Term of Award

Spring 2021

Degree Name

Master of Science, Civil Engineering

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Department of Civil Engineering and Construction

Committee Chair

Xiaoming Yang

Committee Member 1

Junan Shen

Committee Member 2

Roger Purcell

Abstract

Anyone who has ever attempted to remove a layer of ice from a roadway or sidewalk by plowing or shoveling knows it is no easy task when the ice is firmly bonded to the asphalt/concrete surface. Winter anti-icing/deicing operations are moral choices that mankind has made to combat winter storms. This research is aimed at evaluating the macro and nano structural impacts of (anti-icing/de-icing) salt on aged and unaged asphalt binders. The macro structural impacts focused on the rheological and creep properties, and the nano structural impacts focused on the surface topography, adhesion force, and modulus of asphalt binders. Rheological properties of asphalt binders such as rutting resistance and fatigue resistance, creep properties at low temperature (stiffness and m-value), and micro properties using nanotechnology were evaluated using different testing techniques. The impacts of blended salts on the performance properties of asphalt binders for 7 and 28 days at different blend ratios of CaCl2 and a fixed dose of NaCl were compared to the unsoaked control specimens. The result of the test revealed that the rutting resistance performance of original and RTFO residual binders increased slightly regardless of soaking duration. The fatigue resistance slightly increased after been soaked in brine of 23% NaCl and decreased with the addition of CaCl2. The soaking of all the asphalt binders in blended salt resulted in a slight improvement of the low-temperature (stiffness and m-value) performance properties. The nano properties such as adhesion force and Young’s modulus of the asphalt binders decreased after soaking in brines.

OCLC Number

1258245274

Research Data and Supplementary Material

Yes

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