A Simultaneous System Model to Estimate Temperature of Pavement Layers: Development and Validation

Many roads in hot regions of the world are exposed to very high temperatures especially in desert areas during the summer season, where the temperature could reach more than sixty Celsius degrees. Temperature variations cause a lot of distress in flexible and rigid pavement such as rutting, vertical transverse (i.e., thermal) cracking, thermal fatigue damage, blowup/buckling, in addition to generating warping stresses. Accurate detection of the surface temperature of flexible pavement is very important for pavement design analysis. This research presents a new model to estimate the temperature of flexible pavement layers under extremely high temperatures as a set of simultaneous equations. The proposed model included Clear-Sky as sub-model to estimate the solar energy of beam and diffuse radiation of the pavement surface. Ambient temperature was calculated by solving the model depending on the time of the day. The proposed model was validated via experimental data collected from one-year measurements at instrumented pavement section in New Sohag, Egypt. The asphalt surface temperatures were measured for summer, winter solstices and vernal and autumnal equinoxes. It was found that the model provides reasonable estimates compared to the experimental data. The proposed model is deemed appropriate for estimating pavement layers temperature in hot regions

The Impact of Cement Kiln Dust and Cement on Cold Mix Asphalt Characteristics at Different Climate

Cold bitumen emulsion mixtures (CBEMs) are made up of the same materials that are used in hot mixes. However, asphalt emulsion and water are used in such mixes. To date, many countries are still not using these mixes as a structure layer. This can be attributed mainly to their low resistance to rainfall, long curing time and low early strength. The addition of cementitious filler to CBEMs as a clean paving material is a potential technique to achieve superior mechanical qualities. The aim of this research is to compare improved CBEMs that might be used as a wearing surface to hot mix asphalt (HMA). These improvements were carried out through the use of a combination of cement and limestone, or a combination of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and cement kiln dust (CKD). CBEMs were prepared according to Egyptian and British gradations using different percentages of ordinary Portland cement (OPC), CKD, and limestone. This may offer a new cold bitumen emulsion mixture to be used as a structural pavement layer in such countries. The main tests performed for the assessment of the mixes in this research are indirect tensile stiffness modulus, fatigue resistance, and resistance to rutting at different temperatures (20 °C, 45 °C, and 60 °C). The results show that adding OPC to CBEMs enhanced the results in terms of ITSM, rutting and fatigue resistance. However, significant improvements were made by binary filler made of CKD and OPC to the said mechanical properties in terms of both UK and Egyptian gradations. The ITSM values for both CBEMUK6 and CBEMEg6, which contain 80% OPC + 20% CKD, improved by around 8 and 9 times in comparison to CBEMUK1 and CBEMEg1, which contain 20% OPC + 80% L.S, respectively

Evaluation of performance measures for rural two-lane roads in Egypt

This paper presents an empirical evaluation of the relationship between operational performance and platooning phenomenon in rural two-lane roads in Egypt. Seven performance measures and three platooning variables were defined and calculated for eight study sites using traffic data from roads in Minoufiya governorate, Egypt. Using graphical and statistical analyses, the associations between the performance measures and the platooning variables were examined. The results showed that the follower density performance measure was found to have the strongest correlations to platooning variables. Among the platooning variables investigated, traffic flow in the direction of travel has the highest correlations with performance measures. The study demonstrated that the relationship between follower density and traffic flow is better described by a quadratic form. Finally, threshold values for different levels-of-service were proposed. This might help traffic engineers, in Egypt, to evaluate operational performance using criteria that reflect the local conditions of the area under study

Effect of speed hump characteristics on pavement condition

Speed humps are the most common type of traffic calming devices due to their low cost and easy installation. However, in many Egyptian roads, considerable number of these humps is randomly placed without proper engineering studies and justifications. Deterioration of pavement condition is observed near these humps. This paper presents a case study applied to collect and analyze visual inspection data for the reason of evaluating the impact of speed humps on pavement condition on intercity rural roads. The paper used 52 speed humps located in an intercity two-lane, two-way road that connects two cities, Tahta and Gerga, in Upper Egypt. The total length of this road is about 34 km. Pavement condition index (PCI), in road sections, near speed humps in the two directions of travel were calculated from the visual inspection measurements. The characteristics of each speed hump (width, height, and distance from preceding hump) were measured. Using statistical analyses, the correlations between the pavement conditions and hump characteristics were examined. Regression analysis models were developed to represent the relationships between pavement conditions and hump characteristics. Generally, the results proved that the pavement conditions are greatly influenced by the presence of speed humps and hump characteristics

Effect of Nanoclay Particles on the Performance of High-Density Polyethylene-Modified Asphalt Concrete Mixture

Utilizing polymers for asphalt concrete (AC) mixture modification has many drawbacks that hinder its wide implementations for roadway construction. Recently, research on employing complementary materials, such as nanomaterials, to balance negative impacts of polymers while enhancing the AC mixture’s performance has received great attention. This study aimed to investigate the effect of incorporating nanoclay (NC) particles on the performance of a high-density polyethylene (HDPE)-modified AC mixture. A 60/70 asphalt binder was first modified with HDPE, and then NC particles were gradually added at a concentration of 1–4% by weight of the asphalt binder. The binders’ physical characteristics, storage stability, and chemical change were scrutinized. AC mixture performance, including pseudo-stiffness, moisture damage resistance, stripping susceptibility, and rutting tendency, was investigated. A statistical analysis on the experimental results was conducted using Kruskal–Wallis and Dunn tests. Test results showed that employing NC/HDPE significantly increased penetration index and thereby enhanced binder temperature sensitivity. Moreover, it prevented oxidation action and separation and, therefore, enhanced binder storage stability. Furthermore, incorporating NC amplified pseudo-stiffness and significantly improved resistance against moisture damage and stripping of HDPE-modified mixtures. Moreover, it improved both elastic (recoverable) and plastic (unrecoverable) deformations of mixtures. The most satisfactory results were attained when incorporating 3% of NC

Investigating the Potential of High-Density Polyethylene and Nano Clay Asphalt-Modified Binders to Enhance the Rutting Resistance of Asphalt Mixture

This study investigates the potential of two bitumen modifiers, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and nano clay (NC), to enhance the rutting resistance of asphalt mixture. Four HDPE asphalt binders were prepared by mixing the HDPE at percentages of 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% with the virgin binder, while four NC asphalt binders were produced by mixing the NC at percentages of 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%. The consistency and flow of virgin binder, HDPE binders, and NC binders were evaluated by penetration, softening point, and viscosity tests. The results show a gradual increment in the binder stiffness by increasing the percentage of both modifiers. The static creep test was conducted at a temperature of 40 °C to evaluate the rutting resistance. The results confirm that both modifiers can greatly improve the rutting resistance of the asphalt mixture, where 8% HDPE and 3% NC modifications reduce the strains provoked in the asphalt mixture under loading by about 50%. According to the correlation analysis, the mixture rutting performance is highly attributed to the binder stiffness, where the lower the penetration value of the asphalt binder, the lower the strains in the asphalt mixture and the higher the stiffness modulus of the asphalt mixture