Neutron Scattering for Moisture Detection in Foamed Asphalt
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 25, Issue 7
Abstract
Foamed warm-mix asphalt (WMA) has been widely accepted and used in the United States and many other countries around the world. However, several key concerns about WMA technology still need to be answered, including the major issue of moisture-induced damage. Because of the reduced production temperatures and the foaming process with water, moisture may be entrapped in pavements after compaction. The trapped moisture decreases the adhesion between asphalt binder and aggregates and the cohesion among asphalt binder, resulting in stripping and other forms of pavement distress. The neutron scattering technique provides a unique tool for the determination of the microscopic structure of asphalt and for the detection of the presence of moisture and its spatial distributions in asphalt. In particular, small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) in the wave vector transfer range from is suitable to probe the spatial density fluctuations in the real space from , which has a resolution several orders of magnitude higher than direct imaging techniques. In this study, the SANS technique was utilized to characterize the microstructure of asphalt and to detect the water spatial distributions in foamed asphalt. Two types of asphalt binder and ordinary and heavy water were used to make samples at 150°C using a laboratory foaming device. The samples were then measured using the SANS instrument at the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) Center for Neutron Research (NCNR). The results show that there is no water entity less than 0.1 μm present in the foamed asphalt. Even if moisture does exist in foamed asphalt, it does not cause any structural changes to the asphalt within 0.1 μm.
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Acknowledgments
Yang Zhang acknowledges the support from the Clifford G. Shull fellowship at ORNL. The authors acknowledge the support of NIST and the U.S. Dept. of Commerce in providing the neutron research facilities used in this work. Identification of a commercial product does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the NIST, nor does it imply that the product is necessarily the best for the stated purpose. This work utilized facilities at the NIST Center for Neutron Research supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Agreement No. DMR-0454672.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 25 • Issue 7 • July 2013
Pages: 932 - 938
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 6, 2012
Accepted: Dec 12, 2012
Published online: Dec 14, 2012
Published in print: Jul 1, 2013
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