Sustainable and resilient pavement infrastructure is critical for current economic and environmental challenges. In the past 10 years, the pavement infrastructure strongly supports the rapid development of the global social economy. New theories, new methods, new technologies and new materials related to pavement engineering are emerging. Deterioration of pavement infrastructure is a typical multi-physics problem. Because of actual coupled behaviors of traffic and environmental conditions, predictions of pavement service life become more and more complicated and require a deep knowledge of pavement material analysis. In order to summarize the current and determine the future research of pavement engineering, Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering (English Edition) has launched a review paper on the topic of “New innovations in pavement materials and engineering: A review on pavement engineering research 2021”. Based on the joint-effort of 43 scholars from 24 well-known universities in highway engineering, this review paper systematically analyzes the research status and future development direction of 5 major fields of pavement engineering in the world. The content includes asphalt binder performance and modeling, mixture performance and modeling of pavement materials, multi-scale mechanics, green and sustainable pavement, and intelligent pavement. Overall, this review paper is able to provide references and insights for researchers and engineers in the field of pavement engineering.

Rubberized asphaltic materials have been frequently combined with warm-mix asphalt technologies to tackle the issues of high energy consumptions and emissions during construction. Effective and accurate characterization of binder properties is conducive to the improvement of long-term pavement performance. The current study aims to quantify the effects of rubber content and warm-mix additives on rutting and thermal cracking performance of crumb rubber-modified bitumen (CRMB), and explore the rubber and additives modification mechanisms and their impacts on the binder performance. CRMBs containing different rubber contents and warm-mix additives after long-term aging were subject to multiple stress creep and recovery (MSCR) tests and low-temperature frequency sweep tests using a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) with 4-mm loading plate to investigate the high- and low-temperature performance, respectively. Rheological tests were also conducted on the bitumen and rubber phases of CRMB to understand the rubber modification mechanism. Results show that CRMB binders have superior rutting and thermal cracking resistance due to rubber modification. The improvement of high- or low-temperature performance is more prominent at higher rubber concentrations. The effects of warm-mix additives on the rutting and thermal cracking performance are different. Generally, the wax-based additive improves the rutting resistance but negatively affects the low-temperature performance. In contrast, the chemical-based additive has an opposite effect except for the high-temperature performance of neat bitumen. The stiffening of the bitumen phase and the contribution of swollen rubber particles in the bitumen matrix together contribute to the peculiar viscoelastic response of CRMB, i.e., stiffer/softer and more elastic at high/low temperatures. This modification mechanism explains the superior rutting and thermal cracking performance of CRMB.

Porous asphalt (PA) pavements are widely employed in areas with wet climates. As particle enhancement inclusions in asphalt mastic, mineral fillers play essential roles in improving the performance of PA pavements. This study developed a coupled multiscale finite element (FE) model, involving the mesostructure of PA mixture and PA pavement. Four types of mastic properties were employed with four mineral fillers (Granodiorite, Limestone, Dolomite, and Rhyolite) in the mesoscale portion of the pavement model to analyse the effects of filler types on the performance of pavements. The performances (load-bearing capacity, rutting resistance, and ravelling resistance) of pavements with different fillers were identified and ranked, and their correlations with the chemical components of the four fillers were analysed. The computational results showed that pavements with Rhyolite and Granodiorite fillers have higher load-bearing capacities and rutting resistance, while the Limestone and Dolomite fillers can improve the ravelling resistance of the PA pavements. In the correlation analysis, the chemical components Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ play dominant roles in improving the load-bearing capacities and rutting resistance of the PA pavements, and the fillers with high percentages of CaO can improve the ravelling resistance of the PA pavements.

The pore-water pressure generated by intermittent dynamic vehicle loading under various saturation states is recognized as a critical factor influencing the behaviour of permeable pavement structures, especially the behaviour of UGB layer. However, the underlying mechanisms of hydro-mechanical interaction in the UGB layer and the influence on the pavement structure are still unclear. This study aims to characterize the changes in dynamic response in permeable pavement structures under various saturation conditions by considering the hydro-mechanical interaction within the UGB layer. To achieve this objective, a full-scale test track with a PUPM wearing course was constructed. Pressures and water distribution were characterized by embedded sensors within different layers of the test track when subjected to the accelerating pavement test. Based on the coupled SAME model, the water distribution and the dynamic response of UGB in the rainfall events were both characterised and solved by FEM. The results predicted by the proposed SAME model correspond to the field measurements, and the influence of the water content on the resilient modulus distribution within the UGB layer was then estimated. Based on the predictions for the stress state of the UGB layer, the sensitivity analysis was also proposed.

Recently warm mix asphalt (WMA) technologies have been introduced to rubberized asphalt mixtures to decrease the required construction temperatures and to alleviate the hazardous gas emissions. Rubberized asphalt pavements combining with WMA have the potential to improve the long-term pavement performance. This study aims to investigate the fatigue performance of crumb rubber modified bitumen (CRMB) containing warm-mix additives using different characterization methods. The effects of crumb rubber modifier (CRM) content (5%, 10%, 15% and 22% by weight of base bitumen) and warm-mix additives on the binder fatigue performance were investigated. Various laboratory tests, including frequency sweep tests, time sweep (TS) tests and linear amplitude sweep (LAS) tests, were conducted on the long-term aged binders to obtain indicators of fatigue performance. Results show that there is a good correlation between the measured fatigue life determined by TS tests using the dissipated energy concept and the predicted fatigue life determined by LAS tests using the simplified viscoelastic continuum damage (S-VECD) theory. However, the traditional Superpave fatigue parameter and the G-R parameter cannot characterize accurate enough the fatigue performance of modified binders. CRMB binders exhibit superior fatigue performance compared to the neat bitumen. The effects of warm-mix additives on the fatigue performance are different for neat bitumen compared to CRMB binder. Based on the findings in this study, rubberized asphalt mixture combining with WMA additives is expected to have a promising long-term fatigue performance.

Self-healing of asphalt concrete (AC) is highly dependent on temperature, and its healing capacity increases with elevated temperatures. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of microwave heating on promotion of self-healing in AC. With this purpose, two types of AC specimens (neat AC without additives and conductive AC containing steel fiber and graphite) were prepared to for use in thermal conductivity, microwave heating speed tests, four-point bending fatigue, and healing tests. In addition, oscillatory frequency sweep tests were carried out to obtain the flow behavior of asphalt binder. Results indicated that AC containing electrically conductive additives had a higher thermal conductivity and microwave heating speed than neat AC. It was also found that the fatigue resistance and healing capacity of conductive AC after microwave heating were higher than that of neat AC. Moreover, there exists a critical temperature (corresponding to near-Newtonian behavior temperature of asphalt binder) above which healing of AC starts and an optimum heating time (temperature) to maximize the healing effect. Finally, it was found that an intermittent heating mode with a cooling process is more effective than the consecutive heating mode to enhance the healing capacity of AC. Based on these findings, it is concluded that self-healing efficiency of AC can be enhanced via microwave heating.

Permeable pavements have been widely used as an effective means to improve hydrological characteristics and the ecology of the urban environment. This study aims to investigate the response of fully permeable pavement (FPP) subjected to dynamic loading under dry and saturated conditions. A full-scale test track topped with polyurethane bound permeable material (PUPM) was built to obtain the stress response with an accelerated pavement test (APT) system. In addition, comprehensive analyses were performed based on the coupled Stress-dependent Moisture-sensitive Cross-anisotropic Elastoplastic (SMAEP) model in FEM. The APT test showed that the worst state was observed when the pavement structure was fully saturated, and that and brittle failure of the pavement surface occurred when the critical load level was achieved. The prediction of vertical stress predicted by Stress-dependent Cross-anisotropic Elastic (SAE) and SMAEP were both validated with the field data. The horizontal stress predicted by SAE gave a very high and unreasonable tensile stress prediction at the bottom of the unbounded granular base (UGB) layer when subjected to the high load level. With the consideration of moisture effect and the plastic properties of the material, the prediction made by SMAEP is effective to estimate the dynamic response of the UGB layer. Based on the sensitivity analysis, the optimized designs for FPP based on PUPM were suggested.

Pyrolytic carbon black (CB _p ) from scrap tire pyrolysis is a potential modifier for the bitumen industry. Binders containing different contents of CB _p were prepared and experimentally investigated to examine the effects of CB _p on the electrical and thermal conductivity, conventional physical properties, rheological properties, high-temperature antirutting performance, aging resistance, and storage stability. Laboratory test results indicated that the incorporation of CB _p effectively improves the electrothermal properties, rheological properties, high-temperature rutting resistance, and aging resistance. It also increases the viscosity and decreases the storage stability of bitumen. The study confirms that CB _p -modified bitumen with proper selection of content can be a multifunctional paving material.