Evaluating the performance of asphalt concrete using CT scanning has become an essential area of research due to its potential to revolutionize the way we assess road materials. Traditional methods often require destructive sampling, which can damage infrastructure and offer limited insight into the material's internal structure. In contrast, CT scanning provides a non-destructive, highly detailed analysis of asphalt's internal features, such as air voids, aggregate distribution, and binder coverage, all of which are critical to its durability and performance. Additionally, the ability to create 3D models from CT scans allows for deeper insights into factors like void connectivity and aggregate bonding, which directly affect the lifespan of pavements. By combining CT imaging with advanced data processing techniques, such as deep learning, this research offers more accurate and reliable methods for optimizing asphalt mix designs, ultimately leading to longer-lasting roads, reduced maintenance costs, and more sustainable construction practices.

In the contemporary era, 3D printing technology has become widely utilized across diverse fields, including biomedicine, industrial design, manufacturing, food processing, aerospace, and construction engineering. The inherent advantages of automation, precision, and speed associated with 3D printing have progressively led to its incorporation into road engineering. Asphalt, a temperature-responsive material that softens at high temperatures and solidifies as it cools, presents distinctive challenges and opportunities in this context. For the effective implementation of 3D printing technology in road engineering, 3D printed asphalt (3DPA) must exhibit favorable performance and printability. This requires attributes such as good fluidity, extrudability, and buildability. Furthermore, materials utilizing 3DPA for crack repair should possess high viscosity, elasticity, toughness, superior high-temperature stability, and resistance to low-temperature cracking. These characteristics ultimately contribute to enhancing pavement longevity and ensuring worker safety.

PURPOSES : There has been increasing interest in South Korea on warm-mix asphalt (WMA) and cold-mix asphalt (CMA) technologies that allow production of asphalt pavement mixtures at comparatively lower temperatures than those of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) for use in pavement engineering. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of replacing HMA pavement with WMA pavement with the goal of reducing CO2 emissions associated with asphalt production for road construction. METHODS : Changes in the dynamic modulus characteristics of WMA and HMA according to short-term and long-term aging were evaluated. In addition, the effects of water damage were evaluated for short- and long-term aging stages. RESULTS : For WMA, in the process of mixing and short-term aging, early-age dynamic modulus decreased owing to low temperature and reduced short-term aging (STA) time. This could result in early damage to the asphalt pavement depending on the applied traffic load and environmental load. CONCLUSIONS : Mastercurves of the dynamic modulus were used for comparative analysis of WMA and HMA. Compared to the dynamic modulus after STA of HMA, the estimated aging time determined by experiments for WMA to achieve the required stiffness was more than 48 hours, which is equiva-lent to approximately 4 to 5 years real service life when converted. It is considered that further studies are needed for performance optimization to achieve early-age performance of the asphalt mixes.

The asphalt concrete industry, accounting for >90% of road pavement, is a crucial contributor to construction waste. This study focuses on the recycling of asphalt concrete recycled aggregates, which currently exhibits a low rate. We investigated the application of these aggregates, combined with hardener and mixing water, in the development of ecofriendly road base materials using circular aggregates. Results revealed that the 13-mm asphalt concrete recycled aggregates met all quality standards. However, the 25-mm aggregates did not conform to the reclaimed asphalt content standard; however, they met other quality standards. Moreover, the experimental results for the hardener and mixing water indicated compliance with all quality standards.

Asphalt concrete(Ascon) is used to repair potholes and cracks. Special truck-mounted cargo boxes transport 200℃ asphalt concrete to repair potholes and cracks. However, long working and transportation hours to repair wide roads decrease the temperature of the asphalt concrete inside the cargo boxes. If the asphalt concrete temperature drops below 170℃, the adhesion with roads that need repair decreases. Therefore, the temperature of the asphalt concrete needs to be maintained for a long time. Conventional asphalt concrete cargo boxes are mostly burner-type models using hot air to prevent the temperature of the asphalt concrete from dropping. However, there are significant temperature differences between the asphalt concrete near and far away from the hot air, so the temperature decreases over time and leads to the disposal of large amounts of asphalt concrete. This causes waste of resources and environmental pollution. Therefore, this study proposed a heat dissipation cut-off type cargo box model to solve this problem and demonstrated its performance over conventional burner-type models through tests and analysis.

PURPOSES : This study aims at evaluating the use of an electromagnetic density gauge (EDG) to measure the in situ density and air-void content of asphalt concrete (AC) pavement. METHODS : In situ AC pavement density and air-void readings were obtained from two sites (Daegu and Ulsan) using an EDG. Calibration of the EDG was conducted by first obtaining density values at three different positions, on each pavement where core samples were extracted afterward. The core samples were then tested to obtain laboratory density and air-void values. The density measured using the EDG was then subtracted from the laboratory values to obtain the offset calibration values, which were then adopted to calibrate the in situ measurements using the EDG. Moreover, to analyze the effect of moisture on the pavement surface, EDG measurements were conducted under dry and wet conditions to compare the in-situ readings. RESULTS : The in-situ density readings of AC tend to be higher in moist/wet conditions. By applying the calibration value to the EDG readings, the density error percentage was reduced from 0.61% to 0.096%, and 0.64% to 0.16% for Daegu and Ulsan sites, respectively. Consequently, the air-void content error percentage was reduced from 12.8% to 1.04%, and from 10.07% to 1.78% for Daegu and Ulsan sites, respectively. CONCLUSIONS : The electromagnetic density gauge (EDG) is an effective tool for the non-destructive measurement of in situ pavement density. By applying offset calibration values, the error in the field readings was reduced, and the accuracy of the EDG measurements was improved.

PURPOSES : The objective of this study is to quantitatively evaluate the visibility of a mixed-color asphalt pavement. METHODS : The visibility was compared and evaluated using a color pavement specimen, i.e., a pigment was added to the asphalt binder, which was used to fabricate a color pavement specimen, with red aggregate as the coarse aggregate, and the resultant difference in visibility was quantitively evaluated. The color asphalt mixture to which the pigment was added was prepared by varying the amount of pigment added — i.e., 3 %, 5 %, and 7 % of the total weight of the mixture — to confirm the change in visibility according to the amount of pigment added. For the color asphalt mixture with color aggregates, red-colored mudstone coarse aggregates(13mm and 10mm) were used. It is assumed that the surface of the produced specimen simulates the initial performance periods and the cut section of the specimen simulates the state of completion of the performance periods. RESULTS : The initial ΔE for the colored pavement exhibited the best visibility of WC-2-R. However, when considering the value of a in the red color pavement, the visibility of SMA13-R and WC-2-R was assessed as best; this is because SMA13-R exhibits a lower color difference than WC-2-R at the beginning of the performance periods but the red color is better. Upon completion of the colored pavement performance periods, the ΔE of each specimen using the SMA13-0C specimen as the reference specimen was high in SMA13-RC and ΔE using the WC-2-0C specimen as the reference specimen was also high in SMA13-RC. In addition, the a value is also higher than that of other mixtures so it is judged that the visibility of SMA13-RC is best when the performance periods are completed. CONCLUSIONS : The a value tended to increase with the increasing amount of pigment added at the beginning of the performance; however, it was found to decrease rapidly as the performance was completed. However, in the case of using SMA13-RC as the colored aggregate, since the color of the aggregate itself is red, it exhibits a constant value of 5.67 from the performance start to completion. Therefore, it is judged that a constant red color can be expressed during the performance period when the colored pavement using red colored aggregate is applied to the exclusive bus lane.

PURPOSES : This study aims to determine the type (e.g., melting point, freezing point, latent heat fusion) and optimal content of phase change material (PCM) based on the numerical and experimental analyses evaluating the effects of heat transfer in PCM-modified asphalt pavement systems. METHODS : The effect of PCM on the thermophysical properties of PCM-modified asphalt concrete can be taken as an effective volumetric heat capacity. The volumetric fraction of PCM was calculated using an iterative method. The numerical model was established and computed using the MATLAB 2020 software. The optimum PCM design tool was developed to select the type and contents of the PCM. The PCM was chosen based on the following criteria: black-ice-formation delay time, minimize temperature increase, and increase temperature area. To validate the numerical model, asphalt mixtures were modified with varying PCM contents, and the temperature response of the PCMmodified asphalt samples was examined via temperature test. RESULTS : The numerical results showed that incorporating PCM into the asphalt mixture can slow the cooling rate of the pavement system. The predicted results from the optimum PCM design tool were highly consistent with the measured values from the laboratory temperature test. CONCLUSIONS : The temperature of PCM-modified asphalt pavement can be predicted via numerical method. The effect of PCM on the thermophysical properties can be considered as effective volumetric heat capacity; while the volume fraction of PCM can be calculated via an iterative method. The accuracy of the numerical model was confirmed by a high agreement between the measured and predicted values.

PURPOSES: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of short-term aging level on the moisture resistance of a dense-graded asphalt mixture by measuring its deformation strength ratio (SDR). METHODS : Three short-term aging (STA) durations (1, 2, and 4 h) at two different temperatures (160℃ and 180℃) were used for the normal dense-graded hot-mix asphalt (HMA) mixtures prepared using PG 64-22 asphalt and 13mm aggregate with and without hydrated lime (HL). The specimens were prepared using a gyratory compactor, after each STA, to achieve a WC-1 gradation as defined by the Korean guide. The SDR was measured after freezing-and-thawing (F-T) conditioning, and submerging the specimen into water at 60℃ for 72 h. RESULTS: The results indicated that the moisture resistance decreased with the increase in STA duration. After STA at 160℃ and 180℃, the SDR values, measured after F-T treatment, or after submerging into 60℃ water for 72 h, decreased with the increase in STA duration. However, when HL was used in the same asphalt mixtures, the SDR improved, for identical STA conditions. Therefore, the moisture resistance of the asphalt mixture was affected by the short-term aging duration, and decreased with the increase in aging duration. However, HL effectively retarded aging, and the moisture resistance, as indicated by the SDR, improved in the HL-added mixes, which had aged lesser than the normal mixes. CONCLUSIONS : It was concluded that the moisture resistance of the asphalt mixture decreased with the increase in aging level, and hydrated lime was effective in preventing the degradation of the moisture resistance by reducing the age-hardening of the binder. However, since this study used a limited range of materials, further studies using more materials are required to reach a more generalized conclusion.

PURPOSES: This study evaluated the effect of fog seal treatment utilizing an agricultural oil-based asphalt concrete sealant (ABCS) on the long-term performance of an asphalt pavement. METHODS: Fog seal treatment using ABCS was applied on 800 m of the pavement section in the test section with a total length of 2,400 m; the remaining pavement section was not considered for this treatment. A series of laboratory and field tests were conducted on both sections, including a Marshall stability test, penetration test, viscosity test, skid resistance test, and pavement surface macrotexture test. In addition, the pavement condition index (PCI) was determined 8 years after the ABCS application to evaluate the effect of the ABCS treatment on the pavement’s long-term performance. RESULTS : The ABCS-treated section exhibited a PCI of 75, whereas the non-treated section exhibited a value of 64. Furthermore, a MicroPAVERTM‚ pavement management system determined that the pavement deterioration rates (i.e., drops in PCI) were 3.6 and 5.1 per year for the ABCS-treated and non-treated sections, respectively. CONCLUSIONS : The results of the series of laboratory and field tests revealed that the ABCS treatment increased the pavement performance life by approximately 3.5 years.