Three Dimensional Digital Sieving of Asphalt Mixture Based on X-ray Computed Tomography

Abstract

In order to perform three-dimensional digital sieving based on X-ray computed tomography images, the definition of digital sieve size (DSS) was proposed, which was defined as the minimum length of the minimum bounding squares of all possible orthographic projections of an aggregate. The corresponding program was developed to reconstruct aggregate structure and to obtain DSS. Laboratory experiments consisting of epoxy-filled aggregate specimens were conducted to investigate the difference between mechanical sieve analysis and the digital sieving technique. It was suggested that concave surface of aggregate was the possible reason for the disparity between DSS and mechanical sieve size. A comparison between DSS and equivalent diameter was also performed. Moreover, the digital sieving technique was adopted to evaluate the gradation of stone mastic asphalt mixtures. The results showed that the closest proximity of the laboratory gradation curve was achieved by calibrated DSS, among gradation curves based on calibrated DSS, un-calibrated DSS and equivalent diameter.

Keywords

• asphalt mixture
• aggregate gradation
• sieve analysis
• image processing
• X-ray computed tomography