Civil and Environmental Engineering
Date of this Version
Fall 12-2-2011
Document Type
Article
Abstract
This thesis describes the development and application of a virtual microstructure generator incorporated with post-processing image analysis methods that can be used to fabricate a virtual, two-dimensional microstructure of asphaltic mixtures. In the generator, geometrical characteristics such as aggregate gradation, aggregate area fraction, angularity, orientation, and elongation were used to transform data from a three-dimensional (3D) mixture into its two-dimensional (2D) microstructure. The 2D virtual microstructures were generated from real 3D mixture information of asphaltic composites. Resulting virtual microstructures were then compared to real cross-sectional microstructure images obtained from actual samples for validation. Comparison presented a good agreement between the virtual and real microstructures, which demonstrates that the new 3D-2D transformation algorithms were properly developed and implemented into the virtual microstructure generator. Although much future work is required, the current development is at least sufficient to demonstrate the benefits and potential of this effort. Virtual fabrication and testing can result in significant time and cost savings compared to more expensive and repetitive laboratory fabrication and performance tests of actual specimens.
Adviser: Yong-Rak Kim
Comments
A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science, Major: Civil Engineering, Under the Supervision of Professor Yong-Rak Kim. Lincoln, Nebraska: December, 2011
Copyright (c) 2011 Mohammad Haft-Javaherian