Image of the Week - 19 August 2003

Asphalt Mixture Structure and the Fundamental Properties Prediction

Seen here is a two-dimensional image of asphalt concrete used in the study of asphalt pavements. Aggregate (stones) and mastic (asphalt plus fines) proportions and aggregate gradation and orientation were obtained by Image Pro Plus package. The information is used in a Micro-fabric Discrete Element Model (MDEM) and conduct asphalt mixture fundamental properties (e.g. complex modulus and creep compliance) prediction through virtual-lab numerical simulation by In-Direct Tensile test (IDT), Hollow Cylinder Test (HCT) and Biaxial Test.
This image was obtained from optical flat-bed scanning and the size is 150-mm. The maximum aggregate size is about 25-mm.

Image Courtesy: Zhanping You and William Buttlar, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology

Contact: zyou@uiuc.edu, buttlar@uiuc.edu