Multiscale Characterization and Sustainable Design of Asphalt Materials

Dear Colleagues,

Asphalt materials serve as the primary construction medium for global road infrastructure, and their service performance and environmental footprint are directly associated with the operational safety, life-cycle economy and overall sustainability of transportation systems. The performance degradation and structural failure of asphalt pavements, driven by continuously growing traffic loads, extreme climatic variations and long-term aging effects, have become a core concern regarding the long-term serviceability of pavement engineering. Multiscale analysis and modeling have been widely recognized as a fundamental approach to decoding complex failure behaviors of asphalt materials; more critically, they provide bottom-up quantitative theoretical support for the sustainable design of pavement systems, bridging microscopic material mechanisms with macroscopic engineering demands. Amid the global transition toward low-carbon and circular infrastructure, conventional material designs can no longer meet the multifaceted demands for durability, environmental friendliness and resource efficiency. It is now imperative to advance integrated research that anchors sustainable asphalt innovation in multiscale insights, given the growing focus on durable, recycled and eco-friendly asphalt materials, as well as novel paradigms including functionally graded structures and environmental adaptive design in both academic and industrial communities.

The aim of this Special Issue, entitled “Multiscale Characterization and Sustainable Design of Asphalt Materials”, is to present state-of-the-art studies on the multiscale characterization and sustainable innovation of asphalt materials; its scope includes, but is not limited to, the following:

(1) Multiscale analysis and modeling of asphalt materials across molecular, micro, meso and macro scales.

(2) Development of durable asphalt materials with enhanced cracking, rutting, and aging resistance, etc.

(3) Environmental adaptive design of asphalt materials for extreme temperature, moisture and loading conditions.

(4) Performance optimization, validation, and field application of recycled and eco-friendly asphalt materials.

(5) Innovative technologies and construction methods of sustainable and durable asphalt pavements.

(6) Life-cycle environmental and economic assessment of sustainable pavement materials.

Dr. Xin Xiao
Dr. Mingjun Hu
Dr. Guanyu Liu
Guest Editors

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