front conditions and may cause complex cracking topologies. PFM describes the microstructure using a phase-field variable which assumes positive one in the intact solid and negative one in the crack void. The fracture toughness is modeled as the surface energy stored in the diffuse interface between the intact solid and crack void. To account for the growth of cracks, a non-conserved Allen-Cahn equation is adopted to evolve the phase-field variable. The energy based formulation of the phase-field method handles the competition between the growth of surface energy and release of elastic energy in a natural way: the crack propagation is a result of the energy minimization in the direction of the steepest descent. Both the linear elasticity and phase-field equation are solved in a unified finite element frame work, which is implemented in the commercial software COMSOL. Different crack mode simulations are performed for validation. It was discovered that the onset of crack propagation agrees very well with the Griffith criterion and experimental results. Third, asphalt self-healing phenomenon is studied based on the Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) technology. The self-healing mechanism is simulated in two ways: thermodynamic approach and mechanical approach. Cahn-Hilliard dynamics and Allen-Cahn dynamics are adopted, respectively. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Civil Engineering / Mustaque Hossain / Hot in-place recycling (HIR) preserves distressed asphalt pavements while minimizing use of virgin binder and aggregates. The final quality of an HIR mixture depends on characteristics of the original binder, aging of the pavement surface during service, and whether or not new binder or rejuvenator was added to the mixture. An HIR mixture should maintain desired properties for additional service periods, making asphalt binder modification inevitable. Asphalt binder modifications in HIR are commonly done by adding an asphalt rejuvenating agent (ARA). However, ARA may adversely affect the qualities of new HIR and potentially fail to improve the quality of the final surface. The objective of this research was to investigate the effects of rejuvenation on HIR performance characteristics by assessing critical performance indicators such as stiffness, permanent deformation, moisture susceptibility, and cracking resistance. A two-step experimental program was designed that included mechanical property measurements of the HIR mixture and rheological properties of the extracted binder. The level of mixing occurring between new and aged binder with ARA was also investigated. HIR Samples were obtained from three Kansas Department of Transportation projects, and Hamburg wheel-tracking device, dynamic modulus, flow number, Texas overlay, thermal stress restrained specimen, and moisture susceptibility tests were conducted on mixtures with and without ARA. Rheological studies on the extracted binder included dynamic shear rheometer and bending beam rheometer tests. The miscibility of new and aged binder was investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM) images, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS), and the exudation droplet test (EDT). Study results showed significant variability in the mechanical performance of HIR mixtures, which was attributed to the variability of binders as observed in EDT, SEM and EDXS studies. Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) showed that HIR is an economic maintenance alternative for asphalt projects in Kansas. LCCA results exhibited that pavement design strategies with HIR activities will result in alternatives with lower net present values when compared to alternatives without HIR maintenance activities.

A produção de um ligante modificado com a borracha de pneus usados tem-se tornado viável em virtude do aumento da rigidez a temperaturas elevadas e da flexibilidade a baixas temperaturas que ele proporciona no revestimento dos pavimentos flexíveis, contribuindo para amenizar dois dos principais defeitos que afetam este tipo de pavimento, a saber, a deformação permanente nas trilhas de roda e as trincas por fadiga. Em acréscimo, consegue-se diminuir a quantidade de pneus dispostos em aterros sanitários, disponibilizando espaço e evitando problemas ambientais e de saúde pública, pois o acúmulo de pneus facilita a procriação de insetos e de outros vetores de doenças. Utilizando-se ensaios tradicionais e ensaios do método Superpave, neste trabalho são analisados os efeitos dos principais fatores que condicionam o comportamento do ligante asfalto-borracha (teor granulometria das partículas de borracha, tempo e temperatura de mistura, mantida constante em 155ºC) e as alterações nas propriedades físicas do ligante asfalto-borracha durante o tempo de armazenamento. / The production of a modified binder with used tire has become possible because of the increase in the stiffness at high temperature and the flexibility at low temperature that it brings to the surface layers of flexible pavements. The asphalt-rubber binders help to prevent two of the most important problems that affect flexible pavements, that is, the permanent deformation in the wheel tracks and fatigue cracking. In addition, it is possible to reduce the amount of tires disposed in sanitary landfills, increasing the service-life and avoiding environmental and health problems. Using traditional tests and tests of the Superpave method, this study analyses the effects of the main factors that affects the behavior of the asphalt-rubber binder (content and gradation of rubber particles, reaction temperature fixed in 155ºC and time) and the changes in the physical properties of asphalt-rubber binder during the storage time.

A produção de um ligante modificado com a borracha de pneus usados tem-se tornado viável em virtude do aumento da rigidez a temperaturas elevadas e da flexibilidade a baixas temperaturas que ele proporciona no revestimento dos pavimentos flexíveis, contribuindo para amenizar dois dos principais defeitos que afetam este tipo de pavimento, a saber, a deformação permanente nas trilhas de roda e as trincas por fadiga. Em acréscimo, consegue-se diminuir a quantidade de pneus dispostos em aterros sanitários, disponibilizando espaço e evitando problemas ambientais e de saúde pública, pois o acúmulo de pneus facilita a procriação de insetos e de outros vetores de doenças. Utilizando-se ensaios tradicionais e ensaios do método Superpave, neste trabalho são analisados os efeitos dos principais fatores que condicionam o comportamento do ligante asfalto-borracha (teor granulometria das partículas de borracha, tempo e temperatura de mistura, mantida constante em 155ºC) e as alterações nas propriedades físicas do ligante asfalto-borracha durante o tempo de armazenamento. / The production of a modified binder with used tire has become possible because of the increase in the stiffness at high temperature and the flexibility at low temperature that it brings to the surface layers of flexible pavements. The asphalt-rubber binders help to prevent two of the most important problems that affect flexible pavements, that is, the permanent deformation in the wheel tracks and fatigue cracking. In addition, it is possible to reduce the amount of tires disposed in sanitary landfills, increasing the service-life and avoiding environmental and health problems. Using traditional tests and tests of the Superpave method, this study analyses the effects of the main factors that affects the behavior of the asphalt-rubber binder (content and gradation of rubber particles, reaction temperature fixed in 155ºC and time) and the changes in the physical properties of asphalt-rubber binder during the storage time.

Performance of asphalt mixtures depends on the properties of its constituent materials, mixture volumetrics, and external factors such as load and environment. An important material property that influences the performance of an asphalt mixture is the surface free energy of the asphalt binder and the aggregate. Surface free energy, which is a thermodynamic material property, is directly related to the adhesive bond energy between the asphalt binder and the aggregate as well as the cohesive bond energy of the asphalt binder. This thermodynamic material property has been successfully used to select asphalt binders and aggregates that have the necessary compatibility to form strong bonds and resist fracture. Surface free energy, being based on thermodynamics, assumes the asphalt binder is a brittle elastic material. In reality, the asphalt binder is not brittle and dissipates energy during loading and unloading. The total work of fracture is the culmination of all energy inputted into the sample to create two new surfaces of unit area and is dependent on the test geometry and testing conditions (e.g., temperature, loading rate, specimen size, etc.). The magnitude of the bond energy (either adhesive or cohesive) can be much smaller in magnitude when compared to the total work of fracture measured using mechanical tests (i.e., peel test, pull-off test, etc.). Despite the large difference in magnitude, there exists evidence in the literature supporting the use of the bond energy to characterize the resistance of composite systems to cohesive and/or adhesive failures. If the bond energy is to be recognized as a useful screening tool by the paving industry, the relationship between the bond energy and total work of fracture needs to be understood and verified. The effect of different types of modifications (addition of polymers, addition of anti-strip agents, and aging) on the surface free energy components of various asphalt binders was explored in order to understand how changes in the surface free energy components are related to the performance of the asphalt mixtures. After the asphalt binder-aggregate combination was explored, the next step was to study how the surface free energy of water was affected by contact with the asphalt binder-aggregate interface. Aggregates, which have a pH of greater than seven, will cause the pH of water that contacts them to increase. A change in the pH of the contacting water could indicate a change in its overall surface free energy, which might subsequently increase or decrease the water's moisture damage potential. With surface free energy fully explored, the total work of fracture was measured using pull-off tests for asphalt binder-aggregate combinations with known surface free energy components. In order to fully explore the relationship between bond energy and total work of fracture, temperature, loading rate, specimen geometry, and moisture content were varied in the experiments. The results of this work found that modifications made to the asphalt binder can have significant positive or negative effects on its surface free energy components and bond energy. Moreover, the results from the pull-off tests demonstrated that a relationship exists between bond energy (from surface free energy) and total work of fracture (from pull-off tests), and that surface free energy can be used to estimate the performance of asphalt binder-aggregate combinations.

Asphalt binder oxidation in pavements has been proven to be an ongoing process throughout a pavement's service life. Understanding the nature of the oxidation process is a critical step toward better pavement design to achieve greater pavement durability. The main component in asphalt binder oxidation in pavements is binder oxidative hardening. As the aromatic compounds in asphalt binders are oxidized, more polar carbonyl compounds are created, which results in stronger associations between asphalt components and eventually leads to an increase in asphalt elastic modulus and viscosity. Consequently, the performance of pavements is affected directly by asphalt binder hardening. Also, low levels of accessible air voids in pavements potentially relate to binder oxidation according to a recent research study. When the pavements have sufficiently high accessible air voids (4 percent or greater), the oxidation rate is largely determined by the temperature in the pavement. On the other hand, when the percentage of accessible air voids in the pavement is considerably lower (2 percent or less), the hardening rate of binders in pavements is reduced significantly. Field evidence is mounting that asphalt binder oxidization in pavements produces a binder that is more susceptible to thermal and fatigue cracking. While the fundamentals of this oxidation process are fairly well known, predicting quantitatively the rate of oxidation as a function of depth in the pavement, is not straightforward. A thermal and oxygen transport model, coupled with binder reaction kinetics, provides the basis for such calculations. A one-dimensional thermal transport model, coupled with site-specific model parameters and recent improvements in the availability of required input climate data, enables calculation of pavement temperatures throughout the year, which then is used in an asphalt binder oxidation and transport model to calculate binder properties in the pavement over time. Calculated binder property changes with depth and time are compared to measurements of binder oxidation in the field. The work in this study is aimed at understanding the oxidation kinetics of asphalt binders in pavements, determining the impact of accessible air void levels on asphalt hardening, and ultimately developing an improved model of asphalt binder oxidation in pavements.