• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.85-96
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• 1999

This study was performed to evaluate performance of polymer-modified asphalt mixtures and specially designed reinforcement techniques against reflection cracking of the asphalt pavement overlay. Selected polymers were used for asphalt modification and polyester fiber, a polypropylene film (vinyl) and a grid were used for mixture reinforcement. Using the asphalt mixture with optimum asphalt content, a slab was made and cut into two pieces of specimen. A layer of grid or vinyl was placed at the bottom of specimen to strengthen the pavement layer against crack. A repeated loading was applied to the asphalt mixture specimen which is Placed on a cement concrete with a pseudo-crack. Crack propagation under repeated loading was monitored and effectiveness of the devised crack retarding techniques was evaluated. From the test results. a significant retardation of mode I crack progress was monitored from some of the modified and reinforced asphalt mixtures.

• 한국도로학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.93-102
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• 2008

An energy based crack growth model is developed in this study to simulate the propagation of top-down cracking in asphalt pavements. A viscoelastic fracture mechanics approach, generalized J integral, is employed to model the crack growth of asphalt concrete. Laboratory fatigue crack propagation tests for three different asphalt mixtures are performed at various load levels, frequencies and temperatures. Disk-shaped specimens with a proper loading fixture and crack growth monitoring system are selected for the tests. It is observed from the tests that the crack propagation model based on the generalized J integral is independent of load levels and frequencies, while the traditional Paris' law model based on stress intensity factor is dependent of loading frequencies. However, both models are unable to take care of the temperature dependence of the mixtures. The fatigue crack propagation model proposed in this study has a good agreement between experimental and predicted crack growth lives, which implies that the energy based J integral could be a better parameter to describe fatigue crack propagation of viscoelastic materials such as asphalt mixtures.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.569-585
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• 2014

In this paper, a four-layer road structure consisting of an edge transverse crack is simulated using three-dimensional finite element method in order to capture the influence of a single-axle wheel load on the crack propagation through the asphalt concrete layer. Different positions of the vehicular load relative to the cracked area are considered in the analyses. Linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) is used for investigating the effect of the traffic load on the behavior of a crack propagating within the asphalt concrete. The results obtained show that the crack front experiences all three modes of deformation i.e., mode I, mode II and mode III, and the corresponding stress intensity factors are highly affected by the crack geometry and the vehicle position. The results also show that for many loading situations, the contribution of shear deformation (due to mode II and mode III loading) is considerable.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.167-174
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• 2015

Anionic epoxy compound was synthesized and added to asphalt aiming to prepare self-healing asphalt. Epoxy-modified asphalt showed excellent modification effect and healing effect as well. The results revealed that with 5% addition of polymer the tensile strength, impact strength and complex shear modulus of the polymer-modified asphalt increased by 65%. 64% and 35%, respectively. It seems that high interaction occurs between polymer and asphalt matrix. Self-healing efficiency of the polymer-modified asphalt based on tensile strength showed 100%, comparing to 79% of straight asphalt. In impact experiment the polymer-modified asphalt showed 99% of healing efficiency, comparing to 77% of straight asphalt. In rheological experiment the polymer-modified asphalt showed 103% of healing efficiency, comparing to 72% of straight asphalt. It appears that the ionic bonding existing in epoxy polymers contributed to high values of self-healing efficiency. The polymer which has high intermolecular force fills the crack of the asphalt, pulling the opponent side each other, and so the original properties were restored.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.69-76
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• 2015

PURPOSES : Performance evaluation of four types of asphalt concrete overlays for deteriorated national highways. METHODS : Pavement distress surveys for crack rate and rut depth have been conducted annually using an automated pavement survey vehicle since 2007. Linear and non-linear performance prediction models of the asphalt concrete overlays were developed for 43 sections. The service life of the asphalt overlays was defined as the number of years after which a crack rate of 30% or rut depth of 15mm is observed. RESULTS : The service life of the asphalt overlays was estimated as 17.4 years on an average. In 90.7% of the sections, the service life of the overlays was 15 years or more which is 1.5 times the life of conventional asphalt concrete overlays used in national highways. The performance of the overlays was dependent on the type of asphalt mixture, traffic volume levels, and environmental conditions. CONCLUSIONS : The usage of stone mastic asphalt (SMA) and polymer-modified asphalt (PMA) for the overlays provided good resistance to cracking and rutting development. It is recommended that appropriate asphalt concrete overlays must be applied depending on the type of existing pavement distress.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.541-551
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• 2016

Asphalt pavements are exposed to complex weather conditions and vehicle traffic loads leading to crack initiation and crack propagation in asphalt pavements. This paper presents the impact of weather conditions on fracture toughness of an asphalt concrete, prevalently employed in Ardabil road networks, under tensile (mode I) and shear (mode II) loading. An improved semi-circular bend (SCB) specimen was employed to carry out the fracture experiments. These experiments were performed in two different weather conditions namely fixed and cyclic temperatures. The results showed that consideration of the impact of temperature cycling resulted in decreasing the fracture toughness of asphalt concrete significantly. Furthermore, the fracture toughness was highly affected by loading mode for the both fixed and cyclic temperature conditions studied in this paper. In addition, it was found that the MTS criterion correctly predicts the onset of fracture initiation although this prediction was slightly conservative.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.69-75
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• 2009

Asphalt sealants for the crack repair of asphalt concrete road were prepared using waste lubricant oil in this work. The waste lubricant oil was compounded with asphalt(AP-5), SBS triblock copolymer, a tackifying agent(petroleum resin), and antioxidants. Cone penetration, softening point, ductility, elongation by tensile adhesion, and resilience of asphalt sealant compounds were measured. Cone penetration of asphalt sealant compounds increased with the increase of waste lubricant oil content while their softening point, ductility, and resilience decreased. By the addition of talc as an extender, softening point and resilience of asphalt sealants increased, but cone penetration, ductility, and elongation by tensile adhesion of those decreased with the proportion of talc content. The most economic asphalt sealant which could pass an ASTM specification could be manufactured by the big decrement of petroleum resin content.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.19-28
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• 2016

PURPOSES : Long-life asphalt pavements are used widely in developed countries. In order to be able to devise an effective maintenance strategy for such pavements, in this study, we evaluated the performance of the long-life asphalt pavements constructed along the national highways in South Korea. Further, an economic evaluation of the long-life asphalt pavements was performed based on a life-cycle cost analysis. We aimed to devise a model for evaluating the performance of long-life asphalt pavements using the national highway pavement management system (PMS) database as well as for analyzing the economic feasibility of such pavements, in order to promote their use in South Korea. METHODS : The maintenance history and pavement performance data were obtained from the national highway PMS database. The pavement performances for a total of 292 sections of 10 lanes (5 northbound lanes and 5 eastbound lanes) of national highways were used in this study. Models to predict the performances of hot mix asphalt (HMA) and long-life asphalt pavements under two distinct traffic conditions were developed using a simple regression method. Further, the economic feasibility of long-life asphalt pavements was evaluated using the Korea Pavement Management System (KoPMS). RESULTS : We developed service-life prediction models based on the traffic volume and the equivalent of single-axle load and found that long-life asphalt pavements have service lives 50% longer than those of HMA pavements. Further, the results of the economic analysis showed that long-life asphalt pavements are superior in terms of various economic indexes, including user cost, delay cost, total cost, and user benefits, even though their maintenance cost is higher than that of HMA pavements. A comparison of the economic feasibilities of the various groups showed that group A is superior to HMA pavements in all aspects except in terms of the maintenance criterion (crack 20% or higher) as per the NPV index. However, the long-life asphalt pavements in group B were superior in terms of the maintenance criterion (crack 25% or higher) regardless of the economic feasibility. CONCLUSIONS : The service life of long-life asphalt pavements was found to be approximately 50% longer than that of HMA pavements, regardless of the traffic volume characteristics. The economic feasibility of long-life asphalt pavements was evaluated based on the KoPMS. The results of the economic analysis were the following: long-life asphalt pavements are exceptional in terms of almost all factors, such as user cost, delay cost, total cost, and user benefit; however, the exception is the maintenance cost. Further, the economic feasibility of the long-life asphalt pavements in group B was found to be better than that of the HMA pavements (crack 25% or higher).

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.77-83
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• 2015

PURPOSES : In this study, a fracture-based finite element (FE) model is proposed to evaluate the fracture behavior of fiber-reinforced asphalt (FRA) concrete under various interface conditions. METHODS : A fracture-based FE model was developed to simulate a double-edge notched tension (DENT) test. A cohesive zone model (CZM) and linear viscoelastic model were implemented to model the fracture behavior and viscous behavior of the FRA concrete, respectively. Three models were developed to characterize the behavior of interfacial bonding between the fiber reinforcement and surrounding materials. In the first model, the fracture property of the asphalt concrete was modified to study the effect of fiber reinforcement. In the second model, spring elements were used to simulated the fiber reinforcement. In the third method, bar and spring elements, based on a nonlinear bond-slip model, were used to simulate the fiber reinforcement and interfacial bonding conditions. The performance of the FRA in resisting crack development under various interfacial conditions was evaluated. RESULTS : The elastic modulus of the fibers was not sensitive to the behavior of the FRA in the DENT test before crack initiation. After crack development, the fracture resistance of the FRA was found to have enhanced considerably as the elastic modulus of the fibers increased from 450 MPa to 900 MPa. When the adhesion between the fibers and asphalt concrete was sufficiently high, the fiber reinforcement was effective. It means that the interfacial bonding conditions affect the fracture resistance of the FRA significantly. CONCLUSIONS : The bar/spring element models were more effective in representing the local behavior of the fibers and interfacial bonding than the fracture energy approach. The reinforcement effect is more significant after crack initiation, as the fibers can be pulled out sufficiently. Both the elastic modulus of the fiber reinforcement and the interfacial bonding were significant in controlling crack development in the FRA.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.3 no.1 s.7
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• pp.185-197
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• 2001

This paper dealt with modification of effective crack length model (ECM) by adding Poisson's ratio term to evaluate fracture toughness of asphalt concrete which varies its material property by temperature. The original ECM model was developed for solid materials, such as cement concrete, and Poisson's ratio of materials was not considered. However, since asphalt concrete is sensitive to temperature variation and changes its Poisson's ratio by temperature, it should be taken into consideration to know exact fracture property under various temperatures. Four binders, including 3 polymer-modified asphalt (PMA) binders, were used to make a dense-grade asphalt mixture and 3-point bending test was peformed on notched beam at low temperatures, from -5oC to 35oC. Elastic modulus, flexural strength and fracture toughness were obtained from the test. The results showed that, since Poisson's ratio was considered, the more accurate test values could be obtained using modified ECM equation than original ECM. PMA mixture showed higher stiffness and fracture toughness than normal asphalt mixture under very low temperatures.