Bitumen emits a large amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the production and construction of asphalt mixture, which can cause both environmental hazards and health risks. In this study, a setup was designed to collect the VOCs released by base and crumb rubber-modified bitumen (CRMB) binders and their composition was characterized by thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS). Next, organic montmorillonite (Mt) nanoclay was added into CRMB binder and its inhibiting effect on the VOCs emission of the binder was investigated. Finally, the VOCs emission models for the CRMB and Mt-modified CRMB (Mt-CRMB) binders were established according to reasonable assumptions. The results indicated that the VOCs emission of CRMB binder was 3.2 times larger than that of the base binder. Due to its intercalated structure, the nanoclay can reduce the VOCs emission of CRMB binder by 30.6%. Especially, its inhibition effects on alkanes, olefins, and aromatic hydrocarbons were more significant. After finite element verification, the established model based on the Fick’s second law can describe the emission behavior of CRMB and Mt-CRMB binders well. Overall, the Mt nanoclay can be used as an effective modifier to inhibit the VOCs emission of CRMB binder.

The influence of sand accumulation on the skid resistance of asphalt pavement was studied. Many scholars have researched the anti-skid performance of conventional asphalt pavements. However, there is a lack of research on the anti-skid performance of desert roads under the condition of sand accumulation. In this study, AC-13 and AC-16 asphalt mixtures were used. The British Pendulum Number (BPN) under different sand accumulations was measured with a pendulum friction coefficient meter, and the Ames engineering texture scanner was used to obtain different sand accumulations. The texture index of asphalt mixture was used to study the macro and micro texture of asphalt pavement under different amounts of sand accumulation, and the degree of influence of different particle sizes on BPN was obtained through gray correlation analysis. The test results show that the presence of aeolian sand has a significant impact on the macro and micro texture of the asphalt pavement and will cause the anti-skid performance to decrease. Moreover, there is an apparent positive linear correlation between the road surface texture index and BPN. The research results may provide reference and reference for the design and maintenance of desert highways.

Geocell is widely used in the treatment of poor roadbed, which can restrain soil laterally and improve the stability of soil. In cold area engineering, a change in temperature can influence the mechanical properties of geocell of different materials. To study the mechanical response of geocell at low temperatures, three types of geocell strips commonly used in engineering, namely the polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP), and polyester (PET), were studied via the uniaxial tensile test at the ambient temperatures of −5 °C, −20 °C, and −35 °C, respectively. Meanwhile, the tensile strength, fracture mode, and temperature sensitivity of geocell specimens were compared. It is concluded that: (1) at low temperatures, the tensile strengths of HDPE and PET geocell strips are significantly improved, while that of the PP geocell strip is less sensitive to the temperature. (2) The PP geocell is subject to a brittle failure at all ambient temperatures. The PET geocell strip experiences a hard-ductile failure at normal temperatures of −5 °C and −20 °C. While in the tensile test at −35 °C, it is prone to brittle failure and hard-ductile failure. The HDPE geocell strip suffers from ductile failure at all ambient temperatures. (3) At low temperatures, overall, the tensile properties of the PET geocell strip is better than those of the PP and HDPE geocell strips.

Electrical properties are one of the essential parameters of cement-based materials used in suspension porcelain insulators. This paper studied the electrical properties of aluminate cement adhesives (ACA) containing silica fume (SF), as well as their compressive strength and porosity. The results indicated that the addition of silica fume improved the resistivity of ACA under a saturated state (relative humidity is 50%). This was mainly attributed to the decrease of the ACA’s pore connectivity due to the SF’s filling effect. However, the early compressive strength of ACA was slightly reduced by the addition of SF. Under an unsaturated state, the ACA’s resistivity without the SF gradually exceeded that with the SF at the extension of drying time. The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) results indicated that the addition of SF content increased the ACA’s porosity; for the tiny pores especially, (the size less than 25 nm), this increased by 3.4%. Meanwhile, the addition of SF increased the tortuosity of the ACA’s conductive channels, which could improve its resistivity. Therefore, SF is recommended to be used in cement-based adhesives on insulators to lower the cost and improve the resistivity.

In seasonally frozen soil regions, the influence of temperature change on reinforced-soil engineering cannot be ignored. In particular, the mechanical properties of the reinforced-soil interface have an important impact on the overall stability and long-term service performance of reinforced soil engineering. To explore the interface characteristics and reinforcement mechanism between geogrids and coarse-grained soil under negative temperatures, this paper takes the typical coarse-grained soil in Xinjiang as the material and carries out a direct shear test of the reinforcement–soil interface under different normal stresses, water contents and temperatures. The curve characteristics of the shear displacement-shear stress, the change trend of the peak shear stress and the formation mechanism between the geogrid and coarse-grained soil interface under freezing and nonfreezing conditions are thoroughly analyzed. The formation mechanism of the dilatancy characteristics of the reinforced-soil interface is explained by combining the Mohr-Coulomb strength criterion and apparent friction coefficient. It is concluded that the trend of the shear displacement-shear stress curve between the geogrid and coarse-grained soil interface under the nonfreezing state and freezing state is basically the same. In a state of low normal stress, the curve has no obvious peak, which is closer to the ideal elastic-plastic double linear model. In a state of high normal stress, the curves have more obvious peaks, and the curve type is closer to the elastic-strain softening type. In the nonfreezing state, the shear strength of the reinforcement–soil interface has a great correlation with the water content, which is different in the freezing state. The main sources of the difference are the cementation of pore ice in the soil skeleton in the frozen state, the improvement of the strength of the soil particles themselves, and the further interlocking effect of the geogrid on the soil. In comparison with the reinforced coarse-grained soil under the nonfrozen state, the shear strength under the frozen state is significantly improved. In comparison with coarse-grained soil reinforced by geogrids in the nonfreezing state (0 °C), the shear strength of the frozen state (−5 °C) is significantly improved. Under normal stresses of 40 kPa, 60 kPa, and 80 kPa, when the water content is 2%, the corresponding peak shear stress increases by 19.39%, 21.71% and 11.34%, respectively. When the water content is 4.5%, the corresponding peak shear stress decreases by 29.98%, 16.17%, and 13.83%. When the water content is 7%, the corresponding peak shear stress decreases by 50.85%, 18.64%, and 21.96%. The apparent friction coefficient between the geogrid coarse-grained soil interface in the nonfrozen state and frozen state decreases with increasing normal stress. With the decrease in temperature, the dilatancy phenomenon of the reinforced soil composite is more obvious. The research results can provide a reference for the construction of reinforced engineering in seasonal frozen soil areas.

In this work, the long-term skid resistance attenuation law of asphalt mixtures in the presence of aeolian sand was studied. Four types of asphalt mixtures underwent skid resistance abrasion tests using an accelerated loading tester. The pendulum value (BPN) and structure depth (MTD) of these four mixtures were determined under various conditions of sand density and abrasion times. The correlation between the BPN and density and the number of times of abrasion were investigated, respectively, to analyze the skid resistance attenuation law at the microscopic and macroscopic levels. Our results indicate that the skid resistance of the four types of asphalt mixtures initially decreased and subsequently reached a stable state. Sand density primarily influences skid resistance during the initial stage, while the number of abrasions becomes the dominant factor affecting skid resistance in the later stages.