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

一个国家的交通系统就像动脉、静脉和神经对人体的重要性一样重要。加拿大拥有完善的交通系统，包括公路、铁路、水路和航空网络。然而，公路网是最重要的，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多万公里的公路和超过30,000公里的高速公路[39]。随着人类的进化，这条道路多年来一直在演变。近几十年来，公路行业发生了积极的变化，以满足可持续发展和降低成本的需要。与此同时，其他与交通相关的行业的技术进步也是壮观的。因此，如果公路行业错过了通往未来的高速技术列车，今天的道路将是落后于技术、经济、环境和社会进步的道路。几位国际专家开始重新定义未来的道路。这条道路将是可持续的、有弹性的、互联的、适应性强的、自我修复的、能源的来源、智能和多功能的。为这一研究计划提出的想法将有助于努力迈向未来的道路。在加拿大，开裂是路面最普遍的破损形式。裂缝是由交通荷载和低温引起的，沥青老化会加速裂缝的产生。目前的提案调查了三个突破性的想法，以提出有效延长人行道使用寿命的新解决方案。其中一些创新是受到人体的启发，特别是它的适应、进化和自我修复的能力。该计划将利用受自然启发的战略来创造一系列高性能沥青混合料(HPAM)。继续探索使用自修复材料和抗氧化剂来降低路面裂缝的风险。还将利用纳米技术的进步来修改粘结剂的分子结构，并使用从自然中释放的纳米材料或以回收的形式配制高性能的咀嚼材料。将开发先进的表征和评估技术，以更好地表征HPAM和自我修复。实验设计将考虑气候变化因素，以确保创建的解决方案在极端气候条件下高效且具有弹性。该计划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技术资质的研究人员和工程师。21名研究生和本科生将有机会在一个多样化、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。未来，这些学生将与其他同龄人一起，引领加拿大和世界各地更智能、更可持续的道路基础设施的变革。

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.