Improving the ability of asphalt pavement to survive the heavily repeated axle loads and weathering challenges in Iraq has been the subject of research for many years. The critical need for such data in the design and construction of more durable flexible pavement in bridge deck material is paramount. One of new possible steps is the epoxy asphalt concrete, which is classified as a superior asphalt concrete in roads and greatly imparts the level of design and construction. This paper describes a study on 40-50 penetration graded asphalt cement mixed with epoxy to produce asphalt concrete mixtures. The tests carried out are the Marshall properties, permanent deformation, flexural fatigue cracking and moisture damage. Epoxy asphalt mixes performed better on resistance to fatigue and permanent deformation. They also performed significantly better on low-temperature properties and resistance to moisture damage. The addition of 30 percent of epoxy (by weight of asphalt cement) resulted in increase of Marshall stability by 39.8 percent, improve the tensile strength ratio by 22.9 percent, lowering both the rate of permanent deformation by 26.8 percent and the fatigue accumulation coefficient by 53.5 percent, in comparison with control HMA. Based on the above findings, it is recommended to use epoxy asphalt mixes as an optimal material for paving bridges deck in Iraq since it showed good prospects for this application due to the valuable performance and durability improvement.
EP/ metal composites were prepared as adhesives between two steel rods. Epoxy resin (EP) was used as a matrix with metal as fillers (Al, Cu, Fe,).
The preparation method for tensile adhesion tests includes two steel rods with adhesive composites between the rods to measure adhesion strength Sad and adhesion toughness Gad.
Results of tensile adhesion tests show that EP/ metals composite have maximum strength Sad for certain weight percentage of metals 2.95 and 9MPa at 10% for EP/Al and EP/Cu composite and 8.2MPa at 40% for EP/Fe composites
The steel jetty selected for strengthening is in Baghdad city, over Tigris River, consists of 55 short spans, each of approximately 4 meters and one naviga-tional opening of 12 m. The bridge is 224 meters length and 8 meters in width. The strengthening system was designed to remove overstresses that occurred when the bridge was subjected to abnormal loads of 380 tons. A strengthening system which installed in spring 2008 was used where the main concept is to depend on added side supporting elements which impose reversal forces on the bridge to counteract most of the loads expected from the abnormal heavy loads. The bridge was load tested before and after the strengthening system was activated. The load test results indicate that the strengt
... Show MoreAbsorption properties (Attenuation coefficient, the percentage of the reflection, and the percentage of absorption) in x-band have been investigated in this paper for novolac – alumina- graphite mixture. Using novolac as the host material, the samples are prepared with alumina concentrations (5%,10%,15%,20%) and graphite concentrations (5%,10%) with thickness equal to 2.2mm .Network analyzer produced by HP-8510 was used in this work to measure the attenuation coefficient. The samples (3, 5) have good attenuation of wave with bandwidth of frequencies. The maximum of attenuation is -25dB at frequency 10.28GHZ in sample (3) which has concentrations (80%novolac,10%alumina,and 5% graphite) and -24 dB at frequency 10.56GHZ in sample (5) whic
... Show MoreThe silicon carbide/carbon fiber (SiC/CF) hybrid fillers were introduced to improve the electrical and thermal conductivities of the epoxy resin composites. Results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that the peaks at 3532 and 2850 cm−1 relate to carboxylic acid O–H stretching and aldehyde C–H stretching appearing deeper with an increased volume fraction of SiC. Scanning electron microscopic image shows a better interface bonding between the fiber and the matrix when the volume fraction of SiC particles are increased. As frequency increases from 102 Hz to 106 Hz, dielectric constants decrease slightly. Dissipation factor (tan δ) values keep low a
... Show MoreOne of the major problems facing the road construction engineer is the collapsible granular soil which may be used for embankment construction. Problems appears when such compacted soil come in touch with water, it exhibits cracking and uncontrolled settlement. Collapsible soils are defined as any unsaturated soil that goes through a radical rearrangement of practice and great loss of volume upon wetting, with or without additional loading. An attempt has been made in this investigation to stabilize the collapsible soil of Nasiriya with asphalt emulsion. Specimens of pure and asphalt emulsion stabilized soil have been prepared using optimum fluid content and tested. The first group of specimens of (60x60x20) cm have been tested for direct s
... Show MoreThe performance of the pavement in terms of vehicle safety and tire wear is affected by the friction behavior of the pavement. To highlight the main characteristics that affect the production of better friction resistance of the pavement surface in this work. The micro-texture and macro-texture of the asphalt surface of Baghdad Airport highway were studied using two methods: (sand patch method and the British pendulum test). The sand patch was examined by drawing sand grains of a specific volume, while the micro-texture was analyzed using a BPT under dry and wet surface conditions. All data obtained from the two examinations were analyzed and modelled statistically using SPSS 25 software. Results show that skid resistance of pavemen
... Show MoreModified asphalt is considered one of the alternatives to address the problems of deficiencies in traditional asphalt concrete, as modified asphalt addresses many of the issues that appear on the pavement layers in asphalt concrete, resulting from heavy traffic and vehicles loaded with loads that exceed the design loads and the large fluctuations in the daily and seasonal temperatures of asphalt concrete. The current study examined the role of polyphosphoric acid (PPA) as a modified material for virgin asphalt when it was added in different proportions (1%, 2%, 3%, 4%) of the asphalt weight. The experimental program includes the volumetric characteristics associated with the Marshall test, the physical properties, and th
... Show More