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Applied Sciences
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Advanced Materials and Technologies in Pavement Engineering
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Advanced Materials and Technologies in Pavement Engineering

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Civil Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 1083

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Yanhai Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Interests: durable, sustainable, resilient, and smart transportation infrastructure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yangming Gao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK
Interests: understanding, predicting, and optimizing the mechanical response of transport infrastructure and materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Yuanyuan Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK
Interests: novel asphalt materials; fast-repairing asphalt concretes; anti-ultraviolet aging technologies for asphalt materials; road maintenance technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Transportation infrastructure is facing unprecedented challenges due to increasing traffic loads, climate change, sustainability requirements, and the urgent need for digital transformation. Advanced materials and emerging technologies are offering innovative solutions to extend pavement service life, enhance resilience, and enable real-time performance monitoring. Recent breakthroughs in self-sensing asphalt and concrete, nanomaterial-modified binders, digital twins, and artificial intelligence applications are reshaping the future of pavement engineering.

This Special Issue aims to collect high-quality research articles and reviews that present the latest progress in advanced materials and innovative technologies for pavement infrastructure. We are particularly interested in contributions that address both fundamental mechanisms and practical applications, bridging laboratory investigations with large-scale field implementations.

We are pleased to invite you to submit your original research articles, reviews, or case studies to this Special Issue to showcase cutting-edge advances in advanced materials and innovative technologies for pavement engineering.

Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  1. Sustainable and low-carbon binders, additives, and modifiers;
  2. Emerging technologies, such as nanomaterials, self-healing pavements, and smart infrastructure solutions, and their potential to revolutionize pavement engineering;
  3. Advanced testing, modeling, and characterization of pavement materials;
  4. Durability, resilience, and climate adaptation strategies for pavements;
  5. Structural health monitoring and in-service performance evaluation;
  6. Field demonstrations and case studies of innovative pavement technologies;
  7. Conductive and self-sensing asphalt and concrete for smart pavements;
  8. Digital twins, AI, and machine learning for pavement monitoring and management.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Yanhai Wang
Dr. Yangming Gao
Dr. Yuanyuan Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable transport infrastructure
  • pavement engineering
  • advanced materials
  • nanomaterials
  • resilient road systems
  • structural health monitoring
  • self-sensing asphalt
  • self-healing asphalt
  • smart pavements
  • digital twins

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 2918 KB  
Article
Study on Tire–Road Wear Interface Behavior of Porous Elastic Road Surface Based on Image Processing
by Hongjin Liu, Ke Zhong, Jing Gu, Ting Gan and Yuchun Li
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(1), 534; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16010534 - 5 Jan 2026
Viewed by 194
Abstract
The use of waste rubbers and polyurethane has a significant impact on the abrasion resistance of the porous elastic road surface (PERS) mixture. The purpose of this work is to study the anti-abrasion performance of the PERS mixture under different contents of waste [...] Read more.
The use of waste rubbers and polyurethane has a significant impact on the abrasion resistance of the porous elastic road surface (PERS) mixture. The purpose of this work is to study the anti-abrasion performance of the PERS mixture under different contents of waste rubbers. First, features of the surface of the PERS mixture were collected by image processing technology. Then, the abrasion performance of the mixture was studied by image processing and wear tests. The correlation between the surface texture parameters and the anti-abrasion performance of the mixture was analyzed by the gray entropy correlation method. It is found that the change of convex particle area in the equivalent diameter range of 2–5 mm had the greatest correlation with the abrasion resistance of the PERS mixture. The effect of the waste rubber content of the mixture on the anti-abrasion performance was investigated, and a waste rubber content of 10% showed the best anti-abrasion performance. It is expected that this work can provide a new method for analyzing the anti-abrasion performance of functional pavement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials and Technologies in Pavement Engineering)
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37 pages, 9163 KB  
Article
Effect of Glass Cullet Content on the Mechanical and Compaction Behavior of Cement-Bound Granular Mixtures for Road Base/Subbase Applications
by Justyna Stępień, Anna Chomicz-Kowalska, Piotr Ramiączek, Krzysztof Maciejewski and Mateusz Oleksik
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(23), 12400; https://doi.org/10.3390/app152312400 - 21 Nov 2025
Viewed by 578
Abstract
The growing accumulation of glass waste and the limited availability of natural aggregates present major challenges for sustainable road construction. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the glass cullet content (GC) in the range of 0–30% on the mechanical and compaction [...] Read more.
The growing accumulation of glass waste and the limited availability of natural aggregates present major challenges for sustainable road construction. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the glass cullet content (GC) in the range of 0–30% on the mechanical and compaction properties of cement-bound granular mixtures (CBGM 31.5 mm, Rc class C5/6) intended for the road base and subbase layers. Laboratory tests were carried out to analyze the effect of GC on the optimum moisture content (OMC), the maximum dry density (ρd,max), and the compressive strength after 7 and 28 days (R7, R28). The results showed a systematic decrease in OMC and ρd,max with increasing GC content, by approximately 18% and 2.8%, respectively, for the mixture containing 30% glass. All CBGM mixtures met the strength requirements for class C5/6 (Rc = 6–10 MPa), with the highest value of R28 obtained for the mixture containing 20% GC (9.4 MPa), representing a 24% increase compared to the reference mix. The relationship between GC content and compressive strength was best described by a second-degree polynomial function (R2 = 0.60–0.65), indicating an optimum within the 10–20% range. Strength enhancement was attributed to synergistic effects of physical mechanisms (filler effect and improved particle packing) and chemical activity (pozzolanic reactivity of fine glass fractions). The 30% GC mixture provided the minimum required strength while achieving the highest level of waste utilization and environmental benefit. Therefore, the optimal GC content should be determined as a balance between mechanical performance and sustainable use of secondary materials in the temperate climatic conditions of Central Europe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials and Technologies in Pavement Engineering)
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Review

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42 pages, 2475 KB  
Review
Toward Durable Infrastructure: A Review of Self-Healing Geopolymer Concrete for Sustainable Construction
by Md Toriqule Islam, Bidur Kafle and Riyadh Al-Ameri
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(3), 1571; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16031571 - 4 Feb 2026
Abstract
The manufacturing process of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is highly resource-intensive and significantly contributes to global CO2 emissions, thereby exacerbating global warming. In this context, researchers are progressively adopting geopolymer concrete owing to its environmentally friendly production process. However, cracks in OPC [...] Read more.
The manufacturing process of ordinary Portland cement (OPC) is highly resource-intensive and significantly contributes to global CO2 emissions, thereby exacerbating global warming. In this context, researchers are progressively adopting geopolymer concrete owing to its environmentally friendly production process. However, cracks in OPC and geopolymer concrete structures can substantially reduce their lifespan by exposing reinforcement to the external environment, resulting in concrete deterioration. To mitigate these issues, the self-healing capability of concrete presents an innovative solution to restore structural integrity and minimise maintenance costs. This research delineates various healing techniques and their efficacy for geopolymer concrete, including crystalline admixture, fibres, bacteria, and enzymes. This study primarily examines geopolymer compositions to assess the self-healing efficiency of different healing agents. As many healing agents, including crystalline admixtures and enzyme-based systems, were originally developed for OPC-based concrete and remain underexplored in geopolymers, parallel investigations on OPC systems are also conducted to enable a comparative understanding of the underlying healing mechanisms. The current state of research indicates that crystalline admixture was unable to facilitate crack healing within the geopolymer matrix unless an additional 10% Ca(OH)2 was incorporated into the binder. The inclusion of fibres embedded with healing agents markedly improved the healing efficiency, achieving a crack width of up to 800 µm when utilised with natural fibres and bacteria. The integration of an optimal quantity of various healing agents enhances the compressive, split tensile, and flexural strength of the concrete. The optimal dosages for the crystalline admixture ranged from 1% to 1.5% by weight of the binder, while the concentration of bacteria ranged from 105 to 107 cells/mL. Furthermore, this review delineates the practical applications and limitations of various healing agents. By integrating appropriate healing agents into geopolymer concrete, this research aims to advance a sustainable approach to durable infrastructure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Materials and Technologies in Pavement Engineering)
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