Special issue on advanced microscale characterisation on the behaviours of paving materials

A paving material’s micro-structure directly affects the service life of any pavement structure it is used in. Studying the material’s properties using a combination of nano-simulation, micro-characterisation and macro-analysis, can help to provide a comprehensive understanding of its behaviour. The research methods used include, but are not limited to, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Molecular Dynamics Simulation (MDS), First Principles Calculation (DFT), Finite Element Method (FEM) and Discrete Element Method (DEM).

This special issue will feature papers on the design, analysis and evaluation of paving materials at the micro-scale level. In scope are studies that consider the microscopic properties of various paving materials used in different situations, such as asphalt, polyurethane and road photocatalytic materials. We welcome submissions from pavement engineers, researchers, agencies, contractors and users.

Topics covered:

• First Principles Calculation
• Molecular Dynamics Simulation
• The nano-structure of paving materials
• Other microscopic characterisation methods

Submission deadline:

• Submit your paper before 30 December 2021.

Submission instructions:

We encourage you to read the Guide for Authors before submitting. Papers for this special issue should be submitted online; please select the issue type Microscale Behaviours. There is no word limit for manuscripts. Review papers and long papers with abundant content are especially welcome. All submissions will undergo peer review before publication. Accepted papers will be published open access, with no fee payable by the author (we have waived the usual APC for this special issue). Early editions of accepted papers will be published online individually on ScienceDirect and, once the issue has been printed, we will ship a copy to each author, free of charge.

For further questions about this special issue, please contact the Guest Editors or the JTTE editorial office at jtte2014@126.com.

Guest editors:

• Yongjie Ding, Associate Professor, Chongqing Jiaotong University, China. Email: yding9@vols.utk.edu
• Changjun Zhou, Associate Professor, Dalian University of Technology, China. Email: zhouchangjun@dlut.edu.cn
• Baoshan Huang, Edwin G. Burdette Professor, The University of Tennessee, USA. Email: bhuang@utk.edu