Towards Smart, Resilient, Sustainable, and Adaptable Pavements - Application on High-Performance Asphalt Materials

一个国家的交通运输系统就像动脉、静脉和神经对人体的重要性一样。加拿大拥有发达的交通系统，包括公路、铁路、水运和航空网络。然而，道路网络是最重要的，因为90%的货物都是通过卡车运输的。在全国范围内，加拿大有100多万公里的公路，其中高速公路超过3万公里。这条路随着人类的进化而进化。近几十年来，道路行业发生了积极的变化，以适应可持续发展和降低成本的需要。与此同时，其他交通相关行业的技术发展也非常惊人。因此，如果道路行业错过了通往未来的高科技高速列车，今天的道路将落后于技术、经济、环境和社会的发展。几位国际专家开始着手重新定义未来的道路。这条道路将是可持续的、有弹性的、连通的、适应性强的、自愈的、能源的、智能的、多用途的。为这项研究计划提出的想法将有助于朝着未来的道路努力。在加拿大，开裂是路面最普遍的劣化形式。开裂是由交通荷载和低温引起的，沥青老化可加速开裂。目前的提案研究了三个突破性的想法，以提出新的解决方案，有效地延长路面的使用寿命。其中一些创新是受到人体的启发，特别是人体的适应、进化和自愈能力。该项目将利用自然启发的策略来创造一系列高性能沥青混合料（HPAM）。不断探索使用自愈材料和抗氧化剂来减少路面开裂的风险。纳米技术的进步也将被用于修改粘合剂的分子结构，并利用来自自然界或形式回收的纳米材料配制高性能的塑料。将开发先进的表征和评估技术，以更好地表征HPAM和自修复。实验设计将考虑气候变化的因素，以确保所创建的解决方案在极端气候条件下有效和有弹性。该项目将有助于培养对可持续发展和气候变化等重大环境问题敏感的新一代高素质研究人员和工程师。21名研究生和本科生将有机会在一个多元化、公平和包容的研究环境中，在路面材料工程和设计的不同方面发展科学技术知识和技能。在未来，这些学生将与其他同龄人一起，为加拿大和世界范围内更智能、更可持续的道路基础设施的变革做出贡献。

The transportation system of a country has the same importance that the arteries, veins, and nerves have to the human body. Canada has a well-developed transportation system consisting of road, rail, water, and air networks. However, the road network is the most important as 90% of all goods are transported via trucks. Nationwide, Canada has over a million km of road with over 30,000 km of highways [39]. The road has evolved over the years with the evolution of humanity. In the recent decades, the road industry has positively changed to meet the needs of sustainable development and cost reduction. Meanwhile, the technological evolution in other transportation-related industries has been spectacular. Therefore, today's road would be lagging technological, economic, environmental, and societal evolutions if the road industry misses the high technological speed train towards the future. Several international experts started working on redefining the road of the future. This road would be sustainable, resilient, connected, adaptable, self-healing, source of energy, smart and versatile. The ideas proposed for this research program would contribute to the efforts towards the road of the future. In Canada, cracking is the most prevalent deterioration modes of pavements. Cracking is caused by traffic loading and low temperature and can be accelerated by asphalt aging. The current proposal investigates three breakthrough ideas to advance new solutions that will effectively extend the service life of pavements. Some of these innovations are inspired by the human body, specifically its capacity to adapt, evolve and self-heal. The program will leverage nature-inspired strategies to create a range of High-Performance Asphalt Mixes (HPAM). The use of Self-Healing Materials, and antioxidants continues to be explored to reduce the risk of pavement cracking. Advances in nanotechnology will also be leveraged to modify the molecular structure of the binder and formulate high-performance mastics using nanomaterials issued from the nature or form recycling. Advanced characterization and evaluation techniques to better characterize HPAM and Self-Healing will be developed. The experimental design will account for climate change considerations to ensure the created solution will be efficient and resilient under extreme climatic conditions. The program will contribute to train a new generation of highly technically qualified researchers and engineers who are sensitive to sustainable development and major environmental issues, such as climate change. Twenty-one graduate and undergraduate students will have the opportunity to develop scientific technical knowledge and skills on the different aspects of pavement materials engineering and design, in a diverse, equitable and inclusive research environment. In the future, these students will contribute, with other peers, to lead the change towards smarter and more sustainable road infrastructures in Canada and worldwide.