Research Projects by Dr. Charles Schwartz

Use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tags in Hot Mix Asphalt

Sponsor: Federal Highway Administration

Inexpensive expendable radio frequency identification (RFID) technology will be used to spatially locate shipments of hot mix asphalt concrete during pavement construction. Compact RFID sensors no larger than the largest aggregate size in the asphalt mixture will be hardened to survive the high temperatures and stresses of asphalt production and placement. These expendable tags will be placed in a truckload of asphalt as it leaves the production plant and then pass through the paver and be compacted into the finished mat. Cross-referencing these tags with GPS latitude and longitude coordinates after construction will enable material property data measured at the production plant to be spatially referenced and linked to other spatially referenced in-place test results and pavement performance data. This leveraging of large data sets already collected by highway agencies will permit more robust analyses and insights into the relationships between asphalt material properties and actual pavement performance.

Calibration of Rutting Models for HMA Structural and Mix Design

Sponsor: National Cooperative Highway Research Program (National Research Council)

The accuracy of permanent deformation (rutting) prediction models for flexible pavements depends on effective calibration and validation with robust data sets. This project will enhance the hot-mix asphalt rutting prediction model in the new national mechanistic-empirical pavement design methodology developed in NCHRP Project 1-37A. The enhanced rutting model will be calibrated and validated using measured materials properties and pavement performance data from a large set of in-service field sections and full-scale test sections.

Implementation of the NCHRP 1-37A Design Guide

Sponsor: Maryland State Highway Administration

A major proposed revision to the AASHTO Pavement Design Guide has recently been developed. This new Guide is expected to replace the current empirical design procedures based on road tests from the late 1950s with a state-of-the-art mechanistic-empirical design procedure that more rationally incorporates modern material types and characterization, traffic levels, and construction practices. The adoption of the new Guide by the Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA) will have significant ramifications for material testing and pavement design procedures in the state. This project will develop a coherent plan for MDSHA to transition from its current pavement design procedures to the new mechanistic-empirical methodology.