SusChEM/Collaborative Research: Fundamental Understanding of Foaming Process towards a New Warm Mix Asphalt Technology

该奖项的目的是了解使用几种发泡剂的发泡过程，以指导我们设计新的温拌沥青混合料（WMA）技术。在拟议的项目中，来自哥伦比亚大学和密歇根理工大学的研究人员将调查三种发泡剂作为潜在的候选者，包括苏打作为化学发泡剂，CO2/N2气体和乙醇作为物理发泡剂。将进行多相表征和粘弹性建模研究，以研究沥青材料的微观结构如何随时间、温度和材料成分的比例而演变，并在此过程中研究化学发泡剂与物理发泡剂的任何差异和相对优势。将确定单一或组合的发泡剂以获得最佳的最终结果。将采用加速试验方法表征基于发泡工艺的WMA的疲劳强度、长期性能和寿命周期成本。该项目集成了最先进的流变和加速老化试验、热力学、孔隙力学、化学变化和多尺度建模，以确定泡沫沥青材料的物理和机械性能。这些研究将促进对发泡过程的理解，并建立一个理论框架来预测材料设计的材料行为，这将导致新的理论和模型的可持续工程材料在能源和环境方面。该项目提供了一个独特的机会，在可持续工程进行跨学科的研究，以减少能源消耗，温室气体排放，促进沥青材料的回收，并提高生命周期的性能。该计划开发的技术将迅速转移到工业中。

The objective of this award is to understand the foaming process using several foaming agents to guide us in the design of a new warm mix asphalt (WMA) technology. In the proposed project, researchers from Columbia University and Michigan Technological University will investigate three foaming agents as potential candidates, including soda as a chemical foaming agent, CO2/N2 gas and ethanol as physical blowing agents. Multiphase characterization and viscoelastic modeling studies will be conducted to investigate how the microstructure of asphalt materials evolves with time, temperatures, and proportion of material constituents, and in doing so study any differences and relative benefits from chemical vs. physical blowing agents. A single or the combination of foaming agents will be determined for optimal end-results. The fatigue strength, the long-term performance and life cycle cost of the WMA based on the foaming process will be characterized with accelerated test methods. This project integrates state-of-the-art rheological and accelerated aging tests, thermodynamics, poromechanics, chemical changes and multi-scale modeling to identify the physical and mechanical properties of foamed asphalt materials. The proposed studies will advance the understanding of the foaming process and establish a theoretical framework to predict the material behavior for material design, which will lead to new theories and models of sustainable engineering materials in energy and environmental aspects. This project provides a unique opportunity for conducting interdisciplinary research in sustainable engineering to reduce energy consumption, greenhouse gas emission, to facilitate recycling of asphalt materials, and improve life-cycle performance. The technologies developed in this program will be rapidly transferred to industry.