Search Results (19)

Water, a precious but limited resource since prehistoric times, has driven humans to develop systems for collecting and storing it. Evidence dating back to third millennium BC documents shows such systems among the Sumerians in the Fertile Crescent, as well as in Asia, Africa, China, and India. Aqueducts and cisterns, along with impluvium–compluvium systems, allowed the Romans to meet private and public needs; in Venice, wells provided filtered water until 1884. Today, climate change and increasing soil sealing urgently demand intelligent water collection and management, aligned with five of the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (6, 11, 12, 13, 15). Buildings and construction account for about 35% of the global freshwater consumption. The construction sector, historically involved in the development of innovative rainwater harvesting and reuse systems, now faces a growing challenge in exploring innovative nature-based solutions for climate-resilient buildings (e.g., fog harvesting, green roofs for rainwater storage). Based on these considerations, we propose a scoping literature review of the last 15 years on innovative rainwater harvesting and storage systems. The analysis aims to provide a comparative mapping of the technological solutions that have emerged, to identify the geographical areas and climatic conditions favourable to each system, and to serve as a knowledge base for the development of integrated construction systems suitable for each specific context. A total of 136 peer-reviewed Open Access articles indexed in Scopus (2010–2024) were analysed following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Full article

This study developed a nano-TiO₂ modified emulsified asphalt, and the effects of varying dosages of nano-TiO₂ on the performance of emulsified asphalt were systematically investigated. The photocatalytic performance of nano-TiO₂ modified emulsified asphalt was evaluated through NO_x degradation assessment using a self-developed device. Results showed that after adding nano-TiO₂, the high-temperature stability and aging resistance of the modified emulsified asphalt had improved. Specifically, when the TiO₂ content ranged from 4% to 6%, the surface temperature of the photocatalytic fog seal layer decreased by 2.0 °C. At 4% TiO₂ content, the cumulative degradation efficiencies of NO and NO₂ reached 50% and 70%, respectively. When the fog seal layer spraying amount was set at 300 g/m², the pavement performance met the required standards. Overall, nano-TiO₂ photocatalytic materials simultaneously enhance the physical properties of asphalt and its environmental benefits, providing a promising solution for the development of multifunctional pavement materials. Full article

Asphalt pavements are widely used in airports due to their excellent skid resistance, vibration damping, and ease of construction. However, traditional fog seal materials often suffer from insufficient adhesion between fine sand and the emulsified asphalt binder, resulting in limited durability of the maintenance effect. This study aims to optimize the design of traditional fog seal materials and systematically evaluate their surface and durability performance. Firstly, a composite modified emulsified asphalt was prepared as the sand suspension slurry for the sand-containing fog seal. Through the dry wheel abrasion test, the optimal fine aggregates content was determined for four different spraying amounts (0.8, 0.9, 1.0, and 1.1 kg/m²). When the proportion of fine aggregates increases, the spraying amount needs to be increased accordingly to ensure the wrapping effect. Subsequently, pavement performance evaluation was conducted based on several indicators, including surface curing time, British Pendulum Number (BPN) friction coefficient, permeability coefficient, and mass loss rate. The results showed that the designed sand-containing fog seal significantly reduced surface curing time and exhibited superior skid resistance and permeability property compared to styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR)-modified emulsified asphalt. After freeze–thaw cycles, the maximum decrease in friction coefficient was 10.2%, and the mass loss rate after abrasion was approximately 67%, which were lower than those of SBR-modified emulsified asphalt (22.2% and 81%, respectively). Finally, considering the comprehensive performance comparison and evaluation, the optimal mix proportion was determined as 1.0 kg/m² spraying amount with 30% fine aggregates content. The findings of this study provide practical support for improving the durability and service life of airport asphalt pavements. Full article

To prevent traffic accidents caused by icy roads in winter and damage to roads resulting from repeated freeze–thaw cycles, this paper proposes an optimized design plan for slow-release anti-icing fog seal. The effects of the dosages of slow-release anti-icing agent, water-based epoxy resin modifier, and penetrant on the ice- and snow-melting properties, mechanical properties, and penetration properties of the fog seal were investigated. Based on single-factor experiments, a Box–Behnken model was established, and the response surface method was employed to optimize the design of the fog seal. Subsequently, wear resistance was assessed using an accelerated loading test, while anti-skid performance was evaluated through the British pendulum test and the sand patch test. The results indicate that the optimal ratio for the slow-release anti-icing fog seal is 13% slow-release anti-icing agent, 20% water-based epoxy resin modifier, and 12% penetrant. This material demonstrated excellent ice- and snow-melting performance as well as good wear and skid resistance in testing, providing valuable insights for the application of the slow-release anti-icing agent in new pavement maintenance techniques. Full article

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation accelerates the aging of asphalt pavements and shortens the service life of the pavement. To effectively mitigate the impact of UV aging on asphalt performance, a novel composite anti-UV aging agent, 2-hydroxy-4-n-octyoxybenzophenone/pigment violet (UV-531/PV), was developed. After UV-accelerated aging, the modified asphalt samples were characterized by conventional performance tests, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and a dynamic shear rheometer (DSR). The results show that UV-531/PV-composite-modified asphalt maintains excellent conventional properties after UV aging. The FTIR testing showed that the changes in carbonyl index (I_c=o) and sulfoxide index (I_s=o) of the composite-modified asphalt were significantly smaller than those of the matrix asphalt, indicating the less oxidation degree of the composite-modified asphalt. The GPC test results showed that the change in molecular weight of the composite-modified asphalt after UV aging was less than that of the matrix asphalt. DSR results showed that UV-531/PV-modified asphalt exhibited higher viscoelasticity and higher rutting resistance than unmodified asphalt. This study proposes a new method for preparing anti-UV aging asphalt, which can be used for micro-surfacing, fog sealing or ultra-thin overlay on road surfaces. Full article

Cracked and deteriorated asphalt are common problems on our roads, leading to safety concerns and requiring significant resources for rehabilitation and reconstruction. This study investigates bio-fog seals, a promising eco-friendly solution utilizing bio-based rejuvenators. These treatments penetrate aged asphalt, restoring its flexibility and resistance to cracking. We assessed the effectiveness of two bio-fog seal formulations—one containing sub-epoxidized soybean oil (SESO) and the other combining SESO with a biopolymer (BioMag). Applied to real pavement sections, the research evaluated how these bio-seals impacted key performance factors, such as stiffness, permeability, and drying time, and safety factors, including skid resistance and pavement marking visibility. The results indicate the bio-seals did not compromise skid resistance and the reflectivity of the markings, eliminating the need for repainting stripes. Additionally, they successfully reduced pavement stiffness, making the asphalt more flexible and crack-resistant. Remarkably, with rapid setting times, under 30 min, these treatments minimize traffic disruption and do not require a blotter material. Overall, this research demonstrates the potential of bio-fog seals as a sustainable solution for extending pavement lifespan and lowering long-term maintenance costs. Full article

The quest for sustainable and functional food packaging materials has led researchers to explore biopolymers such as pullulan, which has emerged as a notable candidate for its excellent film-forming and anti-fogging properties. This study introduces an innovative anti-fog coating by combining pullulan with poly (acrylic acid sodium salt) to enhance the display of packaged food in high humidity environments without impairing the sealing performance of the packaging material—two critical factors in preserving food quality and consumers’ acceptance. The research focused on varying the ratios of pullulan to poly (acrylic acid sodium salt) and investigating the performance of this formulation as an anti-fog coating on bioriented polypropylene (BOPP). Contact angle analysis showed a significant improvement in BOPP wettability after coating deposition, with water contact angle values ranging from ~60° to ~17° for formulations consisting only of poly (acrylic acid sodium salt) (P0) or pullulan (P100), respectively. Furthermore, seal strength evaluations demonstrated acceptable performance, with the optimal formulation (P50) achieving the highest sealing force (~2.7 N/2.5 cm) at higher temperatures (130 °C). These results highlight the exceptional potential of a pullulan-based coating as an alternative to conventional packaging materials, significantly enhancing anti-fogging performance. Full article

Long-term preventive maintenance planning using finite annual budgets is vital for maintaining the service performance of airport runway composite pavements. Using the pavement condition index (PCI) to quantify composite pavement performance, this study investigated the PCI deterioration tendencies of middle runways, terminal runways, and taxiways and developed prediction models related to structural thickness and air traffic. Performance jump (PJ) and deterioration rate reduction (DRR) were used to measure maintenance benefits. Based on 112 composite pavement sections in the Long-term Pavement Performance Program, this study analyzed the influences of five typical preventive maintenance technologies on PJ, DRR, and PCI deterioration rates. The logarithmic regression relationship between PJ and PCI was obtained. For sections treated with crack sealing and crack filling, the DRR was nearly 0. For sections treated with fog seal, thin HMA overlay, and hot-mix recycled AC, the DRR was 0.2, 0.7, and 0.8, respectively. To solve the multi-objective maintenance problem, this study proposed a decision-making optimization method based on dynamic programming, and the solution algorithm was optimized, which was applied in a five-year maintenance plan. Considering different PCI deterioration tendencies of airport regions, as well as PJ, DRR, and costs of maintenance technologies, the preventive maintenance decision-making optimization method meets performance and financial requirements sufficiently. Full article

By choosing the right pavement maintenance plan, we can reduce resource utilization, reduce environmental pollution, and extend road life, which is important for improving social sustainability. At present, the selection of road maintenance programs mostly adopts multiple attribute decision-making (MADA), in particular, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is often used. However, this method needs to use expert scoring data, which leads to strong subjectivity and poor reliability. Therefore, it reduces the science of road maintenance scheme selection. In order to reduce the subjectivity of the score and obtain a more suitable road maintenance scheme, this paper applies a multi-criteria decision-making method that characterizes attribute information by triangular fuzzy numbers (TFN) in the discrete decision space. Firstly, we invite experts to score the importance of the selection of pavement preventive maintenance technical solutions with respect to the indicators affecting the selection of solutions. Secondly, the two indicators of similarity and reliability are used to quantitatively evaluate the indicators and programs, respectively. Finally, we compare the weighted programs according to the overall possibility degree of each program. In actual cases, the overall possibility degree of each scheme obtained by this method is 1.0002–0.0477, and the optimal solution is fog sealing technology. The decision-making model applied in this paper can be considered in multiple dimensions, which can scientifically reduce the subjectivity of expert scoring. The best maintenance plan can also be quickly obtained through the simple calculation method in this paper. Full article

Crack healing has been a key area of asphalt pavement research. In this review, different crack-healing theories and crack-healing evaluation methods in bitumen and asphalt mixtures are summarized and presented. Then different crack healing technologies have highlighted the problems and solutions associated with their implementation. Detailly, traditional technologies (hot pouring and fog seal) are introduced. They mainly fill cracks from the outside, which can effectively prevent further damage to the asphalt pavement, when the cracks have generally developed to the middle and late stages of practical engineering. Their extension of the life of the asphalt pavement is relatively limited. Energy supply technologies (induction and microwave heating) have demonstrated significant efficacy in enhancing the crack healing capability of asphalt pavement, particularly in microcracks. Now, Extensive laboratory testing and some field test sections have been conducted and they are waiting for the promotion from the industry. The agents encapsulated technologies (Saturated porous aggregates encapsulate rejuvenators, Core-shell polymeric microcapsules, Ca-alginate capsule, Hollow fibers and Compartment fibers) not only heal cracks but rejuvenate the aged asphalt pavement. In order to promote industrial application, more field test sections and large industrial mixing and compaction equipment applications need to be implemented. Finally, some other potential crack healing techniques (coupling application, electrical conductivity, 3D printing, and modifications) are also mentioned. Full article

Fuel oil leaked onto asphalt pavement will damage the asphalt layer by dissolving the binder, softening the mixture and finally resulting in distress such as raveling and pitting. In the meantime, the skid resistance, high temperature stability and water stability deteriorate dramatically. Silicone resin is a fog sealing material for asphalt pavement. It forms a three-dimensional network structure with -Si-O- chains and therefore shows strong hydrophobicity and chemical stability. This paper looks into the effect of silicone resin on the fuel oil corrosion resistance of asphalt mixture. The contact angle, Cantabro test, water stability test, wheel tracking test and three-point bending test were used to investigate the road performance and the corrosion resistance under diesel and gasoline. It was found that, compared with diesel, the contact angle between gasoline and asphalt is smaller, indicating better compatibility. The gasoline corrosion decreases the properties of asphalt mixture more than that of diesel, which indicates that the compatibility is related to the corrosion effect. The results also show that silicone resin can effectively improve the adhesion, strength, water stability and high- and low-temperature performance of asphalt mixture before and after fuel oil erosion, and the improving effect on asphalt mixture after oil erosion is better. Full article

COVID-19 has deeply impacted clinical strategies in dentistry and the use of surgical masks and respirators has become critical. They should adapt to the person’s facial anatomy, but this is not always easy to achieve. Bellus3D Company proposed to apply their face scan software, used with selected smartphones and tablets, to design and 3D-print a bespoke “Mask Fitter” to improve the sealing of surgical masks and respirators. Twenty dental staff participants were face scanned and a Mask Fitter for FFP2 respirators was designed and 3D-printed. Participants were asked to wear their Mask Fitter over one week and then completed a survey. Questions were asked about wearing comfort, sealing confidence, glasses or loupes fogging, both with and without the Mask Fitter. Dental staff gave positive feedback, with levels of comfort during daily use reported as similar with and without the Mask Fitter; and a higher confidence in achieving a proper seal, ranging from a 10% confidence rating of a proper seal without the Mask Fitter to 75% with the Mask Fitter. Moreover, fogging problems decreased considerably. The tested Mask Fitter device could represent an easy and low-cost procedure to improve the facial adaptation of the FFP2 respirator. Full article

Pavement raveling is one of the predominant distresses in the United States that impacts roadway safety and driver comfort on open-graded friction course (OGFC) pavements. Raveling specific treatments, such as fog seal and micro-milling the OGFC layer, can prolong pavement life and reduce resurfacing costs and environmental impact. However, with the current qualitative condition assessment methods (which rate pavements at Severity Levels 1–3 or as light, moderate, or severe), it is difficult to determine the optimal timing for these raveling treatments to be most effective. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a method to quantitatively evaluate the raveling condition. While 3D pavement technology provides opportunities for quantifying pavement raveling conditions using 3D pavement surface data, there are two main challenges for quantifying pavement raveling: (1) estimating a reference surface that represents the pavement without any raveling so that the actual pavement can be compared to the reference surface to quantify the raveling, and (2) obtaining pavement images with quantified raveling conditions (aggregate loss volume) for validation. This paper proposes a method with the loss of aggregate as a new performance indicator to automatically quantify raveling using 3D pavement surface data already collected by transportation agencies for pavement evaluation. The proposed method is validated using pavement images (with known aggregate loss) from simulated pavement mats fabricated in the lab and synthetic pavement images obtained by procedural generation. The proposed method consists of (1) 3D data acquisition; (2) pre-processing with (a) outlier removal and image smoothing, (b) two-sensor image stitching, and (c) range image rectification; (3) raveling detection using (a) region of interest selection, (b) reference surface estimation, (c) potential aggregate loss identification, and (d) noise removal; and (4) aggregate loss quantification. The validation results show a strong correlation (R = 0.99) between the computed aggregate loss and the expected aggregate loss. Better performance was observed with the proposed method than with other methods (such as the watershed method and the model fitting method). The proposed method provides a cost-effective means to quantify the loss of aggregates in support of quantitative raveling condition forecasting by leveraging 3D pavement data already collected by transportation agencies. Full article

Herein, the effects of the contents of emulsified asphalt, waterborne epoxy resin emulsion, and curing agent on the permeability, bond shear strength, water stability, and aging resistance of epoxy-emulsified asphalt were studied. A formulation of epoxy-emulsified asphalt as a fog-sealing adhesive material was recommended, and a comparison between the fabricated adhesive material and a traditional Chinese fog-sealing adhesive material was conducted to verify the technical performance of the new material. In addition, the strength formation mechanism of the epoxy-emulsified asphalt was revealed via microcosmic analysis. Results show that the curing agent content mainly affects the permeability of epoxy-emulsified asphalt, and the emulsified asphalt content significantly affects the bond shear strength, water stability, and aging resistance. Moreover, the ratio of waterborne epoxy resin emulsion to the curing agent (epoxy ratio) has a certain effect on the bond shear strength. In the recommended formulation (a high-permeability and high-bonding fog-sealing adhesive material, which can be referred to simply as HPBFA), emulsified asphalt accounts for 80% of the total mass of the mixture, and the epoxy ratio is 2:1–3:1. It can improve air permeability, bond shear strength, water stability and aging resistance. The HPBFA-cured material exhibits a continuous three-dimensional network structure, hydrophobic surface, and large contact angle. Furthermore, the initial thermal weight loss temperature of the HPBFA-cured material is significantly higher than the environmental aging temperature. Additionally, the maximum temperature decomposition range is 0–160 °C, indicating improved strength, wear resistance, permeability, and aging resistance of the material. Full article

Preventive maintenance (PM) is regarded as the most economical maintenance strategy for asphalt pavement, but the life cycle environmental impacts (LCEI) of different PM techniques have not yet been comprehensively assessed and compared, thus hindering sustainable PM planning. This study aims to comprehensively estimate and compared the LCEI of five PM techniques then propose measures to reduce environmental impacts in PM design by using life cycle assessment (LCA), including fog seal with sand, micro-surfacing, composite seal, ultra-thin asphalt overlay, and thin asphalt overlay. Afterwards, ten kinds of LCEI categories and energy consumption of PM techniques were compared from the LCA phases, and inventory inputs perspectives, respectively. Results show that fog seal with sand and micro-surfacing can lower all LCEI scores by more than 50%. The environmental performance of five PM techniques provided by sensitivity analysis indicated that service life may not create significant impact on LCA results to some extent. Moreover, four PM combination plans were developed and compared for environmental performance, and results show that the PM plan only includes seal coat techniques that can reduce the total LCEI by 7–29% in pavement life. Increasing the frequency of seal coat techniques can make the PM plans more sustainable. Full article