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Asphalt pavements experience damage due to traffic loading under various environmental conditions. Damage can be caused by viscopl microcracks, fracture due to fatigue cracking, or fracture due to thermal cracking. Asphalt pavements have the capability to remedi s damage depending on binder surface and rheological properties, filler surface properties, and length of rest periods. Asphalt mastic (asphalt and fine aggregates) properties play an important role in controlling damage and healing. This dissertation development of a comprehensive methodology to characterize damage and healing in asphalt mastics and mixtures. The methodology reli ctive imaging techniques (X-ray CT), principles of continuum damage mechanics, and principles of micromechanics. The X-ray CT yield meter that quantifies the percentage of cracks and air voids in a specimen. The continuum damage model parameters are derived from p between applied stress and pseudo strain. The micromechanics model relates the damaged mastic modulus to a reference undamaged mo ationship is a function of internal structure properties (void size, film thickness, and percentage of voids), binder modulus, aggr and bond energy between binder and aggregates. The internal structure parameters are all obtained using X-ray CT and correlated. The developed methodology was used to characterize damage in asphalt mastic and mixture specimens tested using the Dynamic Mechanic A) and dynamic creep test. The damage parameter measured using X-ray CT correlated very well with the predictions of the continuum ics models. All damage parameters were able to reflect the accumulation of damage under cyclic loading and were also able to captur of moisture conditioning on damage. Although this dissertation focused on fatigue cracking at room temperatures, the methodology d used to assess damage due to different mechanisms such as permanent deformation and low temperature cracking.

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Asphalt composites are used to construct 90% of roads in the United States. These composites consist of asphalt binder, which is a product of the refinery process of oil, aggregates, and air voids. Fatigue cracking is one of the most important distresses that causes damage in asphalt pavements. However, there is still a gap in the understanding of the fatigue process of asphalt composites, such as the influence of material properties on this phenomenon and how the material microstructure changes as a result of fatigue damage. This study focuses on the results of two experiments that were performed on asphalt composites to better understand phenomena related to fatigue cracking: nano-mechanical characterization of the properties of the asphalt composite material and X-ray Computed Tomography nondestructive imaging of damage in the microstructure. These experimental measurements were performed on specimens that are first damaged in the Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer (DMA). The DMA is a tool commonly used for the characterization of fatigue cracking. This test method applies cyclic loads on asphalt composites, damaging them, and in the process determines the viscoelastic properties of the composite throughout the test. The nano-mechanical characterization experiment gives valuable results of the elastic modulus and hardness of the aggregate, binder, and the aggregate-binder interface that can be used to characterize different binder and aggregate combinations. The nanoindentation experiment successfully measured interface properties in the mix. The interface has elastic modulus and hardness values greater than the binder but smaller than the aggregate. This demonstrates that an interaction between these two phases creates a dissimilar phase between the two. The second experiment using X-ray CT gives measurements that are indicative of the influences of fatigue damage on micro-level changes in the material microstructure. The results of this experiment revealed important changes regarding the nature of fatigue damage and its relationship to changes in the geometry of air voids and cracks in asphalt composites. The X-ray CT experiment measured size and shape parameters of air voids at 20 microns/pixel resolution at different damage levels. These results illustrated that reduction in bonding strength in the binder is involved in failure in the mix and thus fatigue cracking is not solely responsible for failure. This conclusion is made based on the results not showing a statistically significant change in air void shape and size parameters with increased damage. This is illustrated by viewing changes in the air void structure within the mix, there is no evidence of crack propagation, or drastic changes in the shape, size, or volume of air voids within the mix.

Porosity is a fundamental characteristic of rock critical to its mechanical and hydrologic behavior, yet a study of the open and accumulated healed porosity of nine core samples from Newberry Volcano shows that different measurement methods produce significantly different estimates of pore volume and structure. This study compares traditional 2D point count, petrographic image analysis, and 3D x-ray Micro Computed Tomography (micro CT) measurement of porosity primarily derived from fracture slip and dilation. The set of measurements quantifies the discrepancy among measurement methods and provides a basis for assessing how this uncertainty depends on geologic factors including the stage of fracture development, and the size and connectivity of the pores. This comparison reveals that detailed petrographic mapping provides the most accurate characterization of fracture porosity, and its history of development, owing to its high spatial resolution and accuracy of phase identification as well as insights afforded from mineralogic and textural relationships. However, this analysis lacks the three-dimensional characterization necessary to determine pore shape and interconnectedness, especially in highly anisotropic and heterogeneous fracture porosity. Micro CT does characterize the three dimensionality of pores, and thus although it consistently underestimates porosity due to non-uniqueness of phase densities and limitations in resolution, and is difficult to post process, this method can usefully augment the petrographic analysis. High resolution mapping of petrographic thin sections also provides a means to characterize the roughness of fracture surfaces across multiple cycles of slip, related dilation, and healing. Analysis of 19 slip events on a small, early stage fracture experiencing less than mm-scale slip, indicates that this roughness is preserved across multiple slip events and is consistently associated with dilation recorded by the accumulation of layers of precipitated cement. Initially, characteristic length scales intrinsic to rock such as the primary grain and pore size distribution of the > 0.2 mm size fraction significantly influence the roughness of fractures, until the dominant mechanism of fracture growth becomes linkage among macroscopic fractures. This correlation among primary rock characteristics such as grain size, fracture roughness, repeated fracture slip, and dilation provides a potential method to assess the key attributes promoting dilatant, self-propping fracture slip necessary for successful stimulation to generate an Enhanced Geothermal System. Comparison to more developed fractures characterized by the development of fault rock suggest such stimulation is most successful for fractures sustaining small slip of a few millimeters or less during single slip events. / Geology

<p>X-ray micro-CT is widely used for small animal imaging in preclinical studies of cardiopulmonary disease, but further development is needed to improve spatial resolution, temporal resolution, and material contrast. This study presents a set of tools that achieve these improvements. These tools include the mathematical formulation and computational implementation of algorithms for calibration, image reconstruction, and image analysis with our custom micro-CT system. These tools are tested in simulations and in experiments with live animals. With these tools, it is possible to visualize the distribution of a contrast agent throughout the body of a mouse as it changes over time, and produce 5-dimensional images (3 spatial dimensions + time + energy) of the cardiac cycle.</p> / Dissertation

Field compaction of asphalt mixtures is an important process that influences performance of asphalt pavements; however there is very little effort devoted to evaluate the influence of compaction on the uniformity and properties of asphalt mixtures. The first part of this study evaluated relationships between different field compaction patterns and the uniformity of air void distribution in asphalt pavements. A number of projects with different asphalt mixture types were compacted, and cores were taken at different locations from these projects. The X-ray Computed Tomography (X-ray CT) system was used to capture the air void distributions in these cores. The analysis results have revealed that the uniformity of air void distribution is highly related to the compaction pattern and the sequence of different compaction equipment. More importantly, the efficiency of compaction (reducing air voids) at a point was found to be a function of the location of this point with respect to the compaction roller width. The results in this study supported the development of the "Compaction Index (CI)," which quantifies the degree of field compaction. The CI is a function of the number of passes at a point and the position of the point with respect to the compaction roller width. This index was found to correlate reasonably well with percent air voids in the pavement. The CI calculated from field compaction was also related to the slope of the compaction curve obtained from the Superpave gyratory compactor. This relationship offers the opportunity to predict field compactability based on laboratory measurements. The compaction of longitudinal joints was investigated, and recommendations were put forward to improve joint compaction. The air void distributions in gyratory specimens were related to the mixture mechanical properties measured using the Overlay and Hamburg tests. The second part of this study focused on studying the relationship between air void distribution and moisture diffusion. A laboratory test protocol was developed to measure the diffusion coefficient of asphalt mixtures. This important property has not measured before. The results revealed that the air void phase within the asphalt mixtures controls the rate of moisture diffusion. The measured diffusion coefficients correlated well with the percent and size of connected air voids. The measured diffusion coefficient is a necessary parameter in modeling moisture transport and predicting moisture damage in asphalt mixtures. The last part of this study investigated the resistance of asphalt mixtures with different percent air voids to moisture damage by using experimental methods and a fracture mechanics approach that accounts for fundamental material properties.

The infiltration of water in asphalt pavements promotes moisture damage primarily through damaging the binder cohesive bond and the adhesive bond between aggregates and binder. Moisture damage is associated with excessive deflection, cracking, and rutting. The first step in addressing the problems caused by the presence of water within pavement systems is quantifying the permeability of hot mix asphalt (HMA) mixes. This dissertation deals with the development of empirical-analytical and numerical approaches for predicting the permeability of HMA. Both approaches rely on the analysis of air void distribution within the HMA microstructure. The empirical-analytical approach relies on the development of modified forms of the Kozeny-Carman equation and determining the material properties involved in this equation through three dimensional microstructure analyses of X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) images. These properties include connected percent air voids (effective porosity), tortuosity, and air void specific surface area. A database of materials and permeability measurements was used to verify the developed predicting equation. The numerical approach, which is the main focus of this study, includes the development of a finite difference numerical simulation model to simulate the steady incompressible fluid flow in HMA. The model uses the non-staggered system that utilizes only one cell to solve for all governing equations, and it is applicable for cell Reynolds number (Rec) values that are not restricted by |Rec|&#8804;2. The validity of the numerical model is verified through comparisons with closed-form solutions for idealized microstructure. The numerical model was used to find the components of the three-dimensional (3-D) permeability tensor and permeability anisotropy values for different types of HMA mixes. It was found that the principal permeability directions values are almost in the horizontal and vertical directions with the maximum permeability being in the horizontal direction.

Studies show that the microstructure of the fine aggregate matrix has a significant influence on the mechanical properties and evolution of damage in an asphalt mixture. However, very little work has been done to quantitatively characterize the microstructure of the asphalt binder within the fine aggregate matrix of asphalt mixtures. The first objective of this study was to quantitatively characterize the three dimensional microstructure of the asphalt binder within the fine aggregate matrix (FAM) of an asphalt mixture and compare the influence of binder content, coarse aggregate gradation, and fine aggregate gradation on this microstructure. Studies indicate that gradation of the fine aggregate has the most influence of the degree of anisotropy whereas gradation of the coarse aggregate has the most influence on the direction anisotropy of the asphalt mastic within the fine aggregate matrix. Addition of asphalt binder or adjustments to the fine aggregate gradation also resulted in a more uniform distribution of the asphalt mastic within the fine aggregate matrix. The second objective of this study was to compare the internal microstructure of the mortar within a full-scale asphalt mixture to the internal microstructure of the FAM specimen and also conduct a limited evaluation of the influence of mixture properties and methods of compaction on the engineering properties of the FAM specimens. Fatigue cracking is a significant form of pavement distress in flexible pavements. The properties of the sand-asphalt mortars or FAM can be used to characterize the evolution of fatigue crack growth and self-healing in full-scale asphalt mixtures. The results from this study, although limited in number, indicate that in most cases the SGC (Superpave Gyratory Compactor) compacted FAM specimen had a microstructure that most closely resembled the microstructure of the mortar within a full-scale asphalt mixture. Another finding from this study was that, at a given level of damage, the healing characteristic of the three different types of FAM mixes evaluated was not significantly different. This indicates that the healing rate is mostly dictated by the type of binder and not significantly influenced by the gradation or binder content, as long as the volumetric distribution of the mastic was the same. / text

Recent advances in pressure coring techniques, such as the HYACINTH and IODP PCS pressure cores deployed during Expedition 1 of the India National Gas Hydrate Program using the JOIDES Resolution have enabled the recovery of fine grained sediments with intact gas hydrates contained within the sediments. This has provided the opportunity to study the morphology of gas hydrates within fine grained sediments which until now has been hindered due to the long transit times during core recovery leading to the dissociation of the gas hydrates. Once recovered from the seafloor, rapid depressurization and subsequent freezing of the cores in liquid nitrogen has enabled the near complete fine fracture filling nature of the gas hydrates to be largely preserved. High resolution X-ray CT (computer tomography), which has a pixel resolution of approx. 0.07mm, has been used to provide detailed images showing the 3-dimensional distribution of hydrates within the recovered fine grained sediments. Results have shown that in fine grained sediments gas hydrates grow along fine fracture faults within the sediment. Although the fractures were predominantly sub-vertical and continuous through the cores, stranded fractures were also observed suggesting that hydrate formation is episodic. However, within the cores open voids were observed which were not evident in low resolution CT images taken before the depressurization step suggesting that during depressurization either finely disseminated gas hydrate was dissociated or that gas exsolving from solution created these voids in the sample prior to freezing in liquid nitrogen. These detailed observations of gas hydrate in fine grained sediments will help us understand the differing morphology of gas hydrates in sediments. They also show that sample disturbance is still a major concern and further techniques are required to restrict these effects so that meaningful laboratory tests can be undertaken on recovered samples.