This report focuses on the impacts of traffic generated as a result of the windmill on pavement structures. The wind energy industry is a fast growing sector of the U.S. economy. Lately concerns have been raised over the transportation of heavy windmill components on the pavement infrastructure. This report analyzes the impacts of windmill traffic on two pavement structures in Texas: 1) rural interstate facility, and 2) rural collector roadway facility. Windmill traffic was disaggregated by windmill component and categorized into eight vehicle classes. Two traffic scenarios were developed and a damage ratio for pavement rutting was developed. Based on the rutting damage ratio, results showed that windmill traffic has a significant impact on rural collector facilities when compared against normal truck traffic activity. Meanwhile, impacts on rural interstate facilities were determined to be insignificant when compared to normal truck traffic activity. / text

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (p.282-291).

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (p.283-292).

abstract: The structural design of pavements in both highways and airfields becomes complex when one considers environmental effects and ground water table variation. Environmental effects have been incorporated on the new Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) but little has been done to incorporate environmental effects on airfield design. This work presents a developed code produced from this research study called ZAPRAM, which is a mechanistically based pavement model based upon Limiting Strain Criteria in airfield HMA pavement design procedures. ZAPRAM is capable of pavement and airfield design analyses considering environmental effects. The program has been coded in Visual Basic and implemented in an event-driven, user-friendly educational computer program, which runs in Excel environment. Several studies were conducted in order to insure the validity of the analysis as well as the efficiency of the software. The first study yielded the minimum threshold number of computational points the user should use at a specific depth within the pavement system. The second study was completed to verify the correction factor for the Odemark's transformed thickness equation. Default correction factors were included in the code base on a large comparative study between Odemark's and MLET. A third study was conducted to provide a comparison of flexible airfield pavement design thicknesses derived from three widely accepted design procedures used in practice today: the Asphalt Institute, Shell Oil, and the revised Corps of Engineering rutting failure criteria to calculate the thickness requirements necessary for a range of design input variables. The results of the comparative study showed that there is a significant difference between the pavement thicknesses obtained from the three design procedures, with the greatest deviation found between the Shell Oil approach and the other two criteria. Finally, a comprehensive sensitivity study of environmental site factors and the groundwater table depth upon flexible airfield pavement design and performance was completed. The study used the newly revised USACE failure criteria for subgrade shear deformation. The methodology utilized the same analytical methodology to achieve real time environmental effects upon unbound layer modulus, as that used in the new AASHTO MEPDG. The results of this effort showed, for the first time, the quantitative impact of the significant effects of the climatic conditions at the design site, coupled with the importance of the depth of the groundwater table, on the predicted design thicknesses. Significant cost savings appear to be quite reasonable by utilizing principles of unsaturated soil mechanics into the new airfield pavement design procedure found in program ZAPRAM. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering 2011

This thesis aims to contribute to the growing body of warm mix asphalt (WMA) research by evaluating the differences in behavioral properties of three WMA mixtures, representing the three warm mix technology (WMT) categories (foaming, chemical additives, and organic waxes), relative to a control hot mix asphalt (HMA) in a specific set of conditions which is not well documented in literature. These conditions are: plant produced mixtures with all virgin aggregates and binder (i.e. no recycled materials) and no additives other than the warm mix technology. These mixtures were evaluated at low, intermediate, and high testing temperatures before and after a set of conditioning protocols (CPs), which utilized varying levels of isolated and combined oxidative, moisture, and freeze-thaw damage. A key feature of this thesis is that damage induced by these CPs has been benchmarked relative to measured field aging effects through studies which evaluated the three WMA mixtures and one HMA mixture used to obtain the results presented here, along with additional mixtures not considered in this thesis.

No description available.

No description available.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Civil Engineering / Stefan A. Romanoschi / Permanent deformation (rutting) is the most critical load-associated distress that develops on asphalt pavements significantly affecting their performance. Past research work focused on estimating permanent deformation of asphalt mixes using empirical prediction models or prediction models based on linear elastic material models. In recent years, mechanistic and mechanistic-empirical prediction models have been developed to take into account the behavior of asphalt material (viscoelastic, viscoplastic or elasto-visco-plastic). This research project aims to evaluate existing mechanistic models that predict permanent deformation (rutting) in asphalt mixes by comparing computed permanent deformation to that measured in a full-scale accelerated pavement test. Six pavement sections were constructed in the Civil Infrastructure Systems Laboratory (CISL) of Kansas State University with six different asphalt mixes. The sections were loaded with up to 700,000 load repetitions of a 22,000lb single axle. The transverse profiles at the pavement surface were measured periodically. For material characterization, asphalt mix samples fabricated in the laboratory, were subjected to dynamic modulus (|E*|), static creep - flow time (Ft), dynamic creep - flow number (Fn), triaxial and uniaxial strength tests, repetitive shear at constant height (RSCH) and frequency sweep at constant height (FSCH). The finite element software, Abaqus, was used to simulate and evaluate four permanent deformation prediction models, which are: creep model, elasto-visco-plastic model, viscoelastic model and Drucker-Prager model. The predicted permanent deformation was then compared to permanent deformation measured in CISL for the six of asphalt pavement sections. It was found that, with some improvements, creep and elasto-visco-plastic models could be used to predict permanent deformation in asphalt mixes. The viscoelastic model greatly under-predict permanent deformation, and the Drucker-Prager model with hardening criteria over predicts permanent deformation as compared to values measured in CISL.

As misturas asfálticas do tipo SMA apresentam granulometria descontínua, composta por uma maior fração de agregados graúdos, uma rica massa de ligante/fíler (mastique) e aproximadamente 4% de volume de vazios. Possuem um esqueleto pétreo de alta estabilidade devido ao contato pedra-pedra, que proporciona uma maior resistência à deformação permanente. Geralmente o teor de ligante asfáltico é superior a 6%, formando uma película asfáltica mais espessa. São utilizadas fibras para evitar o escorrimento do ligante durante as etapas de produção e lançamento e, geralmente, são usados asfaltos modificados por polímero. Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo avaliar se o ligante asfalto-borracha possibilita misturas asfálticas SMA capazes de atender aos valores limites de aceitação e, por meio de ensaios de laboratório (resistência à tração, módulo de resiliência, fadiga e deformação permanente em simulador de tráfego), comparar o comportamento de misturas SMA com diferentes tipos de ligante (asfalto convencional CAP 20, modificado por polímero e asfalto-borracha) com um concreto asfáltico convencional de granulometria contínua (Faixa C do DNER). Os resultados obtidos apresentam o comportamento de uma mistura SMA com asfalto-borracha muito mais próximo de misturas SMA produzidas com um ligante modificado por polímero do que com um asfalto convencional. / SMA is a gap-graded asphalt mixture with a large proportion of high quality coarse aggregate, a high content of mastic (binder/filler), and approximately 4% of air voids. The larger proportion of coarse aggregate provides a greater stone-to-stone contact, which results in a mixture more resistant to permanent deformation than the conventional Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA). The asphalt content is typically greater than 6.0 percent, which increases the film thickness. Fibers are used to prevent drainage of the asphalt binder during the HMA production and placement, and polymer-modified asphalt cements are usually used. This research aims to evaluate if an asphalt-rubber binder produces SMA mixtures able to meet the technical requirements. The behavior of SMA mixtures produced with different binders (conventional AC-20, polymermodified, and asphalt-rubber) is analyzed based on laboratory tests (tensile strength, resilient modulus, fatigue, and permanent deformation in a traffic simulator) and compared to the behavior of a conventional dense-graded HMA The results show that the behavior of SMA mixtures produced with asphalt-rubber is much closer to SMA mixtures produced with polymer-modified binder than conventional asphalts.

As misturas asfálticas do tipo SMA apresentam granulometria descontínua, composta por uma maior fração de agregados graúdos, uma rica massa de ligante/fíler (mastique) e aproximadamente 4% de volume de vazios. Possuem um esqueleto pétreo de alta estabilidade devido ao contato pedra-pedra, que proporciona uma maior resistência à deformação permanente. Geralmente o teor de ligante asfáltico é superior a 6%, formando uma película asfáltica mais espessa. São utilizadas fibras para evitar o escorrimento do ligante durante as etapas de produção e lançamento e, geralmente, são usados asfaltos modificados por polímero. Esta pesquisa tem por objetivo avaliar se o ligante asfalto-borracha possibilita misturas asfálticas SMA capazes de atender aos valores limites de aceitação e, por meio de ensaios de laboratório (resistência à tração, módulo de resiliência, fadiga e deformação permanente em simulador de tráfego), comparar o comportamento de misturas SMA com diferentes tipos de ligante (asfalto convencional CAP 20, modificado por polímero e asfalto-borracha) com um concreto asfáltico convencional de granulometria contínua (Faixa C do DNER). Os resultados obtidos apresentam o comportamento de uma mistura SMA com asfalto-borracha muito mais próximo de misturas SMA produzidas com um ligante modificado por polímero do que com um asfalto convencional. / SMA is a gap-graded asphalt mixture with a large proportion of high quality coarse aggregate, a high content of mastic (binder/filler), and approximately 4% of air voids. The larger proportion of coarse aggregate provides a greater stone-to-stone contact, which results in a mixture more resistant to permanent deformation than the conventional Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA). The asphalt content is typically greater than 6.0 percent, which increases the film thickness. Fibers are used to prevent drainage of the asphalt binder during the HMA production and placement, and polymer-modified asphalt cements are usually used. This research aims to evaluate if an asphalt-rubber binder produces SMA mixtures able to meet the technical requirements. The behavior of SMA mixtures produced with different binders (conventional AC-20, polymermodified, and asphalt-rubber) is analyzed based on laboratory tests (tensile strength, resilient modulus, fatigue, and permanent deformation in a traffic simulator) and compared to the behavior of a conventional dense-graded HMA The results show that the behavior of SMA mixtures produced with asphalt-rubber is much closer to SMA mixtures produced with polymer-modified binder than conventional asphalts.