Hydraulic Controller and Environmental Chamber for Characterization of Smart Construction Materials and High-Performance Asphalt Concrete Mixes

我们日益老化的交通基础设施要求交通机构每年花费数百万美元用于路面维护和修复活动。在全国范围内，加拿大有超过100万公里的公路，其中包括超过3万公里的高速公路，这个网络的主要部分是用沥青材料铺设的。虽然施工技术在过去几十年中不断发展，但开裂仍然是最普遍的路面破损模式。交通荷载、气候条件和沥青材料的质量是影响路面使用性能的主要因素。鉴于最近材料科学和工程材料技术的突破，可以开发创新材料来实现更好的耐久性，并最终为纳税人节省大量资金，这些资金目前必须用于修复破旧的路面(即裂缝、坑洞等)。滑铁卢大学的研究人员正致力于世界领先的研究项目，以充分挖掘创新智能材料的潜力，如自愈合沥青混凝土混合料、纳米改性高性能沥青、相变材料、生物基可持续材料以及其他几种具有显著增强性能的创新替代建筑材料。滑铁卢大学土木工程与环境工程系的研究人员正在与国家和国际机构合作，研究创新和可持续的方法，以促进加拿大和国际上铺设公路网的安全、经济和质量。Baaj教授是路面和运输技术中心(CPATT)的主任，是国际实验室联盟沥青路面材料裂缝修复委员会的主席，也是建筑材料、系统和结构方面的专家。NSERC的这笔资金为研究人员提供了极大地增强了在加拿大设计可持续、更耐用的道路的能力，从而在降低生命周期成本和能源消耗方面为社会带来了重大好处。

Our aging transportation infrastructure requires transportation agencies to spend millions of dollars every year on pavement maintenance and rehabilitation activities. Nationwide, Canada has over 1,000,000 km of road including over 30,000 km of highway, where the major part of this network is paved with asphalt materials. While construction technologies have evolved during the past several decades, cracking is still the most prevalent deterioration mode of pavements. Traffic loading, climatic conditions, and quality of asphalt material majorly contribute to the performance of pavements. In light of the recent breakthroughs in material sciences and engineered materials technology, innovative materials can be developed to achieve better durability and ultimately save huge amounts of tax payers money which currently has to be spent on repairing deteriorated pavements (i.e., cracks, potholes, etc.). At the University of Waterloo, researchers are working on world-leading research program to fully exploit the potentials of using innovative smart materials such as self-healing asphalt concrete mixes, high-performance asphalt through nanomodification, phase-change materials, bio-based sustainable materials, and several other innovative alternative construction materials with significant enhanced properties. Researchers from the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Waterloo are collaborating with national and international institutions on innovative and sustainable approaches to promote the safety, economy, and quality of the paved roadway network in Canada and internationally. Professor Baaj, the director of the Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology (CPATT), chairs the crack-healing of asphalt pavement materials committee of the International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures. This NSERC funding provides the researchers with a greatly enhanced ability to design sustainable, more durable roadways in Canada, resulting in substantial benefits to society in terms of reduced life-cycle costs and energy consumption.