Introducing realistic tire–pavement contact stresses into Pavement Analysis using Nonlinear Damage Approach (PANDA)

Realistic tire–pavement interface contact areas and stresses were incorporated into the Pavement Analysis using Nonlinear Damage Approach (PANDA) user interface (PUI). PANDA is a software library developed to simulate the complex thermo-viscoelastic–viscoplastic–viscodamage responses of the pavement to mechanical and environmental loads. The PUI is an interface generating a finite element representation of the pavement within PANDA. The application of realistic tire loading is necessary to calculate accurate pavement responses. The PUI incorporates a database of tire contact areas and stresses obtained from tire finite element simulations. The database includes tire interface characteristics with pavements for various applied loads, tire inflation pressures, vehicle speeds and scenarios of different rolling simulations. A parametric study was conducted to investigate the effect of simulations of tire contact stresses that match field measurements on viscoelastic and viscoplastic pavement responses. Pavement responses are greatly affected using realistic tire loading contact stresses and contact geometry as compared to simplified contact models. The impact on rutting and damage predictions cannot be ignored if reliable projections of pavement performance are to be made. This study confirms the importance of considering realistic three-dimensional contact stresses to design and analyse pavements.     

Development of degradation model for urban asphalt pavement

There is a lack of a profound understanding of urban pavement deterioration pattern. This is due to the complexity of traffic conditions and the variety of pavement structures in urban roads. The lack of a suitable deterioration model for the urban pavements limits the possibility of making any scientific and cost-effective repair and maintenance strategy. There is a need for a better understanding of the long-term behaviour of urban pavements by which predictive pavement condition models can be derived and consequently a suitable maintenance management system can be built. In response to this need, a comprehensive field study was performed in three Iranian cosmopolitan cities. Pervasive pavement damages were defined and an urban pavement condition index was established. A deterioration model was developed by monitoring and analysing the conditions of road pavements in a period of four years. This model varies as the structural and loading conditions of the pavement change. The efficiency and practicability of the model in predicting the conditions of the pavements were illustrated.     

Local calibration of rigid pavement performance models using resampling methods

The performance prediction models in the Pavement-ME design software are nationally calibrated using in-service pavement material properties, pavement structure, climate and truck loadings, and performance data obtained from the Long-Term Pavement Performance programme. The nationally calibrated models may not perform well if the inputs and performance data used to calibrate those do not represent the local design and construction practices. Therefore, before implementing the new M-E design procedure, each state highway agency (SHA) should evaluate how well the nationally calibrated performance models predict the measured field performance. The local calibrations of the Pavement-ME performance models are recommended to improve the performance prediction capabilities to reflect the unique conditions and design practices. During the local calibration process, the traditional calibration techniques (split sampling) may not necessarily provide adequate results when limited number of pavement sections are available. Consequently, there is a need to employ statistical and resampling methodologies that are more efficient and robust for model calibrations given the data related challenges encountered by SHAs. The main objectives of the paper are to demonstrate the local calibration of rigid pavement performance models and compare the calibration results based on different resampling techniques. The bootstrap is a non-parametric and robust resampling technique for estimating standard errors and confidence intervals of a statistic. The main advantage of bootstrapping is that model parameters estimation is possible without making distribution assumptions. This paper presents the use of bootstrapping and jackknifing to locally calibrate the transverse cracking and IRI performance models for newly constructed and rehabilitated rigid pavements. The results of the calibration show that the standard error of estimate and bias are lower compared to the traditional sampling methods. In addition, the validation statistics are similar to that of the locally calibrated model, especially for the IRI model, which indicates robustness of the local model coefficients.     

Bonded concrete overlay of asphalt mechanical-empirical design procedure

Bonded concrete overlays of asphalt pavements (BCOAs) are becoming a common rehabilitation technique used for distressed hot mix asphalt (HMA) roadways. The original design procedures were based primarily on data from instrumented pavements and finite element modelling. They were governed by the assumption that the failure mechanism was a function of the overlay thickness. However, field observations have indicated that the actual failure modes are dictated by slab size. The newly developed Bonded Concrete Overlay of Asphalt Mechanistic-Empirical design procedure (BCOA-ME) presented here is valid for overlays that are between 2.5 and 6.5 in (64–154 mm), and includes five primary enhancements to the Portland Cement Association and Colorado Department of Transportation procedures that have been traditionally used: 1.) the failure mode is dictated by the joint spacing; 2.) a new structural model for longitudinal cracking for 6-ft × 6-ft (1.8 m × 1.8 m) concrete overlays has been developed to better predict the critical stresses; 3.) the stress adjustment factors have been calibrated with performance data; 4.) the equivalent temperature gradients used as design input are defined based on the pavement structure and geographical location of the project; and 5.) the effect of temperature change on underlying HMA stiffness is considered. Finally, validation studies were completed on the new procedure and comparisons made between the revised procedure and actual performance data for five separate projects showed reasonable results. A sensitivity analysis also revealed that the predicted thickness obtained using the revised procedure was sensitive to HMA thickness, the modulus of rupture of the Portland cement concrete, and the level of traffic, as would be expected.     

Effects of parallelogram-shaped pavement markings on vehicle speed and safety of pedestrian crosswalks on urban roads in China

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of parallelogram-shaped pavement markings on vehicle speed and crashes in the vicinity of urban pedestrian crosswalks. The research team measured speed data at twelve sites, and crash data at eleven sites. Observational cross-sectional studies were conducted to identify if the effects of parallelogram-shaped pavement markings on vehicle speeds and speed violations were statistically significant. The results showed that parallelogram-shaped pavement markings significantly reduced vehicle speeds and speed violations in the vicinity of pedestrian crosswalks. More specifically, the speed reduction effects varied from 1.89 km/h to 4.41 km/h with an average of 3.79 km/h. The reduction in the 85th percentile speed varied from 0.81 km/h to 5.34 km/h with an average of 4.19 km/h. Odds ratios (OR) showed that the parallelogram-shaped pavement markings had effects of a 7.1% reduction in the mean speed and a 6.9% reduction in the 85th percentile speed at the pedestrian crosswalks. The reduction of proportion of drivers exceeding the speed limit varied from 8.64% to 14.15% with an average of 11.03%. The results of the crash data analysis suggested that the use of parallelogram-shaped pavement markings reduced both the frequency and severity of crashes at pedestrian crosswalks. The parallelogram-shaped pavement markings had a significant effect on reducing the vehicle–pedestrian crashes. Two crash prediction models were developed for vehicle–pedestrian crashes and rear-end crashes. According to the crash models, the presence of parallelogram-shaped pavement markings reduced vehicle–pedestrian crashes at pedestrian crosswalks by 24.87% with a 95% confidence interval of [10.06–30.78%]. However, the model results also showed that the presence of parallelogram-shaped pavement markings increased rear-end crashes at pedestrian crosswalks by 5.4% with a 95% confidence interval of [0–11.2%].     

钢渣沥青混凝土技术及其应用研究进展

钢渣常被当成工业废弃物处置,但其碱性强、棱角丰富,兼具有优异的力学特性,可以改善沥青混凝土的抗水损害、抗高温变形以及耐磨和抗滑等性能,被认为是可替代天然矿质集料的理想筑路材料。近年来道路建设对集料用量的高需求与天然集料短缺之间的矛盾越来越突出,钢渣沥青混凝土技术因而成为备受关注的热点。概述了钢渣的材料特性以及钢渣沥青混凝土的设计与性能,介绍了钢渣沥青混凝土的实际应用情况,研究了钢渣沥青混凝土长期应用后的路面性能变化,最后对钢渣沥青混凝土未来的发展趋势进行了展望。     

基于表面理论的温拌SBS改性沥青-集料体系的粘附性

采用躺滴法检测了掺加1.5%、3%的Sasobit和0.5%、1%的Evotherm 3G制备得到的温拌SBS改性沥青与蒸馏水、甘油和甲酰胺3种液体的接触角;基于表面自由能理论,对比了温拌SBS改性沥青在无水条件下的表面自由能和粘聚功以及在有水条件下的剥落功;同时,考察了温拌SBS改性沥青和石灰岩质集料的粘附功和配伍率。结果表明:采用躺滴法可以准确检测温拌SBS改性沥青与常用检测液体的接触角;以粘聚功、粘附功、剥落功、配伍率作为评价指标可用于表征温拌SBS改性沥青-集料体系的粘附性;温拌SBS改性沥青的表面自由能及其分量、粘聚功、配伍率随着Sasobit掺量的增大而减小,但随着Evotherm温拌剂掺量的增加而增大;水的参与降低了温拌剂对SBS改性沥青-集料体系粘附性影响的差异;Evotherm温拌剂有助于改善温拌SBS改性沥青的水敏感性,Sasobit温拌剂增加了温拌SBS改性沥青的水敏感性。     

低影响开发(LID)透水砖铺装系统的研究进展

透水砖铺装系统是现阶段我国海绵城市建设中重要的透水铺装系统技术之一。为了充分认识该领域已有的应用和研究成果,开展更深入的透水铺装系统技术探索和应用研究,对透水砖铺装系统的国内外应用和研究现状进行了分析总结。简述了透水铺装材料的分类和特点,分析了国内外应用情况,分别对混凝土透水砖、陶瓷透水砖、砂基透水砖的国内外研究现状进行了评述。最后指出现阶段研究存在的问题,并提出了建议和展望。     

Experimental investigation on preparation and performance of clear asphalt

Abstract

Coloured micro-surfacing technology has become increasingly popular in pavement construction because of its economic benefit and ability to accept traffic quickly. The main goal of this study was to produce a clear asphalt with superior performance that can be easily emulsified. Two types of resin that are easy to emulsify and one kind of extract oil were used to synthesise the clear asphalt. The clear asphalt was mixed with a styrene butadiene styrene (SBS) modifier at different proportions using a mechanical agitator. The physical properties of the samples were determined via conventional bitumen tests and the optimum formula was obtained by changing the mixture ratio through orthogonal experimentation. The thin-film oven test evaluated the ageing property of the clear asphalt. The surface energy components corresponding to the advancing process and the receding process were determined using the Wilhelmy plate method. The surface free energy (SFE) of the aggregates was measured with a gravimetric sorption analyser. The adhesive bond energies between asphalt samples and aggregates were calculated using their SFE components to evaluate their properties of fracture and healing. Results show that depending on the amount and type of resin added, different synthetic clear asphalts can be obtained. Further, the clear asphalt mixed with SBS is capable of synthesising better properties at high or low temperature. The clear asphalt with aggregates had fracture and healing properties similar to common base asphalt.     

超声作用下刚性壁面附近的双气泡脉动

在实际应用时,空化泡可能位于刚性壁附近。对刚性壁附近的空化泡脉动进行研究有利于更好地利用声空化。文章研究了刚性壁附近双气泡的动力学规律。研究结果表明,当两气泡与刚性壁距离相同时,气泡与壁之间的距离越大,刚性壁对辐射声波的反射越小,气泡脉动时能够达到的最大半径与最小半径的比值(即压缩比)也越大。若改变单个气泡与刚性壁的距离,则当两个气泡距离接近时,位置固定的气泡压缩比会减小。增大单个气泡的平衡半径,会使得两气泡脉动时的压缩比变小。此外,文章还对两气泡间距固定情况下,气泡压缩比与两气泡中心连线和壁面所成夹角之间的关系进行了讨论。