Experimental study of engineered artificial aggregates for the construction of high friction and noise efficient bituminous Micro-Surfacing

Pavement friction and noise generation are two of the most important topics regarding road engineering. These two issues can be directly related to the safety for road users as well as the health of every impacted human. First a detailed review of the phenomena governing the pavement friction has been conducted and the influence parameters have been explained as well as the measurement of friction. The two main components of friction, adhesion and hysteresis, directly depend on the texture of the pavement, the latter being greatly influenced by the aggregates of the pavement mixture. Then noise generation of pavement has been studied to highlight the importance of tire-pavement interaction. Those aspects lead to the development of one possible solution called microsurfacing with artificial aggregates. Microsurfacing is a pavement overlay used, between other properties, to provide adequate friction, by usually increasing the texture, what normally would increase the noise. Thus it restores the friction features of existing roads without increasing the noise generation. Many advantages can be mentioned and explained. Due to the fact that the microsurfacing is constructed without heating the mixture, the cold asphalt results in a more eco-friendly solution, it creates safe conditions for workers and allow the quick opening to traffic on the road. A Design Of Experiment (DOE) on artificial aggregates made of geopolymer has been carried out and lead to a precise production procedure. Finally production and tests on cold microsurfacing have been explained as future work required to reach a full scale production of microsurfacing layers.