The dual nature of asphalt binder necessitates improvements to mitigate rutting and fatigue since it performs as an elastic material under the regime of rapid loading or cold temperatures and as a viscous fluid at elevated temperatures. The present investigation assesses the effectiveness of Nano Alumina (NA), Nano Silica (NS), and Nano Titanium Dioxide (NT) at weight percentages of 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8% in asphalt cement to enhance both asphalt binder and mixture performance. Binder evaluations include tests for consistency, thermal susceptibility, aging, and workability, while mixture assessments focus on Marshall properties, moisture susceptibility, resilient modulus, permanent deformation, and fatigue characteristics. NS notably improves binder viscosity by about 138% and reduces penetration by approximately 40.8% at 8% nanomaterial (NM) content, significantly boosting hardness and consistency. NS also enhances Marshall stability and decreases air voids, increasing the mix’s durability. For moisture resistance, NS at 8% NM content elevates the Tensile Strength Ratio (TSR) to 91.0%, substantially surpassing the 80% standard. Similarly, NA and NT also show improved TSR values at 8% NM content, with 88.0% and 84.1%, respectively. Additionally, NS, NA, and NT reduce permanent deformation by 82%, 69%, and 64% at 10,000 cycles at 8% NM content, illustrating their effectiveness in mitigating pavement distress. Notably, while higher NM content generally results in better performance across most tests, the optimal NM content for fatigue resistance is 4% for NS and 6% for both NA and NT, reflecting their peak performance against various types of pavement distresses. These results highlight the significant advantages of nanoparticles in improving asphalt’s mechanical properties, workability, stability, and durability. The study recommends further field validation to confirm these laboratory findings and ensure that enhancements translate into tangible improvements in real-world pavement performance and longevity.
In the current study, haemoglobin analytes dissolved in a special buffer (KH2PO4(1M), K2HPO4(1M)) with pH of 7.4 were used to record absorption spectra measurements with a range of concentrations from (10-8 to 10-9) M and an absorption peak of 440nm using Broadband Cavity Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy (BBCEAS) which is considered a simple, low cost, and robust setup. The principle work of this technique depends on the multiple reflections between the light source, which is represented by the Light Emitting Diode 3 W, and the detector, which is represented by the Avantes spectrophotomer. The optical cavity includes two high reflectivity ≥99% dielectric mirrors (dia
... Show MoreThis study explores the role of nanomaterials in the performance of asphalt binders and mixtures. Two commonly available nanomaterials, i.e., nanosilica (NS) and nanoalumina (NA), were used at contents of 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% by weight of asphalt binder. A set of experiments was carried out at the binder level to investigate properties such as penetration, softening point, aging-related mass loss, nanomaterial dispersion (storage stability), and workability (rotational viscosity). In addition, the suitability of NS and NS was also assessed through the testing of nanomodified asphalt mixtures, which focused on Marshall properties, the resilient modulus, moisture susceptibility, permanent deformation, and fatigue resistance. The findings in
... Show MoreRecently, increasing material prices coupled with more acute environmental awareness and the implementation of regulation has driven a strong movement toward the adoption of sustainable construction technology. In the pavement industry, using low temperature asphalt mixes and recycled concrete aggregate are viewed as effective engineering solutions to address the challenges posed by climate change and sustainable development. However, to date, no research has investigated these two factors simultaneously for pavement material. This paper reports on initial work which attempts to address this shortcoming. At first, a novel treatment method is used to improve the quality of recycled concrete coarse aggregates. Thereafter, the treated recycled
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Asphalt Hot Mix (HMA) is mainly applied in highway construction in Iraq because of its economic advantage and easy maintenance. Various factors impact the performance of HMA in the field. It is one of the significant impacts on aggregate gradation. The Universal Specification for Roads and Bridges in Iraq (SCRB) limits the different types of asphalt layers and allows for designed tolerance aggregate gradation. It is quite hard for contractors in the present asphalt industries to achieve the required job mix because of sieves' control problems. This study focuses on the effects on the required specification performance of aggregate deviations by using original and modified asphalt binder with AC(40-50) and
... Show MoreIn this work, 332 Al alloy was prepared and reinforced with (0.5% and 1%) nano-Al2O3 particles. The prepared unreinforced and reinforced 332 Al alloy with nano-Al2O3 were solution heat treated (T6) at 510 ̊C and aged at 225 ̊C with different times (1, 3, and 5 h). Hardness test was performed on all the prepared alloys. All prepared alloys were dry slided under different applied loads (5, 10, 15, and 20 N) against steel counterface surface using pin on disk apparatus. The results showed that refinement effect was observed after addition of nano-Al2O3 particles and a change in silicon morphology after performing the solution heat treatment. The results also showed that har
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Strengthening of the existing structures is an important task that civil engineers continuously face. Compression members, especially columns, being the most important members of any structure, are the most important members to strengthen if the need ever arise. The method of strengthening compression members by direct wrapping by Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) was adopted in this research. Since the concrete material is a heterogeneous and complex in behavior, thus, the behavior of the confined compression members subjected to uniaxial stress is investigated by finite element (FE) models created using Abaqus CAE 2017 software.
The aim of this research is to study experime
... Show MoreStrengthening of the existing structures is an important task that civil engineers continuously face. Compression members, especially columns, being the most important members of any structure, are the most important members to strengthen if the need ever arise. The method of strengthening compression members by direct wrapping by Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) was adopted in this research. Since the concrete material is a heterogeneous and complex in behavior, thus, the behavior of the confined compression members subjected to uniaxial stress is investigated by finite element (FE) models created using Abaqus CAE 2017 software. The aim of this research is to study experimentally and numerically, the beha
... Show MoreEpoxy (EP) – Silica (SiO2) composites are well known composites used in microelectronic industry . So it is important to study their dielectric behavior under different conditions such as
the presence carbon black (UV absorber) and immersion in the water for 30 days .
Dielectric properties were calculated over the frequency range 102 – 106 Hz for epoxy composites with different weight % of micrometer 1.5μm SiO2 particles (60%, 65% and 70wt%) modified with 0.5wt% silane coupling agent to improve adhesion between EP and SiO2 phases .