The role of thermodynamics and kinetics in rubber–bitumen systems: a theoretical overview

Waste tire rubber has been incorporated into asphalt modification for decades due to its various benefits. There are two main mechanisms during bitumen–rubber interaction: rubber swelling and chemical degradation. This study surveys these two processes from the viewpoint of polymer science. The kinetics of rubber dissolution and...

Reinforcement Learning in Railway Timetable Rescheduling

Real-time railway traffic management is important for the daily operations of railway systems. It predicts and resolves operational conflicts caused by events like excessive passenger boardings/alightings. Traditional optimization methods for this problem are restricted by the size of the problem instances. Therefore, this paper proposes a...

The use of solubility parameters and free energy theory for phase behaviour of polymer-modified bitumen: a review

Advances related to the use of solubility parameters and free energy theory for the phase behaviour study of polymer-modified bitumen (PMB) are reviewed in this paper. The origin and effects of PMB phase behaviour are criticised with a focus on PMB storage stability, morphology and swelling ratio. An overview of the solubility approach for...