Fatigue cracking is the most common distress in road pavement. It is mainly due to the increase in the number of load repetition of vehicles, particularly those with high axle loads, and to the environmental conditions. In this study, four-point bending beam fatigue testing has been used for control and modified mixture under various micro strain levels of (250 μƐ, 400 μƐ, and 750 μƐ) and 5HZ. The main objective of the study is to provide a comparative evaluation of pavement resistance to the phenomenon of fatigue cracking between modified asphalt concrete and conventional asphalt concrete mixes (under the influence of three percentage of Silica fumes 1%, 2%, 3% by the weight of asphalt content), and (chan

The Asphalt cement is produced as a by-product from the oil industry; the asphalt must practice further processing to control the percentage of its different ingredients so that it will be suitable for paving process. The objective of this work is to prepare different types of modified Asphalt cement using locally available additives, and subjecting the prepared modified Asphalt cement to testing procedures usually adopted for Asphalt cement, and compare the test results with the specification requirements for the modified Asphalt cement to fulfill the paving process requirements. An attempt was made to prepare the modified Asphalt cement for pavement construction in the laboratory by digesting each of the two penetration grade Asphalt c

Laboratory experience in Iraq with cold asphalt concrete mixtures is very limited. The design and use of cold mixed asphalt concrete had no technical requirements. In this study, two asphalt concrete mixtures used for the base course were prepared in the laboratory using conventional cold-mixing techniques to test cold asphalt mixture (CAM) against aging and moisture susceptibility. Cold asphalt mixtures specimens have been prepared in the lab with cutback and emulsion binders, different fillers, and curing times. Based on the Marshal test result, the cutback proportion was selected with the filler, also based on the Marshal test emulsion. The first mixture was medium setting cationic emulsion (MSCE) as a binder, hydrate

Gypseous soils are widely distributed and especially in Iraq where arid area of hot climatic is present. These soils are considered as problematic soils; therefore this work attends to improve the geotechnical properties of such soil and reduce the dangers of collapse due to wetting process. In this research, undisturbed soil sample of 30 % gypsum content from Karbala city is used. The Single Oedometer collapse test is used in order to investigate the collapse characteristics of natural soil and after treatment with 3%, 6%, 9%, 12% and 15% of Cutback Asphalt. Moreover, two selected additive percentages (9% and 12%) are used to evaluate the suitability of using the Cutback Asphalt for improvement of the bearing capacity o

The rehabilitation of deteriorated pavements using Asphalt Concrete (AC) overlays consistently confronts the reflection cracking challenge, where inherent cracks and joints from an existing pavement layer are mirrored in the new overlay. To address this issue, the current study evaluates the effectiveness of Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC) and geotextile fabric as mitigation strategies. ECC, characterized by its tensile ductility, fracture resistance, and high deformation capacity, was examined in interlayer thicknesses of 7, 12, and 17 mm. Additionally, the impact of geotextile fabric positioning at the base and at 1/3 depth of the AC specimen was explored. Utilizing the Overlay Testing Machine (OTM) for evaluations, the research d

In this paper, mesoscale modeling is performed to simulate and understand fracture behavior of two concrete composites: cement and asphalt concrete using disk-shaped compact tension (DCT) tests. Mesoscale models are used as alternative to macroscale models to obtain better realistic behavior of composite and heterogeneous materials such as cement and asphalt concrete. In mesoscale models, aggregate and matrix are represented as distinct materials and each material has its characteristic properties. Disk-shaped compact tension test is used to obtain tensile strength and fracture energy of materials. This test can be used as a better alternative to other tests such as three points bending tests because it is more convenient for both field and

In this research, the effect of changing the flood level of Al-Shuwaija marsh was studied using the geographic information systems, specifically the QGIS program, and the STRM digital elevation model with a spatial analysis accuracy of 28 meters, was used to study the marsh. The hydraulic factors that characterize the marsh and affecting on the flooding such as the ranks of the water channels feeding the marsh and the degree of slope and flat areas in it are studied. The area of immersion water, the mean depth, and the accumulated water volume are calculated for each immersion level, thereby, this study finds the safe immersion level for this marsh was determined.

Modern asphalt technology has adopted nanomaterials as an alternative option to assert that asphalt pavement can survive harsh climates and repeated heavy axle loading during service life and prolong pavement life. This work aims to elucidate the behavior of the modified asphalt mixture fracture model and assess the fatigue and Rutting performance of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) mixes using the outcomes of indirect Tensile Strength (IDT), Semicircular bend (SCB) and rutting resistance; for this, a single PG (64−16) nanomodified asphalt binder with 5 % SiO2 and TiO2 have been investigated through a series of laboratory tests, including: Resilient modulus, Creep compliance, and tensile strength, SCB, and Flow Number (FN) to study their potential

Permanent deformation (Rutting) of asphalt  pavements which appears in many roads in Iraq, have caused a major impact on pavement performance by reducing the useful service life of pavement and creating services hazards for highway users. The main objective of this research is investigating the effect of some contributory factors related to permanent deformation of asphalt concrete mixture. To meet the objectives of this research, available local materials are used including asphalt binder, aggregates, mineral filler and modified asphalt binder. The Superpave mix design system was adopted with varying volumetric compositions. The Superpave Gyratory Compactor was used to compact 24 asphalt concrete cylindrical specimens. To collect t

The Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is frequently used in pavement engineering
for road pavement inspection. The main objective of this work is to validate
nondestructive, quick and powerful measurements using GPR for assessment of subgrade
and asphalt /concrete conditions. In the present study, two different antennas
(250, 500 MHz) were used. The case studies are presented was carried in University
of Baghdad over about 100m of paved road. After data acquisition and radar grams
collection, they have been processed using RadExplorer V1.4 software
implementing different filters with the most effective ones (time zero adjustment and
DC removal) in addition to other interpretation tool parameters.
The interpretatio