Pavement surface texture features are one of key factors affecting the skid resistance of pavement. In this study, a set of stable and reliable texture measurement equipment was firstly assembled by using the linear laser ranging sensor, control system and data acquisition system. Secondly, the equipment was calibrated, and the superposition error of sensor and control system was tested by making a standard gauge block. Thirdly, four different kinds of asphalt mixture were designed, and their surface texture features were obtained by leveraging a three-dimensional laser scanner. Therefore, the surface texture features were characterized as one-dimensional profile features and three-dimensional surface features. At the end of this study, a multi-scale texture feature characterization method was proposed. Results demonstrate that the measurement accuracy of the laser scanning system in the x-axis direction can be controlled ranging from −0.01 mm to 0.01 mm, the resolution in the XY plane is 0.05 mm, and the reconstructed surface model of surface texture features can achieve a good visualization effect. They also show that the root mean square deviation of surface profiles of different asphalt pavements fluctuates greatly, which is mainly affected by the nominal particle size of asphalt mixture and the proportion of coarse aggregate, and the non-uniformity of pavement texture distribution makes it difficult to characterize the roughness of asphalt pavement effectively by a single pavement surface profile. This study proposed a texture section method to describe the 3D distribution of road surface texture at different depths. The macrotexture of the road surface gradually changes from sparse to dense starting from the shallow layer. The actual asphalt pavement texture can be characterized by a simplified combination model of “cone + sphere + column”. By calculating the surface area distribution of macro and microtextures of different asphalt pavements, it was concluded that the surface area of asphalt pavement under micro scale is about 1.8–2.2 times of the cutting area, and the surface area of macrotexture is about 1.4 times of the cutting area. Moreover, this study proposed texture distribution density to characterize the roughness of asphalt pavement texture at different scales. The S_MA index can represent the macroscopic structure level of different asphalt pavements to a certain extent, and the S_MI index can well represent the friction level of different asphalt pavements.

The objective is to improve the accuracy of the test results and establish a maintenance treatment decision-making system using the non-destructive testing (NDT) technology. Firstly, the evaluation unit length was theoretically determined and statistically verified. Secondly, the test frequency of falling weight deflector (FWD) test was statistically analysed and the deflection acceptance criterionwas obtained based on the probability density distribution curve. Meanwhile, the relationship between the FWD deflection and the pavement internal damage obtained by drilling was analysed. Subsequently, the test parameters of the three-dimensional ground-penetrating radar (3D GPR) were optimised by using the non-reference image quality assessing technology. Followed, pavement internal damage index of GPR was proposed for locating the defect structural layer. Lastly, the decision-making systemwas established. Results showed that the suitable evaluation unit length is 20 m, the deflection test frequency is no more than 10 m/point, the deflection accept criterion is 29.5 (0.01 mm) with 95% reliability and the optimal detection parameters of GPR is 1 cm, 10 µs and 25 ns respectively. The established decision-making system fully considering the surface and the interior conditions as well as the functional and structural conditions can effectively guide the maintenance plan formulation for similar reconstruction and expansion projects.

Tire–road characteristics are a critical focus of research in the automotive and transportation industries. On the one hand, the research can help optimize tires’ structural design; on the other hand, it can analyze the mechanical response of the pavement structure under the vehicle load. In addition, the non-uniformity distribution of the tire ground stress will also have a direct impact on the skid resistance, which determines the driving safety. Due to the limitation of testing technology, the measurement of tire ground pressure was mainly carried out on a flat test platform, ignoring the roughness of the actual pavement surface texture. The tire–road contact characteristics research on the macro-texture and micro-texture of asphalt pavement needs to be broken through. A high-precision pressure-sensitive film measurement system is utilized to examine the actual contact characteristics between two types of automobile tires and three types of asphalt pavement in this paper. The influence law of pavement texture and patterned tires on the contact area and stress was explored, and the concentration effect of tire–road contact stress was evaluated. The results indicate that the contact area of grounding tires exhibits a nearly linear relationship with tire inflation pressure and load. Notably, the change in load has a more significant influence on the contact area than tire inflation pressure. On asphalt pavement, the contact reduction rate decreases by approximately 5–10% for block pattern tires and 10–15% for longitudinal pattern tires. Furthermore, as the texture depth of the pavement increases, the contact area between tires and the pavement texture decreases. The actual tire–road interface experiences significant stress concentration due to the embedding and meshing effects between the tire and road surface. Even on a flat steel surface, the peak stress at the edge of the tread block exceeds the 0.7 MPa design load, which is about 2.5–3 times higher than the design uniform load. The peak stress between the tire and asphalt pavement reaches 4–10 times the design uniform load, with a rising trend as the pavement texture depth increases. This study can provide relevant experimental technical support for tire design and functional design of asphalt pavement.

The size, shape, gradation and appearance of aggregate have a significant impact on the road performance of asphalt mixtures, which is directly related to the deformation characteristics and fatigue resistance of asphalt mixtures. In order to be able to design a long-life asphalt pavement, the aggregate must have reasonable morphology and morphological characteristics. In order to quantitatively analyze the shape characteristics of the road coarse aggregate, a high-precision three-dimensional scanner is used to obtain the characteristic lattice of the aggregate surface, and the solid model of the coarse aggregate particles is established. The two-dimensional and three-dimensional morphological indicators of the aggregate are analyzed and discussed. Meanwhile, aggregates processed by typical quarries in Guangdong Province are collected, and the influence of different processing techniques on the morphology of aggregates are analyzed. The results show that the difference between the perimeter and projected area of the aggregate contour under different viewing angles is relatively large, which is closely related to the flatness index of the aggregate. It can better characterize the three-dimensional shape of the aggregate. The closer the aggregate is to the cubic state, the greater the sphericity value; the ellipsoid index calculated based on the three-dimensional circumscribed ellipsoid can better characterize the angularity of the aggregate. The worse the angularity of the aggregate, the larger the corresponding ellipsoid value. The sphericity of the aggregate processed by counter-breaking is lower, and the angularity is better. The sphericity of the aggregate processed by the shaping process is the best, but the angularity is lower. According to actual needs, different processing techniques can be combined and blended to obtain aggregate finished products with a more balanced grain shape and angularity. The richer the angularity of the coarse aggregate, the better the high-temperature stability and fatigue resistance of the asphalt mixture. However, the stability of performance indicators will become worse. In practical engineering applications, it is recommended to further combine the screening efficiency of the hot material screen of the mixing plant with the stability of the hot material gradation and the uniformity of construction quality to select a suitable aggregate processing technology.

Coarse aggregate is the main component of asphalt mixtures, and differences in its morphology directly impact road performance. The utilization of standard aggregates can benefit the standard design and performance improvement. In this study, 3D printing technology was adopted to prepare artificial aggregates with specific shapes for the purpose of making the properties of artificial aggregates to be similar to the properties of natural aggregates. Through a series of material experiments, the optimal cement-based material ratio for the preparation of high-strength artificial aggregates and corresponding manufacturing procedures have been determined. The performance of the artificial aggregates has been verified by comparing the physical and mechanical properties with those of natural aggregates. Results indicate that using 3D printing technology to generate the standard coarse aggregate is feasible, but its high cost in implementation cannot be ignored. The 3D shape of the artificial aggregate prepared by the grouting molding process has a good consistency with the natural aggregate, and the relative deviation of the overall macro-scale volume index of the artificial aggregate is within 4%. The average Los Angeles abrasion loss of artificial cement-based aggregate is 15.2%, which is higher than that of diabase aggregate, but significantly lower than that of granite aggregate and limestone aggregate. In a nutshell, 3D printed aggregates prepared using the optimized cement-based material ratio and corresponding manufacturing procedures have superior physical and mechanical performance, which provides technical support for the test standardization and engineering application of asphalt pavements.