A Micro-Scale Investigation on the Behaviors of Asphalt Mixtures under Freeze-Thaw Cycles Using Entropy Theory and a Computerized Tomography Scanning Technique

Xu, Huining; Li, Hengzhen; Tan, Yiqiu; Wang, Linbing; Hou, Yue

doi:10.3390/e20020068

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A Micro-Scale Investigation on the Behaviors of Asphalt Mixtures under Freeze-Thaw Cycles Using Entropy Theory and a Computerized Tomography Scanning Technique

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School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China

Department of Civil Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA

National Center for Materials Service Safety, University of Science & Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Entropy 2018, 20(2), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/e20020068

Received: 30 October 2017 / Revised: 31 December 2017 / Accepted: 12 January 2018 / Published: 23 January 2018

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Abstract

The thermodynamic behavior of asphalt mixtures is critical to the engineers since it directly relates to the damage in asphalt mixtures. However, most of the current research of the freeze-thaw damage of asphalt mixtures is focused on the bulk body from the macroscale and lacks a fundamental understanding of the thermodynamic behaviors of asphalt mixtures from the microscale perspective. In this paper, to identify the important thermodynamic behaviors of asphalt mixtures under freeze-thaw loading cycle, the information entropy theory, an X-ray computerized tomography (CT) scanner and digital image processing technology are employed. The voids, the average size of the voids, the connected porosity, and the void number are extracted according to the scanned images. Based on the experiments and the CT scanned images, the information entropy evolution of the asphalt mixtures under different freeze-thaw cycles is calculated and the relationship between the change of information entropy and the pore structure characteristics is established. Then, the influences of different freezing and thawing conditions on the thermodynamic behaviors of asphalt mixtures are compared. The combination of information entropy theory and CT scanning technique proposed in this paper provides an innovative approach to investigate the thermodynamics behaviors of asphalt mixtures and a new way to analyze the freeze-thaw damage in asphalt mixtures. View Full-Text

Keywords: asphalt mixtures; freeze-thaw damage; X-ray CT image; information entropy; microscale

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Xu, H.; Li, H.; Tan, Y.; Wang, L.; Hou, Y. A Micro-Scale Investigation on the Behaviors of Asphalt Mixtures under Freeze-Thaw Cycles Using Entropy Theory and a Computerized Tomography Scanning Technique. Entropy 2018, 20, 68. https://doi.org/10.3390/e20020068

AMA Style

Xu H, Li H, Tan Y, Wang L, Hou Y. A Micro-Scale Investigation on the Behaviors of Asphalt Mixtures under Freeze-Thaw Cycles Using Entropy Theory and a Computerized Tomography Scanning Technique. Entropy. 2018; 20(2):68. https://doi.org/10.3390/e20020068

Chicago/Turabian Style

Xu, Huining, Hengzhen Li, Yiqiu Tan, Linbing Wang, and Yue Hou. 2018. "A Micro-Scale Investigation on the Behaviors of Asphalt Mixtures under Freeze-Thaw Cycles Using Entropy Theory and a Computerized Tomography Scanning Technique" Entropy 20, no. 2: 68. https://doi.org/10.3390/e20020068

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A Micro-Scale Investigation on the Behaviors of Asphalt Mixtures under Freeze-Thaw Cycles Using Entropy Theory and a Computerized Tomography Scanning Technique

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