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Technological Innovations for Stabilization and Rehabilitation in Pavement Engineering

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Civil Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 24870

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Dr. José Neves

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CERIS, Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Georesources, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Avenida Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: road and airfield infrastructure systems; pavement design and analysis; pavement materials; pavement construction and maintenance technologies; pavement management and performance; sustainability; safety; transportation geotechnics; testing and evaluation; quality management systems; intelligent transportation systems
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Prof Dr. Tatsuya Ishikawa

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Laboratory of Analytical Geomechanics, Division of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Kita13, Nishi8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8628, Hokkaido, Japan
Interests: transportation geotechnics; geotechnical disaster prevention in cold regions
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Regarding the global challenges the world is facing today, applied research and development of new technologies promoting more sustainable development have increased significantly in general. The innovation in products and processes can contribute to the sustainability of civil engineering and, in particular, pavement engineering.

Pavements are layered structures composed by different types of materials. Asphalt and concrete pavements are designed to withstand vehicle traffic and environmental conditions over a certain period. Millions of kilometers of paved roads and airfields worldwide require maintenance along life cycle. Pavements maintenance has significant environmental and socio-economical impacts such as energy and non-renewable resources consumptions, and carbon emissions. Emerging and cutting-edge materials and techniques for stabilization, reinforcement, and rehabilitation are under continuous development. Some examples are: new generation of binders for stabilization of geomaterials and non-conventional materials; special geosynthetics for reinforcement of layers and interlayers; novel eco-friendly, high-performance, and cost-effectiveness materials; smart materials and techniques; nanotechnologies. These technological innovations not also provide more resistant, resilient and long life pavements but also protect the environment, enhance safety, and reduce maintenance costs.

This Special Issue of Applied Sciences is dedicated to high quality papers related to research and development in the field of innovative and up-to-date technologies for stabilization, reinforcement and rehabilitation of pavements. Researchers, professionals, and students are invited to submit original research papers, review articles, and case studies.

Prof. Dr. José Neves
Prof Dr. Tatsuya Ishikawa
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Pavement engineering
Roads and airfields
Asphalt pavements
Concrete pavements
Reinforcement
Rehabilitation
Stabilization
Non-conventional materials
Geosynthetics
Self-healing materials
Nanotechnology
Sustainable development
Environment

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 5624 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Local Stiffness Assessment of Geogrid-Stabilized Unbound Aggregates in a Large-Scale Testbed

by Mingu Kang, Han Wang, Issam I. A. Qamhia, Erol Tutumluer and Jeb S. Tingle

Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(1), 352; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14010352 - 30 Dec 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1040

Abstract

This paper integrates and extends an earlier article presented at the 20th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. The generation of a stiffened zone in the proximity of a geogrid is one of the primary mechanisms of mechanical stabilization of pavement unbound aggregate layers using geogrids. This paper focuses on the quantification of the stiffened zone through a local stiffness assessment using bender element (BE) sensors. Unbound aggregate base layers were constructed in a large-scale laboratory testbed. Geogrid-stabilized layers had geogrids with different-sized triangular apertures contributing to the geogrid-stiffened zone. Shear wave velocities were measured at three different heights using BE sensors, and the vertical stiffness profiles of the mechanically stabilized aggregate layers were evaluated. In addition, the conversion method between small-strain stiffness and large-strain stiffness was established from the repeated load triaxial tests with BE pairs to transform the vertical stiffness profile into that of the resilient modulus. Furthermore, dynamic cone penetration (DCP) and light-weight deflectometer (LWD) tests were performed at multiple locations into the stabilized and unstabilized unbound aggregates. From the large-scale experimental study, the local stiffness improvement owing to the geogrid enhancement was up to 16.2% in the vicinity of the geogrid location, and the extent of the local stiffened zone evaluated through various test methods was between 15.2 cm (6 in.) and 25.4 cm (10 in.) above the geogrid. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovations for Stabilization and Rehabilitation in Pavement Engineering)

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17 pages, 16784 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mechanical Properties of Slag-Based Geopolymer Grouting Material for Homogenized Micro-Crack Crushing Technology

by Wenjie Li, Bin Liang and Jinchao Yue

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(14), 8353; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13148353 - 19 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1314

Abstract

Homogenized micro-crack crushing can fully retain the bearing capacity of concrete pavement, but local weak road base needs to be reinforced before being directly overlaid with hot-mixed asphalt. Therefore, indoor tests were conducted to study the mechanical properties of slag-based geopolymer as a grouting material for weak road base, and the morphology and influence of polymerization reactants were observed. Concurrently, on-site grouting tests were conducted to study the grouting effect. The results show that the compressive strength, flexural strength and bonding strength of slag-based geopolymer all increase with age. The maximum compressive strength and flexural strength of the geopolymer at 28 d were 18.88 MPa and 6.50 MPa, respectively. The maximum flexural bonding strength at 14 d was 4.58 MPa. As the ratio between water and slag powder increased, the compressive strength and flexural strength gradually decreased, while the bonding strength first increased and then decreased. In the range of ratios of water to slag powder from 0.26 to 0.28, the above three strengths were relatively high, and the compressive shear bonding strength was the highest when the ratio of water to slag powder was 0.28. The shrinkage of the slag-based geopolymer increases with the increase in ratio of water to slag powder, and the porosity also increases, resulting in a decrease in compactness after consolidation. When the ratio of water to slag powder was 0.28, the reactant was mainly a gel-phase material, and the shrinkage crack of the consolidated geopolymer was relatively small. After grouting the weak road base of the concrete pavement, the voids at the bottom of the concrete pavement slab were effectively filled, and the deflection of the pavement slab was significantly reduced. The average deflections of monitoring line I, monitoring line II and monitoring line III decreased by 49%, 41% and 54%, respectively, after grouting. After solidification, the slag-based geopolymer was distributed in layers, which further compacted the road structure layer and improved the bearing capacity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovations for Stabilization and Rehabilitation in Pavement Engineering)

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12 pages, 4056 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Performance Evaluation of Steel Slag Asphalt Mixtures for Sustainable Road Pavement Rehabilitation

by José Neves and João Crucho

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(9), 5716; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13095716 - 5 May 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2052

Abstract

The demand for more sustainable transport infrastructure has led to a broader acceptance of waste materials in pavements. An excellent example of this trend is the incorporation of steel slag aggregates (SSA) in asphalt mixtures. This work evaluates the mechanical performance of asphalt mixtures that include SSA in their composition. Asphalt mixtures were evaluated through laboratory tests for affinity between binder and aggregate, Marshall and volumetric properties, stiffness, resistance to fatigue, permanent deformation, and water sensitivity. Two rates of SSA incorporation—20% and 35%—were considered. In general, results indicated that incorporating SSA has not impaired the behavior of the asphalt mixtures. In some cases, the presence of SSA has improved mechanical performance. It was the case of the resistance to permanent deformation, stability, flow, and water sensitivity. This work confirms the suitability of the SSA application in asphalt mixtures beyond the benefit of promoting industrial waste in pavement engineering. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovations for Stabilization and Rehabilitation in Pavement Engineering)

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17 pages, 5513 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Numerical Study on the Crack Propagation of Homogenized Micro-Crack Crushing for Concrete Pavement

by Wenjie Li, Ying Guo, Bin Liang and Jinchao Yue

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(14), 7114; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12147114 - 14 Jul 2022

Viewed by 1447

Abstract

Homogenized micro-crack crushing is a new method of concrete pavement rehabilitation that makes full use of the bearing capacity of the original concrete pavement, whereby the treated pavement can be directly overlaid with hot mixed asphalt concrete. In order to solve the problem of longitudinal crack extension of a cracked core in the weak position of local pavement, the crack propagation mode of concrete slabs under low-velocity impact from different numbers and distributions of impact heads was studied using numerical simulation. Moreover, field tests were also carried out to determine the optimal layout of drop hammer impact heads, and the numerical simulation results were compared with the experimental data. The results show that, when a concrete slab is impacted by a single impact head, the bottom of the slab first cracks and then the crack develops upward until the main crack runs through the concrete slab. However, when the concrete slab is impacted by multiple-impact heads, including three or four impact heads, the concrete slab forms a triangular or quadrilateral fracture core, respectively. The numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the laboratory experiments. Through the optimized arrangement of the hammer’s impact heads, the problem of longitudinal crack extension of a cracked core can be effectively solved, and the probability of reflection cracks can be reduced. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovations for Stabilization and Rehabilitation in Pavement Engineering)

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23 pages, 5337 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Modeling Wicking Fabric Inhibition Effect on Frost Heave

by Yuwei Wu, Tatsuya Ishikawa, Kimio Maruyama, Chigusa Ueno, Tomohisa Yasuoka and Sho Okuda

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(9), 4357; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12094357 - 25 Apr 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2101

Abstract

The deterioration of roads in cold regions can result in unsafe driving conditions and high maintenance costs. Frost heaving is regarded as one of the main reasons for road degradation. Generally, frost heave is caused by water migrating from the unfrozen zone to the freezing front, where it is then transformed into an ice lens. Frost heave can be reduced by removing frost-susceptible soil, raising the temperature, or removing water from the soil. Among these methods, the most economical and practical approach is to reduce the water content. Recently, an innovative geotextile known as wicking fabric (WF) has been used to drain water from unsaturated conditions and minimize frost heaving. The objective of this study was to evaluate the inhibition effects of WF on frost heave under different experimental conditions in the freezing process. In this study, a thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) coupled numerical model is proposed to simulate the freezing process of subgrade soil with WF. The evaporation model is used to simply describe the water absorption characteristics of WF. The numerical model was validated by comparing the simulation results with the experimental results of the wicking fabric model (WWF) and the non-wicking fabric model (NWF). Additionally, parametric analysis was conducted to examine the effectiveness of WF in reducing frost heave under various experimental conditions. As a result, the freezing process of soil installed with WF was accurately simulated by the proposed model. WF showed inhibition effects on frost heave under various experimental conditions. The results indicate the following: (1) Compared to Touryo soil (a high frost-susceptible clay-sand soil), WF inhibited frost heave more effectively in Tomakomai soil (a medium frost-susceptible lean clay), while the inhibition effect of WF in Fujinomori soil (a medium frost-susceptible lean clay) was limited. (2) WF has a more significant frost heave inhibition effect at a slower cooling rate in the freezing process. (3) The further the WF is installed from the groundwater level (GWL), the greater its impact on inhibiting frost heave. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovations for Stabilization and Rehabilitation in Pavement Engineering)

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22 pages, 3702 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Eco-Sustainable Stabilization of Clayey Road Subgrades by Lignin Treatment: An Overview and a Comparative Experimental Investigation

by Rosolino Vaiana, Cesare Oliviero Rossi and Giusi Perri

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(24), 11720; https://doi.org/10.3390/app112411720 - 9 Dec 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3540

Abstract

Subgrade conditions significantly affect functionality of the road pavement during its service life. Among the different stabilization techniques for upgrading poorly performing in-situ soil subgrades, an economically attractive example involves the use of waste materials, such as lignin. A deep bibliographic analysis of previous studies is carried out in the first section of this paper. The literature review suggests that use of lignin as a stabilizing agent of road subgrade soils is not completely consolidated. In addition, this study reports an investigation on the strength and performance characteristics of a lignin-treated clayey soil. Several experimental tests were carried out on both the untreated and lignin-treated soils in order to shed some light on different aspects with limited knowledge available, such as the behaviour of the stabilised soil in specific conditions (e.g., the presence of water). Finally, the test results are discussed and compared with those obtained when the same soil is treated with lime, which is more widely used. The most relevant finding is the poor ability of lignin to upgrade the bearing capacity of the soil in wet conditions compared to lime; on the contrary, the presence of lignin helped in controlling the swelling potential of this type of soil. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovations for Stabilization and Rehabilitation in Pavement Engineering)

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12 pages, 5263 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Performance Evaluation of Bedding Sand and Load Transfer Characteristic of Concrete Block Pavements

by Wuguang Lin, Yu Dong, YooSeok Jung, Hua Zheng and Yoon-ho Cho

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(21), 10111; https://doi.org/10.3390/app112110111 - 28 Oct 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3851

Abstract

Concrete block pavement is used as a modern pavement type owing to its economic benefits. The physical properties, mechanical properties, and functional characteristics of bedding sand and joint sand, the main components of concrete block pavements, should be accurately understood. Owing to the discontinuous structure of these pavements, load transfer efficiency (LTE) is the most important index from the perspective of performance. The factors that affect LTE are bedding sand (type, grading, and thickness), joint sand (type and grading), and concrete block (shape and pattern). Therefore, the optimal design for concrete block pavements can be achieved by analyzing each factor. In this study, three types of sand (river, quartz, and manufactured) were selected to examine the mechanical properties via direct transfer experiments. It was observed that the shear strength of river sand was the highest. It was also found that the difference between the shear strength and the internal friction angle (according to the content of 0.6 mm in the grading of bedding sand) was not large, and the shear strength and the friction angle increased as the content increased to 0.075 mm. In addition, the load transfer characteristics of the joint and rotational interlocking of the block were evaluated through a non-destructive test using the degree of joint filling, block shape, and construction pattern as variables. As a result, the degree of joint filling had the greatest effect on the load transfer characteristics of the joint and rotational interlocking of the block. The effect of the block shape was larger than that of the construction pattern. When a heavy load is applied, the LTE between blocks must be maintained at 50% or more, and the rotation of blocks at 0.6° or less, if 75% or more of the joint must be filled for preventing excessive vertical deformation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovations for Stabilization and Rehabilitation in Pavement Engineering)

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11 pages, 1246 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Nano Hydrotalcite on the Aging Resistance of a High Binder Content Stone Mastic Asphalt

by João Crucho and José Neves

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(21), 9971; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11219971 - 25 Oct 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1535

Abstract

Hydrotalcite, a type of layered double hydroxide (LDH), reveals an interesting potential for the modification of bitumen. The LDH can induce a barrier effect that prevents the loss of volatiles, retards oxidation, and protects against ultraviolet radiation. Such properties can enhance the aging resistance of the bitumen. However, there is a gap in knowledge regarding the effects of the modification with hydrotalcite in the properties of the asphalt mixture. To contribute to fill such a gap, the current study presents a characterization of the effects of the modification with nano hydrotalcite in the surface characteristics, mechanical performance, and aging resistance of an asphalt mixture. To better explore the effects of the modification, the selected asphalt mixture was a high binder content (7.5%) Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA). The experimental study indicates that the binder-rich SMA presented adequate performance for application in surface courses. If compared to conventional mixtures, the binder-rich SMA presented better initial mechanical performance (unaged conditions). Furthermore, it presented smaller variation in the parameters between unaged and aged conditions, indicating enhanced aging resistance. The modification with nano hydrotalcite induced smaller evolution in the fatigue resistance parameters, indicating enhanced aging resistance; however, in the remaining tests, the trends were not clear. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovations for Stabilization and Rehabilitation in Pavement Engineering)

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22 pages, 7313 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluating the Early-Age Crack Induction in Advanced Reinforced Concrete Pavement Using Partial Surface Saw-Cuts

by Muhammad Kashif, Ahsan Naseem, Nouman Iqbal, Pieter De Winne and Hans De Backer

Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(4), 1659; https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041659 - 12 Feb 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2895

Abstract

The technological innovation of continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) that contains a significantly reduced amount of reinforcement and the same fundamental behavior as CRCP is called advanced reinforced concrete pavement (ARCP). This new concept of a rigid pavement structure is developed to eliminate unnecessary continuous longitudinal steel bars of CRCP by using partial length steel bars at predetermined crack locations. In Belgium, partial surface saw-cuts are used as the most effective crack induction method to eliminate the randomness in early-age crack patterns by inducing cracks at the predetermined locations of CRCP. The reinforcement layout of ARCP is designed based on the distribution of steel stress in continuous longitudinal steel bar in CRCP and the effectiveness of partial surface saw-cuts as a crack induction method. The 3D finite element (FE) model is developed to evaluate the behavior of ARCP with partial surface saw-cuts. The early-age crack characteristics in terms of crack initiation and crack propagation obtained from the FE simulation are validated with the field observations of cracking characteristics of the CRCP sections in Belgium. The finding indicates that there is fundamentally no difference in the steel stress distribution in the partial length steel bar of ARCP and continuous steel bar of CRCP. Moreover, ARCP exhibits the same cracking characteristics as CRCP even with a significantly reduced amount of continuous reinforcement. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovations for Stabilization and Rehabilitation in Pavement Engineering)

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16 pages, 2541 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Mechanical Properties of Fiber-Reinforced Soil under Triaxial Compression and Parameter Determination Based on the Duncan-Chang Model

by Yingying Zhao, Xianzhang Ling, Weigong Gong, Peng Li, Guoyu Li and Lina Wang

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(24), 9043; https://doi.org/10.3390/app10249043 - 17 Dec 2020

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 3198

Abstract

To study the mechanical properties of Y-shaped polypropylene fiber-reinforced subgrade fill, the strength characteristics of fiber-reinforced soil with different fiber contents, fiber lengths, and confining pressures were investigated through triaxial compression tests. The test results showed that fiber reinforcement significantly improved the strength and cohesion of the subgrade fill but had a limited impact on the internal friction angle. The fiber-reinforced soil specimens exhibited a failure pattern of bulging deformation, showing plastic failure characteristics. As the fiber content and length increased, the strength of the fiber-reinforced soil increased and then decreased. The optimal fiber content was 0.2%, and the optimal fiber length was between 12 and 18 mm in all test conditions. The strength of the fiber-reinforced soil increased with increasing confining pressure. An empirical model for predicting the failure strength of fiber-reinforced soil was established by analyzing the relationships between the failure strength of the fiber-reinforced soil and the fiber content, fiber length, and confining pressure. The stress-strain relationship of the fiber-reinforced soil exhibited strain-hardening characteristics and could be approximated by a hyperbolic curve. The Duncan-Chang model could be used to describe the stress-strain relationship of this fiber-reinforced soil. A calculation method to determine the model parameters (initial tangent modulus and ultimate deviator stress) was proposed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Technological Innovations for Stabilization and Rehabilitation in Pavement Engineering)

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